Who Uses a subwoofer(s)?

[D10]

Here are some of my thoughts about SL and subs:
– Generally SLs do not need subs! It is perfect enough design that can cover entire frequencies spectrum
– Do subs help ? Yes! But primary not in bass like many people think. They help in 2 important things :
1. Soundstage
2. Instruments body and texture
– Question is where to put crossover point. SL have one of the best midranges on the market, matched only by Quad 57. If you go up with crossover point you will ruin lower/upper bass and midrange as well. My crossover point is 25Hz. Now you can ask why that so low point has anything with midrange – it does ! Huge! The key is overtones from mids that come very low. You can not hear them individually but in the context of music as a whole – they have big influence
I have pair of REL 212/SX and with their design they match flawlessly with my SL U-745
D

[ACHiPo]

I find that the “swarm” approach of multiple subs works well in my room. Each sub is set up and positioned and phase/volume adjusted individually to minimize room modes. In addition to spacial reinforcement, multiple subs minimize the work each sub needs to do since the overall effect is additive.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/a-diy-swarm-based-distributed-bass-array-for-sota-bass

The swarm subs had a bigger impact with my Kef Ref 207/2 dynamic speakers, but I find the SoundLabs benefit from them as well.

I have 2 12” Rythmik subs stacked centered between and ~2’ behind my Majestic 745s. I have a DIY dual 10” opposed sub positioned in the null to the right of my primary listening position. This is slaved to the Rhythmiks. Low pass is set at 40 Hz and bass in the room goes below 20 Hz. The main benefits are venue ambience and a bit more excitement/emotion on bass and drum heavy music.

[kilkil]

Before the Soundslabs, I had Quad2905 in my main listening room and had a Rythmik direct-servo Sub just to add a little rumble to the low end, i had the low pass crossover set to 44hz.

The Soundlabs (922) have much more bass than the Quads and after a listening session, I decided I didn’t have a need for the Sub.

Now the Quads are in my office and because the room is smaller, they have more bass and they are generally used for low level background near field listening, and I opted to sell the Sub.

[TWB]

While Sound Labs are considered a “full range” speaker and can go as low as 24hz in the larger sized panels, some owners have opted to add one or more sub woofers to their system. Personally, I have never felt the need. Opera, Classical, Jazz, Blues, Country, Piano, Hawaiian, Choral, TexMex, Folk and Rock & Roll are my favorite genres, but I have never felt the need for the additional slam some audiophile/music lovers crave. The additional complication and clutter involved with subs is also a deterrent.

Please weigh in with your thoughts and experience!

• This topic was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by TWB.

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