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
What happens techinically if you add a sub? And also, what is the proper way to add a sub? If I plug in the powered sub to a "regular out" on the pre-amp, does the signal somehow only send the lower frequencies to the sub, thereby reducing the "load" on the main speakers woofers?, or is the "signal strength" going out of the pre-amp to both the main amp and the sub-woofer relatively the same strength?
The situation you describe would send the same frequencies or signal strength to sub as to your mains.

In my case, my pre has RCA and XLR outs. I use XLR outs to the amp and RCA outs to the sub. The filters in sub filter out the frequencies you've desired not to have the sub reproduce.
Rwwear, your comments regarding "bass speed" are WAY off in left field.

What is typically referred to as "fast bass" is a low frequency system that suffers from minimal overhang, ringing and has excellent transient response on the whole. To achieve such, most designers typically resort to a sealed design with a Q of between .5 and .7 at the highest. Some have had very good luck with specific driver and TL combinations i.e. the Kef B139.

All of those designs tend to sound somewhat "dry" or "tight and lean" compared to other designs that have similar frequency response curves. This is due to the lack of "bloat" or "ringing" that they AREN'T introducing.

The effect that many people consider "good bass" or "meaty bottom end" is similar to what an electric guitar player looks for in his sound. This is called "sustain", which is a form of ringing distortion. It helps to fill the sound out somewhat by carrying on longer than it would naturally and / or by adding IMD ( intermodulation distortion ). Needless to say, it might sound good but it is not an "accurate" portrayal of what was recorded. The speakers contribute their signature to every recording uniformly. As such, that is a distortion or "coloration" of what one should hear.

Think of "bass weigth" and "bass speed" this way. Try looking at a physically fit, muscular atheletic person and a "slob" that are the same height and weigh the same. One carries themselves much better and efficiently but end up weighing the same in terms of "measurements" that most people can relate to. Not only that, one has a very different presentation than the other. This is true even though they look the same on paper.

I do agree that many times, people confuse lack of extension or "bass weight" for "fast bass". That is primarily just a lack of experience and something that can be corrected with time if they continue on their path to "audio nirvana". Sean
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My point is that a large driver can produce quality bass. It's as simple as that. I have always been a proponent of sealed cabinets because of their fast transient response but that has nothing to do with driver size.

And while I may have been using a shotgun approach to get my point across, the very nature of bass is that it is slower than the higher frequencies.

As far as accuracy goes, who's to say? In order for you to know, you would have to hear exactly what the recording engineer heard. And have you ever been to a live rock concert? Would you really want your system to sound like that? I wouldn't but, it would be accurate if it did.

I don't consider myself an expert nor an audiophile but I do have a high resolution system. And I've been in the sound business many years as a manufacturer and in retail.
Stehno how much music am i missing below say 40hz..very little in most classical music..i prefer to do w/o a sub than to make all manner of attemps to adjust readjust..and so on..i'm into a super superior quality midwoofer AND a top quality amp..if i did not have a tube amp and wanted soild punch i would get a electroacompaniet amp