Demise of bass quality in Main speakers

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!

@emergingsoul

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.

@carlsbad2 

@akg_ca 

+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.

@emergingsoul 

"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.

+1 @tony1954