Very basic subwoofer question

In my bedroom system I don't have a lot of room and some recordings have bass that my tiny speakers simply don't even hint at.

So I added a sub (Golden Ear Subx). I really had to fiddle with placement so I could hear the bass from my bed. A standing wave prevented it going in the spot I felt was the most convenient. That's the thing about one or two subs- you have to fiddle to get it right. I kept the sub output below 70Hz so it would not attract attention to itself, and then just worked with the level so I really was getting the bass notes. The main speakers roll off at about 60Hz (KLH model Nineteens) so this worked out pretty well.


A Distributed Bass Array would have worked better (I could have heard the bass throughout the room rather than just near the bed) but since the goal was listening from my bed that was not important.

Lesh plays a Modulus Q6 and the open low B string chimes at 31Hz. That same 31Hz B from a concert grand piano has a more content. Phil also uses an OctiBass pedal which adds another dimension to those first position B string stops that add a sense of more air movement.

If this is what you heard live from the front of house system it is absolutly attainable if its on the recording. My wife’s a Dead Head and I hear it clear as day practically every day. I hear it from a 10" sub in the studio or the two 12" in the main system.

I like hearing the differences even when the Fi isn't so Hi...
https://uptonbass.com/instruments/the-upton-bass-double-basses/the-bostonian/

Yes, it's possible.  I have 4 systems.  All but my main system consist of small monitors and one sub.  In all of these systems the bass is complementary in the way that you describe, subtle, but adding depth and realism to the music.  In my main system I have Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers and 4 large subwoofers.  That system will make your liver quiver on certain recordings.

I’ve owned a couple of used RELs for years and they work beautifully...I’m not interested in more because standing waves in my tall sloped ceiling listening room are tamed by the sub’s locations, and my incredible listening and tweaking skills developed by years of astute pot smoking.

Bass is/can be directional. Someone here mentioned, it’s the fundamental AND the overtones that give bass directionality

Clearing up confusion- low bass is not directional. Lab tests prove that when the frequency is low enough the sound cannot even be heard at all, at less than half a wavelength.

Sorry, but a little physics is necessary to prove just how airtight a fact this is.

Sound travels roughly 1 ft per millisecond. Not exactly but more than close enough for this. The wavelength of a low bass note like 20 Hz is over 56 feet. Half of this is 28 feet. What this means is the wave has traveled 28 feet before you even know its there. So how in the world are you gonna know where it came from?

Low bass therefore is not directional. Its a physical and psychoacoustic impossibility.

The same physics holds true in the recording venue. This could be why all low bass is mono. I don’t know. Not saying this is the reason. Just saying it could be. Even the most perfect audiophile recording with minimal microphones the only way the bass is going to be significantly stereo is if they are placed very far apart. Even then, even if placed say 56 feet apart, that is at most one wave. The human ear is going to discern this? I don’t think so. The ear responds to volume at low frequencies.

Anyway, back to bass seeming to be directional. Because in my system for sure, and according to Tim and Duke and everyone else with a DBA this is true for them as well, the bass we are getting absolutely definitely does seem to be highly localized and directional at times. Not always. Depends entirely on the material.

So what we have is a situation where the subs can go anywhere without regard to imaging, and yet we will get great imaging. Low bass can be mono, and yet will sound stereo. All because of the peculiar way physics and psychoacoustics combine at low bass frequencies.