What percentage of audiophiles use a sub ?

I've never used a subwoofer, but I do like bass. I agree with the FAQ on the Vandersteen site that saya, "Bass is the foundation of music and conveys much of the emotion. Without bass, there is no music." This is one of the reasons I've never cared for tiny bookshelf speakers; I appreciate what Linn Kan speakers, and others of this size/type, are capable of, but they just don't provide enough low end response to satisfy me. On the other hand, as others have mentioned, successfully integrating a subwoofer into a system is not an easy task, and I'd rather give up a bit of extreme low end than suffer a disjointed lower octave.

I've always found the formerly ubiquitous 8", two-way speaker to provide sufficient bass foundation to satisfy. More important to me is having a tonal balance through the mids and highs that works with whatever bass capability is present to provide what Grado describes as warm, smooth, full-bodied, non-fatiguing and rich sound. I don't need extreme low-end extension or thump-your-gut power to get that, and as an apartment dweller, too much low-end energy could be an annoyance to the neighbors.

I think that if a lot of the anti-subwoofer crowd let a professional home theater calibrator come into their room with some subwoofers, a good means of filtering the bass below 80hz out of the mains, and a couple of days to make it all work - they would be amazed by the results.

I think that if a lot of the anti-subwoofer crowd let a professional home theater calibrator come into their room with some subwoofers, a good means of filtering the bass below 80hz out of the mains, and a couple of days to make it all work - they would be amazed by the results.

You unwittingly made the case for those of us who advised to "proceed with caution" when it comes to subwoofers.

You pointed out that: 1) you will likely need more than one subwoofer, 2) you will have to add an active filter to your system, 3) you will want a professional involved, and 4) it even may take the professional several days to get satisfactory results.

That certainly explains why there are so many poor sounding examples of subbed systems out there.

I'm not a home theatre person (in fact I often don't care for the over-done sound in commercial theatres) and have near zero interest in action films and the like. It's not that I and a lot of the others are "anti-subwoofer" as much as we recognize that it is often difficult to do right. And, done wrong, it takes a system backward instead of forward in other areas where our hearing is more sensitive.

I'd also be rather cautious as to whether a "professional home theatre calibrator" is listening for the same things this two-channel guy wants from his system for music. Maybe what I need is a "professional two channel subwoofer calibrator" but that strikes me as a rather rare sub-specialty. ;-)

Mlsstl,

I agree. I do use subs, but they are a PITA to get set-up properly. However, you don't need a professional to do it - provided you have a taste for the work.

A good DRC subcontroller (like Velodyne or SVS/Audyssey), a good active x-over (I use NHT), two (or more) good subwoofers and some elbow grease will work out fine. At the end of the day, count on app. $2500 and up, plus your hourly rate x 20 or 30 hrs. Once done, you may very well get IN-ROOM bass performance (depending on your room) that's unmatched by any non-DRC full range speaker at any price.

Not for everybody, for sure, but IMHO worth it if you're willing on the terms above.

Martykl, I actually think we're in substantial agreement. Summed up, both of us are saying that adding a well integrated subwoofer to a system is a lot of work to get right. My added comment is that, if not done properly, you can end up worse off.