I refer to my system as a "Japanese" system (in fact, the Western Electric drivers came from Japan) because it is much like systems you will see in Japanese audio magazines. Such systems are crammed into tiny Japanese apartments. What they excel at is sounding lively and full at LOW volume levels, which is a necessity given the thin walls of these apartments and the extremely polite and considerate culture of the Japanese.
My system actually has very modest bass output and does not go very deep. The drivers are light weight, and have a pleated paper surround that limits excursion. These drivers excel at delivering clean and tuneful bass; just not that much of it. I've heard systems with twin 18" drivers based on similar designs that also have somewhat limited bass. Even when playing music with powerful bass, you can barely feel the cones moving in and out; they vibrate but to not pump in and out very much.
My system actually has very modest bass output and does not go very deep. The drivers are light weight, and have a pleated paper surround that limits excursion. These drivers excel at delivering clean and tuneful bass; just not that much of it. I've heard systems with twin 18" drivers based on similar designs that also have somewhat limited bass. Even when playing music with powerful bass, you can barely feel the cones moving in and out; they vibrate but to not pump in and out very much.