Are subwoofers worth the trouble?

Yes, subwoofers can cause trouble. Yes, they are worth the effort. Subwoofers are no more difficult to set up than any other components, its just that they really, really sound bad when less than optimized. There are two key elements to getting great low frequency performance from your system. The first is your room. Can your room support low frequency sound? Room dimensions and type of construction can make or break bass performance. If your room cannot tolerate bass, than you're probably better off staying away from speaker systems that go below 40Hz. The second element is the equipment. No bass at all is better than a cheap/bad subwoofer. My preference is towards mating subwoofers to full range speakers. The deeper your main speakers go, the better the potential integration of the subwoofer. You will have to pay attention to phase cancellation effects. An advantage of this approach is that there's no need for an additional crossover in the main speaker path. REL and Audio Physics have products along these lines. Also, you can probably get smoother, more accurate bass from a subwoofered system than from single speaker systems. Positioning a speaker for accurate imaging, best soundstaging and smooth frequency response can be very difficult. A separate bass module gives greater flexibility in speaker placement. A good subwoofer in a well set up system should not be perceptable unless there's deep bass in the music. For music, subwoofers are NOT an effect, instead they add a sense of naturalness to the music.

You are headed in the right direction by starting with a REL. I have a REL, and this is the last sub woofer that I will ever buy. This sub blends in so well with my mains, that I don't know that it is there until I turn it off, and then I miss it. If your mains have plenty of low base, you probably can do without one, but in my opinion a sub fills out what is already there in a recording, that main speakers sometimes cannot reproduce. The key is to make it blend in so that its not just a boom box.

Very much agree with Onhwy61. He's a "good'un", as John Atkinson likes to say. I agree with highway on every point he describes. Of course I don't use mine for "effect". I'm not a neophyte at this.

His question was if it would be worth the trouble. I was just giving him my experiances and others who I know. So he could make an informed decision. Best to hear it all than just one side. And if he does get the wrong sub for his room or system then he will run into the problems I mentioned. And I just think that the odds of picking a so so one are a lot higher than finding one that will work for him. I was just trying to answer his question are they "WORTH THE TROUBLE"? Apparently you guys got good subs and they work great for you. But I can bet it took a while for you to find the right one and the right placement and the right sound level. Anyways I'm just giving him an idea of what he may get into. And helping him to be objective.

Thanks guys for all your input. The sale of the REL didnt materialize but I did stumble upon the website for the ACI Titan. They will allow an in home trial and will pay shipping both ways if I decide to return it for the cost of $799. Any opinions? Thanks again. Emil