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35Hz - 25kHz -- A Partial 'Purist'?

It's amazing how much musical information can be found in the lowest bass regions say 30Hz down to below 20Hz, whether classical, folk, instrumental, pop, etc..

Yet, I'm purplexed to see some to many audiophile 'purists' refuse to even attempt to resolve the obvious deficiency in their systems which simply cannot reproduce any musical information in the lowest regions of the frequecy spectrum.

No matter how musical, how refined, and/or how infinite the configurations a good musical subwoofer can offer, the 'purist' simply will not consider adding a subwoofer to supplement their mains. There's too many good subs (you only need one) ranging from $1k to $30k that can be quite quite musical and allow for near-infinite configurations to adapt to most any system and listening preference. And, yes, I am aware there are many more bad subwoofers, but's that's another thread.

As a self-proclaimed 'fundamentalist', my quest is to ensure my 2-channel system is such that any musical information coming from the source stands an excellent chance of being faithfully reproduced for my listening pleasure.

And by adding a musical 18 inch subwoofer, I don't believe I've given up anything.

I would enjoy hearing what others think.
stehno
sean
6,229 posts
 
The Bag End design is VERY unique to say the least. The designer was definitely thinking "outside the box" on that one.

One of my friends used to work for Bag End and told me stories about them. Besides the cabinet's not being built too sturdily ( some reviewers have commented on this ), he told me that many will not meet quality control / spec but are shipped out anyhow. While he was not an audiophile in the least, he told me that he would never buy one knowing what he did. He did know his bass though, as he was both a decent drummer and bass player.

From the reviews on these, i'm assuming that most of them have to be at least pretty close to spec, otherwise they should be getting killed in the reviews. That is, if the reviewers are honest and know how to set subs up to begin with. Then again....

I talked to the designer in person about all of this and he told me it was all hogwash. He also wanted to know what the name of the employee was that told me these "lies" : ) Sean
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nilthepill
842 posts
 
Stehno, I am with you on this. I recently tried to hook up REL storm III with my Dunlavy V's(which in my room goes down to 20Hz). I wanted more, REL cut off at its lowest point, but I could always tell the pressure direction, perticularly the V's beng so time,phase and pulse coherent. I , now use Rel for movies only.
stehno OP
1,453 posts
 
Sean, the construction quality of the Bag End was certainly not the best. That was another reason I did not want to keep it. However, even though it's been more than two years since I've demo'ed it in my home, I was quite impressed with it's low-end bass reproduction and how tight it was for an 18 inch subwoofer. Apparently, it's impressed reviewers as well.
bomarc
501 posts
 
Stehno: You're right in an absolute sense, but all systems involve compromise--at least all price-constrained systems do. I'm not sure I buy your premise that there is "much" musical information below 30 Hz, which is why I'm willing to compromise on a system that doesn't go that low. But if the information that IS down there is important to you, then that's not a parameter you'd want to compromise on.
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
I think some of the reason that subs are not more widely used is that until you've heard one you really don't know what you're missing. So many ported cabinets substitute a hump in the mid bass for real bass that many people aren't really aware what real bass sounds like. My REL sub converted me.
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