Will a subwoofer add depth and clarity to my system, or just bass?

rauliruegas
You might want to think a little about that 1% distortion number. Not whether it is true or accurate, but whether it matters. When it comes to really low bass, its hard to see how it matters.

Low bass waves are 30, 40, 50 to even 60 feet long. So long that before the speaker even gets to the end of the first wave the beginning of the wave has already hit and been reflected off the walls many times. But not just reflected. In hitting the walls it moves them, and they move back. This energy in the room from the walls turns out to be one of the toughest to eliminate. About the only thing you can do is build a wall specifically designed to absorb and dissipate this energy, then suspend it over another more structural wall. This is what Geddes does in his room, what some professionally designed studios do. Its not cheap.

But if you don’t do this then you have the walls radiating that energy right back into the room. So no matter how low distortion your speakers, they wind up in that room having five, ten, twenty percent distortion.

That’s just one form of distortion. Standing wave modes and nodes are another, probably even bigger form of distortion.

This is all a part of the bigger picture, which is how speakers interact and work within the listening room. Too often specs are quoted that while accurate turn out to have little or nothing to do with real world performance.

Dear @millercarbon :  """   then you have the walls radiating that energy right back into the room. So no matter how low distortion your speakers, they wind up in that room having five, ten, twenty percent distortion. """

even higher than those figures. Is there a possibility that that " effect " can goes at minimum just at random? I know that " sounds " crazy but exist that possibility?

In the other side and in a " normal " home audio room dimension the very low bass range due to the limited room dimensions not even " form " its bass notes waves: I think ! ? ! ? ? as I said I'm not an expert but only a music lover and audiophile.

And if does not " forms " then what's what we are listening/our body sense? Some times at my seat position I can feel/sense th bass waves at my ankles, sometimes a little elevated body sensation but neither distract or makes an overall degradation of what I'm listening through my ears: clarity, transparency and the like always is there and I can't detect that that kind of low bass " sound " affects   the TT/tonearm/cartridge behavior.

Coments are welcomed on this regards. Is there a way to explain it?

R.

Yes what you describe makes perfect sense. Every room has lots of modes, or places where certain frequencies reinforce and make for a lot louder sound. The exact location of these modes changes depending on frequency. But if you play a steady tone and move around you will find lots of places where the tone is much louder (a mode) and much less loud. Depending on the frequency these may be very close together. So in other words its certainly possible for you to feel vibration from a mode on your ankles that doesn't sound like it up where your ears are. Play the same bit with your head down where your ankles were and see.

None of this matter much with bass because we don't get our sense of direction from bass, we get it from much higher frequencies. So like the other night, Jennifer Warnes Bird on a Wire, there's these really awesome drum whacks which even though its mostly very low bass you absolutely here them as being very precisely placed in 3D at several different locations. Each whack sounds individual, each drum stays put in each location. My Swarm is two amps stereo but I tried it one amp mono with the same degree of imaging.

Its like we have two almost completely different hearing pathways or systems, one for low frequencies another more precise for higher.

Dear @millercarbon : Thank's. Yes we can't detect the low bass sources but in the system seems to me comes always from the in between speakers space and even that the subwoofers are not " looking/facing " to my seat position but at 90°. 

Your J.Warnes experiences are similar to what my system performs in several recordings, one of them is the Telarc 1812 LP where the cannon shots comes from different direction and the shots does not recorded with the same caliber cannon but different ones. One of those cannon shots goes down to 6-8hz that was the lowest frequency ever cutted in a LP.

When people like you, me and many others are accustom to satellite/subs room/system we just can't come back to the " past ", the experience is unique for a home audio system.

The " feelings/emotions " that MUSIC wake up on each one audiophile goes to the sky shinning as ever before. I know I can't live I can't listen it with out that quality level performance.

Like in your system my subs never " tells " you " I'm here ", only when the recording ask for it. Even in normal recordings we can't imagine those subs are swich onn.

Only through subs we can be sure that digital alternative outperforms analog one and the most important issue: why outperforms it.

CD's from the 80's outperforms today audiophiles same recordings as: Gladiator, Glory, 300 ( all these Original Soundtracks. ) and many many others.

There are LP recordings that we really can't enjoy it in all its magnificence  but only through a room/system with subwoofers. Example is the Wilson label recording Center Stage but there are hundred of LP recordings where thousands of music lovers need " discovery " as if was their very first time listen to.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC not distortions,
R.

Btw, my subs are a head/front the main speakers maybe 1m. a head facing 90° respect the main speaker at the other channel the posoition is the same and both subs are facing/radiating each to other with around 3.5m-4.0m. in between.

Each sub has at one side the main speaker and at the other side  the side of a sofa and behind one sub is a wall with Sonex ( that I used not for the subs but for the main's. ) and behind the other is a furniture with hundred of LP's.

Both subwoofers are " seated " over three Van Slike footers/isolators along with inverted Tip Toes ( position ) over these Van Slike isolators. Both subs have a dead-weight ( on top ) of 30kgs.

In the floor of the living room where the system is there is a  thick  ( like 2"  ) Chinese rug ( 100% wool. ) and atop of this rug and in the middle of the living room another 1" Paquistan rug ( wool/silk. ).

To achieve the today quality subs performance I never use it other than my live MUSIC experiences, ears and test/trial and error. Several months of hard work because the Velodyne's are heavy and I tested all over the room till where are finally seated.

R.