What percentage of audiophiles use a sub ?

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.

Most full range speakers still lack deep bass and I think a sub that is integrated well fills out the bottom regions when done right. Plain and simple most speakers just don't get below 28-30Hz. My last set of speakers played down to 30Hz but I knew there was much more bass in some of the CD's I played and it pissed me off sometimes because I wanted to feel it, knew it was there and they couldn't play it. Now I have floor standing monitors and a sub I KNOW the sub needs to be integrated better but when the music has the sub bass regions it hits but not like a thud or totally inaccurate bass. Takes time to get it to integrate but I will get it there soon and overall I like the sub and don't regret downsizing somewhat. Its basically a personal preference so be happy with what you got and enjoy the music. Happy 4th :)

Well, perhaps some of my issue with subs and people's description's of "deep bass" is that almost no acoustically produced music goes anywhere near as low as 28Hz. Some pianos don't even go that low. An organ, some pianos, perhaps a doublebass provided with a low C extension, maybe a contrabass trombone, I'd have to look that up, or the very largest tuba, that's about it. And very rarely are those notes actually called for even on these instruments, and when they are, they don't sound anything like any sub I have ever heard, even a well-integrated one (I have heard them both in stores and in people's homes). So I do repeat that they are really only for movies and electronically produced music, and are simply not necessary for listening to acoustically produced music. In fact, if they are used for this, the result is invariably not realistic sounding, IME. The timbres are just not right.