Demise of bass quality in Main speakers

@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 

I can see bookshelves needing subwoofers as bookshelves probably aren't known for their Great bass experiences.

@emergingsoul 

"I can see bookshelves needing subwoofers as bookshelves probably aren't known for their Great bass experiences."

You are correct that bookshelf speakers are more likely to benefit from the addition of subwoofers, but even if you have large tower speakers, rated at 20Hz-22kH, you can still have crappy low frequency sound quality if your listening room or your speaker placement are affecting the speakers ability to sound their best.