Are subs worth the price for music?

Low frequencies are part of natural ambience that's everywhere, and subs bring that stuff to the room...not simply the low notes, although clearly that's a good thing, but the sense of reality that's part of live sound. I use 2 RELs with a small tube amp driving efficient speakers, and it sounds like real music.

Interesting arguments for subs folks. I'm going to put at least one, possibly two on my short list. I'm guessing that the Vandy subs might work the best with my 3A's, but as has been pointed out, there are others that seem to work very well also.

Saw a pair of 2wq's on ebay not long ago for a decent price. I'll take another look. Used might be a good way to go, less expensive and if I'm not happy with them I could probably resell and get most of my money back.

Don't know any other a-philes personally except a buddy down south, so I don't get much opportunity to hear other systems............Nearest high end shops are about 80-100 miles away, Baltimore and DC, which makes them inconvenient unless I want to commit a day to "shopping". Haven't done that for a while, might be a fun way to spend a day..........and $$$.

My listening room is 14x23x7'8"..........not huge, but big enough for decent audio. In your experiences is that "enough" room for a sub, subs?.........I also don't have usable corners for placement. Three of the four corners have open doorways. The fourth is occupied by a 500 pound aquarium...............not the easiest thing to move.............All the above might make proper setup for subs problematic, maybe impossible, I don't know.

Your experiences are extremely helpful and appreciated, thanks.

There are very, very few speakers under $100K that would not benefit significantly from subs. So, if your 3's are under $100K, then you could use subs.  :) 

Mr. Schroeder

Uh, yeah, my speakers, my whole kit is well under a hundred K, maybe a third of that...........I'm a champagne taste, beer budget guy...............My friends would call my system extravagantly expensive, crazy even, but they're not audiophiles, so they have different priorities :) In audiophile land, it's a very nice system, but hardly stratospheric.........but I get your point and I am looking into the addition of a sub or subs to compliment what I have.......just not sure if I can make a sub work, given my room layout.............I can do anything I need to with the room, but the construction is what it is, can't close up doorways, etc.. :)

I went from a 2.1 to a 2.0 system and then added the sub back to the system! Honestly, the frequency response of the speaker may be accurately reported by the manufacturer but as pointed out in other posts, the sub gives the system bloom. My floorstanders are pretty much full range but I crossover at 80 Hz, which is a common recommendation for good reason - it sounds the best in my system. I am now on the hunt for a second sub to add to my system to take it up to 2.2. My room isn’t huge: basement man cave measuring about 20’X20’ but with ceilings only 6.5’. I will add that it doesn’t matter what type of music you play; they all benefit from a sub. Acoustic guitar right through to full on electronica. True, some people are never satisfied with the integration of a sub into their system but I sense that their are more happy 2.1 campers than not.