Adding subwoofer to Full-Ragne Speakers question


Especially for music...
The sub will surely add deeper base in the bottom end side..., I guess that's the purppose of adding a sub to begin with...

However, does it help in the midrage area?
Taking some load off of those woofers on the speakers so that they can concentrate on the midrage? or it doesn't matter as far as midrage's concerned.

I think I never got clear answer to this question, yet...
eandylee
Take the speaker grill off, and play a record with lots of bass, best of all an LP with a bit of a warp, and watch the antics of the woofer cone. I think you will agree that it is a wonder that the poor woofer reproduces midrange at all.

Also, some folk think that the slightest movement of the speaker "blurs" the midrange, and they go to great expense to immobilize their speakers. Well, with the midrange emminating from a cone that moves back and forth 3/4 inch or more, what does that do to the midrange?

I think that the main reason to have a subwoofer is to get that LF which requires long cone excursions, out of the woofer. Oh, and it helps the HF power amp too.
I have two ways (w/12"PHL 4530 midbass drivers) plus stereo subs, and use a DEQX with both 2 and 3 way digital crossover ability. My initial plan was to implement a 3 way crossover to lessen the bottom end burden on my PHL midbasses (decrease intermodulation distortion). Philippe Lesage, head speaker designer of PHL, graciously answered an email inquiry on this topic with the following. He said, in essence, that the deleterious effects of a high pass filter on the midbasses outweighed the benefit of chopping off their low end duty, and that letting the midbasses naturally roll off while "dialing in" the subs to supplement the bottom octave was far preferable.

Another factor to consider is the low end capability of your 2 ways. My 2 ways are -3dB at 44 Hz and there is precious little musical content below this frequency in the music I listen to (example: the lowest electric bass note is still above 40 Hz). In truth, my stereo subs are a costly luxury, basically musical slackers for the vast majority of my listening with much potential to overly excite room modes and detract from enjoyment. "Dialing-in" is far from a simple task, even with stereo subs.

My 2 cents, to be taken ONLY for what it's worth, is to find two way loudspeakers that are capable of playing down to 40-50 Hz at adequate SPLs for your taste. It's all about choosing the best compromise among the imperfect solutions. A single full range point source reproducer exists only in theory. For me, no single driver stereo loudspeaker system will truly "rock" to the SPLs I like. I've never heard the big 2 way line array loudspeakers so can't comment. For me, 2 ways with large cone midbass drivers, actively biamped, provide the best combination of imaging, soundstaging, dynamics and SPL ability.

Just some grist for the mill - nothing more, nothing less.
Rbirke,

I don't know how many times I've heard other REL owners say the same thing as you, and that's why I intend to buy one myself to improve the already great sound I'm getting from my ProAc 2.5s.

I guess when a sub bass system is well designed and set up correctly it can yield improvements in the main speakers even if the sub is completely separate from it. The point you make about the REL pressurizing the room and being able to back off the volume to the mains may be the key.