One of Fender's most popular bass cabinets in the 1970's when I played regularly had two 10" drivers which produced plenty of bass. Now I get the argument that this would not be a direct comparison to high-fidelity speakers, and in particular these were made to fill a fair-size club with bass not a small room with precision sound, but you can have good bass with drivers that aren't 15".
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?
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You make it clear, to get lots of clean bass out of FL/FR speakers is quite expensive. It’s not only the size of the woofer, it is also about the excursion, and the power to control it OUT/IN/STOP. I have 1 of these in my small home theater, self powered, it has a 1,000. watt amp with a serious magnet within. Enough to add Dinosaur Stomp. https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_4_4/velodynehgs10.html For music, to keep the Main FL and FR affordable, I would add a stereo pair of these or similar: front facing; no ports! Locate them adjacent to your front speakers, adjust the crossover and volume. Low bass starts mono, but the overtones are directional, thus a stereo pair from location of mains. Taking the low bass away from both the speakers and the stereo amp, lets you use a smaller/lighter/less costly amp, easier to locate for remote signals; AND you are setup to try tubes sometime, same advantages as just mentioned. Removing the need to produce low bass from your main speakers lets them do a better job of upper bass: then the cones are not too small, the magnets are not too small, the drivers are no longer trying to do too much! |
My main speakers are Ohm F5 with 12" drivers. Retail is ~ $6K. I paid half that after discounts and trade ins. In my other smaller room I have tiny KEF ls50 metas and a powered sub. Both are well set up and do the job well. What’s best? As usual, it all depends. If you are on a budget and room is not large, KEF ls50 metas + sub(s) are a good way to go. Larger rooms will almost always cost more to cover properly. You will want somewhat larger mains depending on how loud you need to go but other than that, the problem can be solved equally well either way. IT just has to be done right no matter which approach is taken. That is always the case.
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+1 Comparing good quality speakers from twenty or more years ago with 12” woofers and today’s typically with one or two 8” and thinking they are inadequate is too simple a comparison.
Woofer diameters have dropped as throw, speed, and accuracy has increased dramatically. Bass today is so much more detailed and articulated it is astonishing. The role of good quality speakers is to accurately reproduce sound. Old 12” woofers were boomy. My speakers have two 8” woofers and go down to 24hz. I have no desire to add subwoofers to my system, as a mater of fact I removed two 12” subs from my system when I got these speakers and my system sounds way better than it has ever before. Much more coherent across the audio spectrum and definitely with as good a bass as with the old speakers and subs.
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"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." I'm not sure why you have this opinion about poor bass and big woofers. The size of the woofer and the quality of its bass reproduction have little or nothing to do with each other. It really depends on what you want from a woofer. Large, poor quality woofers can produce flabby, boomy bass down to 20hz, while smaller woofers might produce tight, accurate bass down to only 35hz. As to the idea of adding subwoofers. Adding subs isn't meant to correct your perceived deficiencies in the main speakers. They are meant to correct deficiencies in the listening room. I always laugh when I see people buying a pair of subs and proceeding to place them right beside their main speakers. This placement merely accentuates the low frequency issues you bought them to correct. Subs should be placed where they produce the most accurate and even bass response within the room. That may be in opposing corners, midway along opposite walls or even half way up a wall. You place your main speakers where they provide the best stereo imaging, the best soundstage and the best high frequencies. You add subs to improve the overall low frequency response. This is why even people with enormous tower speakers add subs to systems. My main speakers are ATC SCM19 bookshelves. I added four subs. I didn't do this so I could get home theatre bass. I did it so I could get accurate, lifelike bass.
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