Subwoofers: are they really necessary for home audio?

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After reading all the comments above, the way I see it is that those systems that perform poorly need a subwoofer or for those you who want live sound (which is not hi-fi). Thankfully my system gives the bass that I want i.e the way the sound engineer recorded it. For info: my speakers use the corners of the room as an extention, giving me good bass.

As an aside, has anyone ever heard a recording taken straight from the mixing desk before any enhancements and mixing, it actually has more dynamics and maybe you guys with subs would perhaps enjoy it more?

Using boundary gain to achieve LF response IS NOT hifi....sorry if you have your definitions all muddled up.
 
"" I don't believe in measurements, squiggly lines on a graph don't tell me much ""

Oh really? I suppose those squiggly lines you learned to decipher when you were in kindergarten didn't matter much.
OK, so let's all un-learn how to read a graph, a scope, numbers, sentences, words, letters, et.al.
Our civilization was built on those squiggly lines..........if those squiggly lines are beyond you....learn it. Use it, embrace it. "Doesn't sound right" simply will not do.......If it doesn't "sound right", find out why, measure all that you can....if you can't measure a difference, develop a process that can.
Then you can add to the world a whole new series of "squiggly lines".



________________________________________________Rick..........
 
"" I don't believe in measurements, squiggly lines on a graph don't tell me much ""

Oh really? I suppose those squiggly lines you learned to decipher when you were in kindergarten didn't matter much.
OK, so let's all un-learn how to read a graph, a scope, numbers, sentences, words, letters, et.al.
Our civilization was built on those squiggly lines..........if those squiggly lines are beyond you....learn it. Use it, embrace it. "Doesn't sound right" simply will not do.......If it doesn't "sound right", find out why, measure all that you can....if you can't measure a difference, develop a process that can.
Then you can add to the world a whole new series of "squiggly lines".



________________________________________________Rick..........

Sorry but I'll stick to the true and tested way of designing crossovers that's been used for the last fifty years. I've seen and heard so many ****-ups made by people trying to manipulate their little squiggly lines on their graphs, it's unreal.
 
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my little experience might not be much, but I used to have stereo subs.
For most music, there's pratically no musical information under 40hz. My subs didnt really create a sound, more like a sound pressure but really, for my needs it was not so important.

I think subs are necessary when your mains doesnt go low enough, or too liberate the difficult task of a midbass to do under 60 hertz, but I dont think its necessary otherwise. if your mains go to around 40hz flat, for most music, its not necessary to have 30 hz flat imo.
 
my little experience might not be much, but I used to have stereo subs.
For most music, there's pratically no musical information under 40hz. My subs didnt really create a sound, more like a sound pressure but really, for my needs it was not so important.

I think subs are necessary when your mains doesnt go low enough, or too liberate the difficult task of a midbass to do under 60 hertz, but I dont think its necessary otherwise. if your mains go to around 40hz flat, for most music, its not necessary to have 30 hz flat imo.
True, the octave of music below 40 cycles often has no more need to be heard than the octave above 8000 Hz :rolleyes:.

If one primarily listens to music produced for vinyl recordings, it is true that there is little content below 40 Hz. Trying to put frequencies below 40 Hz on vinyl required reducing overall recording level and/or the length of recording time. 45 RPM 12" single song vinyl records could dig a lot deeper than a 33 RPM LP, but still were limited in low frequency.

Music that has been mixed for digital release does not have that restriction, I hear (and see on a RTA) plenty of pop musical content down in the 20 Hz region, and believe me, I'm not listening to pipe organs or hip hop.

Art Welter
 
my little experience might not be much, but I used to have stereo subs.
For most music, there's pratically no musical information under 40hz. My subs didnt really create a sound, more like a sound pressure but really, for my needs it was not so important.

I think subs are necessary when your mains doesnt go low enough, or too liberate the difficult task of a midbass to do under 60 hertz, but I dont think its necessary otherwise. if your mains go to around 40hz flat, for most music, its not necessary to have 30 hz flat imo.

Aphex Twin "Logan Rock Witch":

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my little experience might not be much, but I used to have stereo subs.
For most music, there's pratically no musical information under 40hz. My subs didnt really create a sound, more like a sound pressure but really, for my needs it was not so important.

I think subs are necessary when your mains doesnt go low enough, or too liberate the difficult task of a midbass to do under 60 hertz, but I dont think its necessary otherwise. if your mains go to around 40hz flat, for most music, its not necessary to have 30 hz flat imo.

I agree.
 
Did you guys spend the last decades in cryo? I just posted a spectrogram showing how much low frequency content can be found on a recording.

We are going to have to agree to disagree on this subject, what you call music today isn't what we call music. Btw how does Whitney Houston sound on your system, on mine she sounds fantastic, nothing like a female voice to push a system to it's limits.
 
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this subject, what you call music today isn't what we call music. Btw how does Whitney Houston sound on your system, on mine she sounds fantastic, nothing like a female voice to push a system to it's limits.

Who is "we"? I choose Aphex Twin because murphythecat8 had it in his sig. Name something you call music. Whitney Houston? Seriously?
 
Two spectrum samples of music that I like.

The Kalevi Kivinemi organ record was recorded digitally at a cathedral. Not very much signal <30Hz.

Joss Stones new digitally recorded 24/96 release. It has a lot of "something" below 30Hz, I think that they simulated -40dB rumble noise from a turntable, because the producer said that they wanted it to sound "analog".

There are differencies also within same category of music. A recording engineer and the team want to give a signature to the sound. Low frequency content is just one way to do it.
 

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