I had originally intended to avoid the use of a subwoofer, and I went with full range speakers (Thiel CS3.6). However, it turns out that my listening room has some rather extreme dropouts in the low frequencies (it's a very cut up and open room). This lead me to consider adding a subwoofer, and after much investigation and auditioning, I finally picked up a Velodyne DD-12, which is from their new Digital Drive series. This has been the most significant improvement that I have made to my system. It allowed me to find, and corret for, all the deficiencies in the low end, and I now have a very flat response. It is a very controlled and musical sub, and if you didn't know that it was there, you'd never suspect that the low end is coming from anywhere other than the Thiels. It has interfaced very well with my system, and certainly makes music sound much more, well musical. Not only do the lower notes themselves sound more real, but having the proper fundamental underneath them also very much improves the higher frequency notes, even cymbals, and especially human voice.
Of course, that said, a boomy subwoofer can really muck things up. So, audition as many as you can, and hopefully find a tight, fast sub.
Tom.
Of course, that said, a boomy subwoofer can really muck things up. So, audition as many as you can, and hopefully find a tight, fast sub.
Tom.