Are big subwoofers viable for 2 channel music?

I just had a mind blowing listening session. Utterly incredible resolution, imaging, spaciousness, holography. Just hard to believe things can sound much better. I don’t think my system is far off from the magico m2. And I was listening to organ music... it was great. I could sense the space and power of organ, the scale.  (This is on NS5000)

BUT THEN...
I turned on my dual 18s. HOLY SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. The soundstage grew enormously. The organ became life like in its scale... it was simply real now. I closed my eyes and I was in a massive church. The subwoofers helped capture the shape of the space and the visceral low growls as the organist played low. For the rest of my session I left my subs on (crossed at about 50-55 hz) and I realized today that I simply love subwoofers and there is no way around it. The weight, gravity and power.. scale in every song i played was mind blowing. And keep in mind the NS5000 is flat to about 25 hz so it does bass very well but the boost in the low end just adds so much to the music. The bass didn’t seem bloated or boomy either to me. It was powerful and fast still. I am sure better and maybe smaller subs might do speed better but the way my system sounds. I could absolutely live with it for life. Only thing I want to do in my new listening room is get another 2x 18s.. and im thinking sealed. Then when ill do is cross the dual 18s at maybe 60 hz and then cross my dual 18 ported at 40 hz so they can fill out the low end and provide an even bass response in the room.

I am just a subwoofer bass guy... I can’t get away from that. I am reminded by my sonja 1.3 demo how i was really disappointed by the bass. It was just utterly lacking. Other audiophiles might not like the sound in my room and prefer the Sonja bass but I love this sound. And rather than spend $500k on Goebel divin majestics... why not spend a bit more on more subwoofers... youll get all the power, impact, scale of the big goebels for a fraction of the price! I think more affordable speakers and a proper sub array is a much smarter option than dishing out millions on speakers that may give you similar bass performance and maybe not even similar. Subwoofers are the key for me for incredible low end and saving money while I am at it!


Lot of my audiophile friends criticize my love of subwoofers... at the end of the day we all have different tastes and this is mine. I doubt ill ever give up my subs. They are amazing.

What I been saying for over a year now. And Tim. And everyone with a DBA. Two more will be even better. What matters most with subs is how many, not which ones.

Millercarbon I am 100% on board with DBA.
So you think mixing ported for lower frequency and sealed for higher frequencies makes sense? Also I have 2 subs connected via RCA from my preamp. How would I connect another two?
Also do you like Denis Foleys approach of having the various subwoofers are different levels vertically? He feels then you get a more even vertical response in the room.

Subwoofers have just too many advantages.
1. You can choose the size and specs to get the best speed, power character you want.
2. Can place them in the ideal position which is usually not near the main towers
3. You can cross them so you get the right FR that you want or right effect you want... play with phase as well, delay and dial them in perfectly
4. You can have multiple in an array so you get an even response in a room
5. You can do vertical array by either stacking in a tower or just have them at different heights at different positions in the room like Denis Foley recommends for a great vertical component to the bass and vertical even-ness

Great article here talking about subwoofer speed.
" Smaller woofers sound faster than larger woofers

One of the biggest myths about woofers is that smaller units like 8's and 10's sound "tighter" and "faster" than 15's or 18's. Even bigger drivers such as 21's and 24's are supposedly worse than 15's or 18's. This can be true in some specific cases, but as a blanket statement of all drivers this is factually incorrect.

This subjective impression is often caused by factors other than the simple size of the driver. What tends to happen is that the smaller drivers have a lower Qts because manufacturers tend to share one motor design across many different sizes of drivers in the series. They may have the same motor on the 10" driver that they have on the 15 or 18". Unless the motor can compensate for the extra mass it has to push, then the Qts will not be the same as the smaller drivers. Ultimately the larger driver may not be suited for the same kinds of alignments as the smaller driver and ends up requiring a much larger air volume for the same system "Q" and response shape. Typically the larger driver will end up in a higher "Q" undersized system with a less linear response shape that may cause it to sound more uneven or "one note". It may also end up being tuned much deeper in frequency and the increased low frequency output may also cause it to sound "slower" or "heavier". Smaller subs and those using smaller driver sizes are often not asked to go as low and will not have the same low frequency extension in their design. When comparing subs the one with more low frequency extension and output will sound quite different. Having said that, high Qts drivers are not inherently inferior sounding when compared to more efficient, highly damped drivers, but they require larger boxes and less internal pressure to prevent response peaking and increased group delay.

Large sub drivers can be made to have the same motor to cone ratio as smaller drivers. The larger woofers also have more room for bigger suspension components and voice coils which can allow higher power handling, more excursion capability and larger mechanical clearances that simply cannot fit on an 8 or 10" driver frame. It is more expensive to make larger driver sizes in this way, but not impossible. There are a number of good examples on the market. It's just a matter of picking the right driver for the job."


https://data-bass.com/#/articles/5cbf5e7357f7140004d6d0ec?_k=o4xuea