Vinyl and subwoofers


I have a pair of Thiel 3.6 and a Thiel ss1 sub with the prescribed Thiel crossover. I have a pretty good vinyl rig with a Clearaudio performance se, Stradivari cartridge and a ARC PH8 phonostage. Although the Thiels go down to 20hz, an audiogon member  persuaded me that I was missing something without a subwoofer. What I have heard with the Thiel SS1 sub and prescribed crossover is an amplification of record imperfections I was not aware of without the sub. As well, the overall sound seems often muddied. Has anyone else had this problem with vinyl? Is this a problem with my setup? Any insights are very appreciated.
golferboy
The sub when properly set up will better the mids and highs.  It seems that yours is not set up properly....you shouldn't be aware that there is a sub operating.
I think Stringreen is correct Some of it could also be due to isolation problems with your rack and turntable support but usually it's a set up issue.
Bad setup. Acoustic treatment, and EQ are your Rx.

Unfortunately too many times (most of the time) buyers think subs are as easy to set up as their mains. They are not, they are an order or magnitude more difficult and takes specialized knowledge, which anyone can learn, but it takes time.


Contact GIK Acoustics, and either get an auto-calibrating EQ for your sub, or get some one to properly integrate it for you.

Best,

Erik