I want to correct a misimpression that Rbstehno seems to have taken away from my (and perhaps other) posts: Bookshelf speakers can be quite apppropriate for larger rooms. But no speaker will give you as much bass in a large room as in a small one. So a speaker that gives you adequate bass in a small room might not satisfy in a larger one.
Mechans makes a good point about how low "low bass" is. Most pop music (even heavy metal) has little or nothing in the bottom octave, below 40 Hz. A standard electric bass only goes down to 42 Hz. (Acoustics, depending on size, may reach as low as 32 Hz, I believe.)
A bookshelf speaker that starts rolling off at 80 Hz is still going to output substantial energy an octave lower than that. With room reinforcement, you aren't going to miss much, especially in a small space. Plus, your brain hears the second harmonics, an octave up, and tends to fill in the missing information anyway.
Mechans makes a good point about how low "low bass" is. Most pop music (even heavy metal) has little or nothing in the bottom octave, below 40 Hz. A standard electric bass only goes down to 42 Hz. (Acoustics, depending on size, may reach as low as 32 Hz, I believe.)
A bookshelf speaker that starts rolling off at 80 Hz is still going to output substantial energy an octave lower than that. With room reinforcement, you aren't going to miss much, especially in a small space. Plus, your brain hears the second harmonics, an octave up, and tends to fill in the missing information anyway.