More Power or use subwoofer to boost bass for music

I worked at Magnolia for a bit, and their standard setup had the 804s positioned very close to the back wall so maybe not surprising you remember hearing more punch when you were there (I used to pull them 4’ out into the room where they sounded much better albeit with less bass emphasis). Regardless, 804s have never had prodigious bass output and could certainly benefit from at least one good sub. As @noble100 mentioned, the improvements extend beyond bass to expanding the soundstage and overall image palpability. I’ll never forget the first time I heard a good system with properly dialed in subs. Of course there was the expected bass depth and impact, but when he disengaged the subs the entire soundstage collapsed and the sound overall went limp. You can certainly achieve better sound with room treatments and EQ, but there’s really no substitute for what good and well-integrated subs can do. I like the suggestion of a pair of SVS SB1000s that run $950 and offer a generous in-home trial period, but I seriously doubt you’d be returning them.

One last thought — if your speakers are new and don’t have at least 100 hours of quality playtime on them you may not yet be hearing all that the 804s have to offer.  In any event, best of luck.

Jesus, the 4 sub cult is strong here.

The idea of a “swarm” of subs is based on evening out the nodes. It’s an admirable goal but rarely practical.

This statement is false. A distributed bass array such as the Swarm is far more effective at getting the bass right in a room than room correction or bass traps; its a more elegant approach.


This isn't to say that using bass traps and room correction won't help, but if you have a standing wave in the room (which can be a reason why a single sub or pair of subs don't seem to make much bass despite having plenty of power and the bandwidth needed) all the room correction will do is make the amps make more power at the frequency of the standing wave cancellation. No amount of power will solve a standing wave, since the energy is being cancelled.


Bass traps don't intelligently work at the frequency needed to prevent the standing wave (which is the result of the bass waveform bouncing off of the wall behind the listener and cancelling itself at the listening position)- they work at all bass frequencies.


Now if you combine all three then you can get spectacular results.

Jesus, the 4 sub cult is strong here.

Just physics. Cults, to my knowledge aren't bassed (see what I did there?) on physics.


IMO its fairly easy to set up a set of Swarms in a smaller room and keep it neat, since the Swarms are designed to work placed against the walls and also work best if the placement is asymmetrical.


Of course you can get good bass with only one sub, but it has to be placed in exactly the right location, which (more often than not) may not be the most convenient.

Vandersteen = 11 bands of EQ with more cut than boost with EQ centers set on typical room nodes not typical 1/3 octave bands... some science cult thinking at work there... since 1977 and still going strong and I might add a supporter of swarm IF done correctly so as not to muck of the stereo image...

But since statistics is science, let’s consider the “odds “ of getting 4  or as some would say 5 objects placed in a convenient location vs. one....

having a bit of fun Ralph, you are a true warrior for the science and the music