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35Hz - 25kHz -- A Partial 'Purist'?

It's amazing how much musical information can be found in the lowest bass regions say 30Hz down to below 20Hz, whether classical, folk, instrumental, pop, etc..

Yet, I'm purplexed to see some to many audiophile 'purists' refuse to even attempt to resolve the obvious deficiency in their systems which simply cannot reproduce any musical information in the lowest regions of the frequecy spectrum.

No matter how musical, how refined, and/or how infinite the configurations a good musical subwoofer can offer, the 'purist' simply will not consider adding a subwoofer to supplement their mains. There's too many good subs (you only need one) ranging from $1k to $30k that can be quite quite musical and allow for near-infinite configurations to adapt to most any system and listening preference. And, yes, I am aware there are many more bad subwoofers, but's that's another thread.

As a self-proclaimed 'fundamentalist', my quest is to ensure my 2-channel system is such that any musical information coming from the source stands an excellent chance of being faithfully reproduced for my listening pleasure.

And by adding a musical 18 inch subwoofer, I don't believe I've given up anything.

I would enjoy hearing what others think.
stehno
bomarc
501 posts
 
Stehno: You're right in an absolute sense, but all systems involve compromise--at least all price-constrained systems do. I'm not sure I buy your premise that there is "much" musical information below 30 Hz, which is why I'm willing to compromise on a system that doesn't go that low. But if the information that IS down there is important to you, then that's not a parameter you'd want to compromise on.
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
I think some of the reason that subs are not more widely used is that until you've heard one you really don't know what you're missing. So many ported cabinets substitute a hump in the mid bass for real bass that many people aren't really aware what real bass sounds like. My REL sub converted me.
danner
202 posts
 
Being a proponent of the need for reproduction in the lowest octave (20-40Hz) for all music above this range, I think that when using a sub there are at least six major simultaneous variables (adding one to Karls list): (1) room placement, (2) crossover point, (3) crossover slope, (4) sub output level, (5) phasing, and (6) EQ. Without EQ, one can achieve quite a bit with room placement, but with EQ it sounds integrated to me. A lack of integration may have as much or more to do with the sub/room interactions as the sub/mains interactions.
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
It seems a moot point to me - a 20Hz tone produces a wavelength of 56.5 feet (at sea level, 70 deg. fahrenheit). How many of you have rooms that big?
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
Rlwainwright. Since my room is 10x12 according to your suggestion I should not bother with any frequency below 90Hz ? Obviously not.
Driving frequencies below the lowest resonant frequency of the room is the whole point of most subwoofers. You should listen to a good sub sometime. It may not be to your taste, but I guarantee you'll hear frequencies much lower than your simple formula suggests.
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