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In Reply to: RE: What are the best subwoofer makes for music, not boomy HT. (nt) posted by Self-Inflicted on October 30, 2020 at 10:02:05
The fascination with subwoofers, especially for music (not HT), is not something I fully understand. Good floorstanding speakers should produce bass frequency to something less than 40Hz; bookshelf/standmount speakers somewhat above that threshold. Ideally a subwoofer adds value below the point where the main speakers trail off (yes/no?). 1/3 and 1/2 octaves below 40Hz are 31.7Hz, and 28.3Hz, respectively. Sure, there are low organ notes that go lower, but for the most part there isn't much musical content that you would be missing. Since subwoofers can be rather pricey, my question is, once you find a subwoofer that goes down below 30Hz, what are you getting for your money?
Follow Ups:
It's placement.
A floor stander with a decent sized woofer can put out almost as much bass as a sub... when it's in the corner. But, we put floorstanders where they image best, not where they excite the most bass modes. If fact, where speakers seem to image bass, they tend to produce unholy (hole filled) low bass.
Subs ameliorate this problem by permitting specialised placement for the lowest octaves while leaving the floor standers in the middle of the room where they image the best.
For those with speakers rammed in the corners, ignore this post.
Cheers,
Presto
What you say is, generally, true. However, the smoothness of their FR is greatly impacted by room modes and the placement of the speakers with respect to these modes. The effects extend up to the critical frequency which, in domestic rooms, is in the range from 200-400Hz.
However, most users position the speakers for general balance and for imaging/soundstage with reference to the MLP. A position chosen for that is highly unlikely to be good for minimizing the influence of modes. By transferring much of the LF to subs and placing them to minimize modal excitation can result in an overall improvement in low(ish) frequencies as well as, potentially, extending the FR.
Good floorstanders that can do 30 Hz with authority are expensive. Unless you have full freedom to put the speakers and the listening position anywhere in the room, then placement may become a huge tradeoff as bass is room mode dependent. You may find the speakers anaemic in bass and that has everything to where in the room the speakers are (room modes) with respect to the listener position and not the bass capabilities of the speakers themselves.
A good subwoofer is much cheaper than good floorstanders and will do bass better than the speakers. A subwoofer can be placed independently from the speakers thus allowing a more even bass response than where the speakers are located. Thats the reason for subs in music.
yes indeed ... and so many use their gear for both HT and music it just makes sense to have the option in place
regards,
My Joseph Audio 'Pulsar' stand mounts talk a good line in the brochure about playing 42 Hz and in truth I can even hear 40 Hz if I play a test signal.
But 6dB down is a LOT and the 'Pulsars' are 6dB down at about 40 Hz.
My horns are even worse. Folded bass bins do play 60 Hz and I can hear it but it's 9dB down compared to a 500 Hz test tone.
But I can enjoy music without a sub in both of my systems so have yet to spring for one.
With the nearest neighbors nearly 1000 ft away, might spring for a sub one day.
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