What percentage of audiophiles use a sub ?

BOOM BOOM BOOM A BOOB SUBWOOFER MOOM LIKE BOOM BOOM BOOM REL OR BOOM JL BOOM AND MAYBE BOOB BOOB A VELODYNE BOOM IS NICE BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM

Mlsstl

Completely agreed. Hence, my last post started with "Mlsstl, I agree". I was only amplifying on your comments.

Subs aren't for everyone and you can !definitely! end up worse off with subs if you don't get it just right.

Marty

Hi,

for me, the point is not getting more Boom, but extending frequency range.
And for that it doesn't matter if ou are using subs or full range speakers.

Many instruments show some amount of very low frequencies (e.g. wehen strings ar plucked, drums are beaten etc.), and several larger concert halls have modes at low frequencies (The Vienna Musikverein @ 21 Hz).

This means that the room interferes with those low fequencies.
If they are missing, because the setup cannot go that low, the music will sound flat, not spaceous.

An important thing here is that the listening room needs to have a good (dry) bass response.

If that is not the case, any sub oder fullrange speaker willsound boomy, which is awful.

Cheers

Babak

BOOM BOOM BOOM A BOOB SUBWOOFER MOOM LIKE BOOM BOOM BOOM REL OR BOOM JL BOOM AND MAYBE BOOB BOOB A VELODYNE BOOM IS NICE BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM

= subs done entirely wrong. "BOOM" is not at all the point. If this is the limits of your experience with subs then you've never heard subs well integrated into a system.

I agree with most of what Byroncunningham said, above. I have not had good experience with integating subs into my 2-channel system. I dislike overbrearing and, more especially, one-note bass. I have never heard a sub-based system that delivers the delicate differentiation of sounds in the sub-40 Hz region, if one can refer to the bass region as delicate. I find that it's not about the notes per se, but rather it's more about the space and air between the notes. Most sub-based systems just sound electronic and artificial to me.

Granted, I have not heard everything or any of your individual systems. The only two solutions that have heard and believe came close to providing "authentic" bass are the (now discontinued) NHT Xd system and the Meridian Tri-Field system. The NHT demo I heard was very, very good, but I did not care for the presentation of the midrange and upper scale.

The Meridian system was better by far, not only in the bass response but the presentation of the entire soundstage. It was the best "stereo" imaging I have ever heard. But it is an expensive system (needs Meridian full-range speakers), is SS only - no tube options, and difficult to integrate with an analog front end.

For now, I am using Audio Note AN-E speakers. With the right corner positioning I get excellent bass response with only a minimal fall off below 40 Hz. No sub required.