Great sound possible using a Subwoofer?

Here's my $.02 on this. I'm running Aerial 7B's on the front channels of my home theater, and do a lot of 2 channel CD listening. For the better part of a year, I was using an older, inexpensive subwoofer, for LFE only, and all two channel stuff was run through the Aerials with the sub turned off. The Aerials have been measured to flat to 30Hz by Stereophile, which is lower than they're rated. I recently had the opportunity to buy a demo Aerial SW 12 subwoofer at a good price, which matches the rest of the system. I have A/B/C tested the following combinations (through a Lexicon DC-1, which admittedly is not the best two channel pre-amp), with all subwoofer crossovers being made in the digital domain by the Lexicon: (A) 7B's run full range, (B) 7B's crossed over to the SW-12 at 40Hz, with the sub low pass filter set at various points between 30 and 40 Hz, and (C)the 7Bs crossed over to the SW-12 at 80HZ, with the low pass filter on the SW-12 at various points between 50 and &0 Hz. The SW-12 was adjusted per the manual. First, although the Aerials sound great by themselves, the bass sounds much more detailed and solid using the SW-12. I actually hadn't planned on using it for anything but home theater viewing when I bought it, but it is now used for all two channel listening as well. The best results were obtained with the 80Hz crossover to the 7B's, and judicious use of bass gain control, with the low pass filter set at about 57Hz. The bass in the 7B's melt into the sub in a way that makes it impossible to know if the sub is on when sitting in the listening position. The bass is tight and deep, with none of the muddiness I experienced with the old sub. Also, by in effect bi-amping the system with the sub amp and the Aragon Palladiums which run the L/R channels, I have no concerns that I'm muddying the mid-bass, mids or highs because of power soaking by the bass. I also note that on tracks where the bass is coming from the left speaker, even though the sub is on the right side, the effect is still to anchor the bass on the left speaker, no matter how deep it goes. I believe the higher harmonics still come through the 7Bs and localize the entire bass range to that speaker. It's pretty amazing when you first hear it. So, in answer to your question, I was really happy with my main speakers before the sub, but it's now clear to me that, with a high quality sub, and experimentation with the crossovers, you can have much more control over the bass and greatly improve the overall sound. Jeff

My experience is similar to Jeff's. I find the better the main speaker is at plumbing the under world , the better, easier and faster it is to integrate a sub. My Apogee Slant 8s go down to a solid 25 HZ in my room and I was quite satisfied. Then I auditioned a used Velodyne FSR-12 that a dealer had for a very good price. Using the internal x-over from the Velodyne for both the high pass and low pass functions, I dialed the critter in in only about 30 minutes of tweaking. What a difference! With the bottom end of the Apogees rolled off below 80 HZ, they could play insanely loud. Got rid of a nasty mid bass peak in the room, and had a more transparent, larger and better defined soundstage too. The bottom end was deeper (actually got that last 5 HZ), tight as a nut and positively thrilling on some stuff. Definately worth the $700 I paid for the sub and it definately complimented the main speaker.

subs *will* help your set-up. note, i said *subs*. getting only one will degrade your sound, you gotta get two. it is definitely easier to cross subs over to speakers that already have decent low-end. a steep-sloped active x-over is also helpful. look to vmps for the best subs for the $$$. you can get a pair of their top model subs, along w/active x-over & amp(s) for less $$$ tha *one* top-line sub from muse, velodyne, rel, etc.

Subs will add but you must have two or the sound will not time align properly. You would be best having the subs placed closer to the rear wall than the other drivers as well. Most drivers get highly directional or beamy near the end of their frequency ranges so by having a sub you can crossover the main speakers about 1-2 octaves higher and open up the sound stage, and of course the sub will not be beamy- provided that the drivers are not too large relative to the drivers on teh main speakers. Ie a 4 inch main speaker midbass driver will not cross over well to a 15 inch or 18inch sub. MOre like a 4 inch driver crosses over well to a pair or 6.5 inch drivers or perhaps and 8. A pair of 6.5 inch main drivers cross over well to 8 inch subs, or a 10... get the picture? Good luck.