Demise of bass quality in Main speakers
When I was shopping for new speakers in addition it became quite clear that modern day main speakers are being made with smaller bass drivers. And to get larger bass drivers you have to go up to alot more expensive models and still they or on the small side.
The Industry came up with a solution for bass challenged main speakers - buy two subwoofers to solve the problems of the modern age main speaker. And subwoofers now being sold in pairs have 8 inch or 10 inch driver sizes, which are still not big enough unless you spend a lot more money.
I bought a subwoofer with a 12 inch driver 20 years ago, thankfully. When I looked at the newer subwoofers the speaker manufacturer told me that he gets many comments stating that the fullness and rumble ability of modern day subwoofers have been substantially diminished, and he agreed. Isn’t this what subwoofers are all about. Why would I need a subwoofer for better define the lower base area. Fortunately I bought very nice main speakers which had a range spec down to 20 Hz and the bass driver size is 8 inches but I had to pay more to get this larger size.
Why do people put up with this? Put larger bass drivers in Main speakers and then you won’t have as many people complaining about Poor bass quality. Doesn’t this make sense?
It’s way more practical and cost effective these days to just add powered subwoofers to extend bass when needed. Plus there are still plenty of bigger speakers with bigger bass drivers around when desired. Good ones will just cost a bit more which makes sense Also having a separate cabinet that is also adjustable makes it much easier to get better bass in practice. Placement options for large heavy speakers in a single cabinet are often limited for most folks. |
@jumia thanks. I guess that is some kind of accomplishment? 🤔
In any case, I made some very significant upgrades to my streaming setup this weekend so that’s some form of real progress. Pure coincidence! https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/shootout-roon-versus-plex-qobuz-versus-tidal-who-won |
Omg, I can’t believe how people are rationalizing the use of subwoofers when their main speakers are not adequate to do a good job with bass. Removing bass frequencies from the main speakers to allow them to perform better buy shifting burden over to subwoofers is crazy talk. It just means the main speakers are not doing what they should be doing. Maybe the Tweeter, mid range, and the various bass drivers should all have their separate cabinets, kind of like what Wilson does. And then maybe with all these individual cabinets we can better place them throughout the room. And go absolutely nutty in the process. All this because bass drivers are getting smaller and somehow like frogs in warming water no one seems to notice how main speakers are becoming more and more inadequate to do what they need to do. We want more bass and maybe the Recording just doesn’t have it to offer so we attempt to embellish it. From time to time certain recordings, moreso from the more recent recordings have all kinds of bass emphasis inserted into the music by sound engineers. So like everything else in this world the consumer no longer is in control, with a good example being the decline Of main speaker bass quality. Of course you can solve this problem by paying a ton of money but you shouldn’t have to. |
There are advantages to having the low frequencies reproduced by multiple subwoofers. Using the appropriate processing and placement they can cancel room modes, providing a tighter and more accurate bass response over a larger listening area. I have found that off-loading the low frequencies a multi-sub system can improve both the frequency and transient response, particularly in rooms with strong modal energy. |
