Honest Experience on Effects of Subwoofer Please
I have read countless of threads on people’s experiences with subwoofers but am still confused. Although I don’t have any experience with high quality music subwoofers, I have been using a decent sub in my audio system for the past 18 years or so. The sub went in and out of the systems and various rooms throughout the years as I was not convinced if the sub was contributing anything to the system. At times I felt I could hear an improvement and at other times I thought the sub wasn’t doing anything. If I bump up the volume and crossover frequency on the sub to hear a larger impact, it’s overly done.
I am aware that a proper set up and/or quality of subwoofer is crucial to ensure a successful implementation of the sub(s) in a system. Let’s just assume that everything is done properly.
To cut to the chase, do people hear a small or appreciable difference with subwoofers, or it’s a big night and day difference? I know everyone’s expectations are different but I’m reading different opinions and experiences on this forum. For the first time in 15 years, I am considering a sub upgrade and have been in communication with the sub maker and dealer. I just wanted to get a clearer picture on the situation.
So, coming back to the question, just two questions;
1. Do people hear a small or appreciable difference with subwoofers, or it’s a big night and day difference?
2 Do subwoofers just fill up the missing deep bass below say 40Hz or 35Hz where the main speakers won’t reproduce, or they will also augment the mid bass and upper bass by producing a punchier sound with better kick, heft and dynamics? The drums or kick drums are usually in the region of the midbass and upper bass, not low bass.
Posts like the one below taken from another thread make me confused.
A friend dropped by with his new $9K Studio III REL to compare. He returned it that afternoon and later purchased two processing subs with a few hundred left over. The real wood finish on that REL was stunning, no chrome bits though. REL headquartered in Berkeley CA. My State will get an almost 10% cut, sweet! Enjoy. |
@wolf_garcia --
On the second paragraph: you may have given yourself the answer without realizing it; not everybody has "decades of experience in studios and live concerts as a musician and live sound mixer," which otherwise would've likely given them a head start implementing subs in the home setup. Re: first paragraph: it's not really about "complexity," but rather what you choose to go with and how you intend to do it. Being very experienced yourself with sound mixing both in studios and at a live concert milieu while having a bunch of REL's (whether they're used or new is besides the point, btw) to play around with, isn't a bad outset by any means. REL's would seem easier to implement in an existing setup compared to other sub brands, and combined with your experience in the field you're dealt a good hand here. I'd say that's not necessarily representative of most who're about to go the sub(s) route? I wouldn't discourage anyone from throwing themselves into sub(s) usage, but I would like to tell them of a way to implement subs that deviates from small, inefficient cubes augmenting main speakers run fall range. High-passing the main speakers isn't "nonsense" but can have obvious advantages, and going with big, higher eff. subs in more numbers than one lends further, potential advantages to boot. Where it might get more complex is going active, but who says everything comes with the snap of your fingers? Going even further with DSP's and perhaps bass management (as outlined by poster @mijostyn above) can add to integrational bliss, and so while very good results can be had without bending backwards per the more typical or popular way to integrate subs, it is to some a mere starting point going way back in their subs voyage. It's like hitting someone on the head for going other ways, god forbid with the intention to raise the bar perhaps even further. It's not bloviating or arrogance, but simply sharing experience others might appreciate exploring for themselves. Make of it what you will. |
