Sub-woofer fast enough for Horns?

Bob_reynolds wrote 'Can anyone explain what "fast" means? What does "slow" sound like?'

Well speed in the case of a sub-woofer is obviously not an apt description since they are concerned with frequencies that have no 'quickness' at all. In that case its the impression you get with a low distortion subwoffer that is not blurred by things like cabinet resonances and has other measures like servo feedback to ensure better tracking.

With regard to full range speakers its the ability to hear nuances you might not otherwise hear. In electrostatics for example due to the light diaphragm material they have it can accelerate and decelerate quickly. In my speakers, which are conventional, its due to them being lined with 1/4 inch copper that reduces resonances that mask detail. In horns its due to their acoustic impedance matching.

Basically is the impression you get of detail jumping out at you without blurring - you say its fast.

Thanks
Bill

Wenn it is slow it is not syngron with the music played by the speakers. And instruments and voives become bigger in proportion as they should be. Instruments and voices are very direct to point out in real. And very small in dimension. Timing is crusual in music. Most sub's on the market are too slow for stereo use.

Bol972s posts, although sincere, are basically bolcrap. Having heard live music doesn't make you an expert on recorded sound. I listen to, perform, and mix live sound (primarily acoustic instruments) professionally but my opinions have no "special" relevance because of that, and only a self important pretentious bonehead would claim that it does. Recorded sound is a completely different animal unless you set up your rig in Carnegie Hall and sit in the 9th row for all your active listening. Also, the amp signal arrives at a sub's voice coil the same exact time as a main speaker (unless your sub cable is 2 million miles long), speaker cone paper is extremely light and stiff, and the time it takes the paper to get moving compared to an aluminum, carbon, or plastic cone is irrelevant and audibly unnoticeable, regardless of the hype you may have been subjected to. Period. Room sound has BY FAR the largest influence on the blending of a sub, and differences in various subwoofer designs obviously do make them sound different, but the term "speed" as an overused catch-all phrase used primarily by people who are actually noticing other acoustic anamolies having little or nothing to do with cone material...or the time they spent listening to guitars in a room full of people.

No doubt the room acoustics is the biggest and often hardest factor to get a handle on in regards to bass and overall sound quality. Even more so in teh case of "full range" sound. Optimal placement of a sub or better yet multiple subs makes a big difference, as does how well the sub(s) are sonically integrated with the mains. "speed" or any sonic artifacts that might be attributed to that, even with most decent large subs or bass drivers, are a distant second and practically may not matter much at all if components are selected and set up well in any particular room to start with.

I have also the experience wenn we did a live recording it sounded a lot different later after we played the recording. But it is still not difficult to compare sub's in speed, syngron quality and if instrument keep the same proportion. 10 years ago we had to do it with our own hearing to get the best results with sub's. These days room acoustic systems make it more easy. Only cause of Audyssey Pro I get a stealth integration. Without it it would be another world.