To any one who is interested in my opinion about art of sound subwoofers, here is my review:
My name is Meni , for some time I have heard talk about the benefit of a adding subwoofer to the sound system. For myself, I didn't think that my speakers(Jean Marie Reinaud, Offrande) need any help because they can go pretty low (30hz) and my listening room is not big. I have always thought that the lower frequencies that they produce are clean and very "punchy).
My amplification is the Musical Fidelity A3cr combo, and the CD player is the Roksan Caspian with Kimber Silver Streak interconnect and the oval 9 cables.
Another thing that I knew was, matching the sub to the speaker is a hard thing to do right, and many people have tried and failed. But, I thought that I will try to give it a chance, and I was searching for a Rel subwoofer.
During my search, I have heard about the Art Of Sound company and I was impressed with the web site (www.artofsound.net). I called, and spoke with Dave Craig ,the designer. I was very impressed with his knowledge and with the fact that he didn't try to "push" his product. I asked for "an audition at home" and he agreed.
The finish of the subwoofer that I got (Cynergy ) was perfect. The sub is beautiful. No other word can describe it differently. It is very heavy too.
I connected the sub and put the volume level in the middle and the frequency at 30 Hz. I didn't know what to put on the CD first for the test so I picked something with plenty of bass from pop music. Usually I listen to jazz and classical music but I have few pop music CD, and one of them is the Michael Jackson "thriller"
that remind me of my youth. I put track 9 ( the lady of my life) and set down.
My first impression was total surprise. The last thing that I expected happend. Instead of having more bass, there was clean punchy, accurate bass. so I checked to see if the sub was on and it was. When I turned it of and listen to that track I have noticed that without the sub the lower frequencies were not as clear as with the sub and the sound was a little bit "boomy" ( only in comparestment, since I have never felt that before.)
The second test was completely amazing. I have a CD which I don't like because of the second track. the CD is "I will be your Baby Tonight" by Bernadette Peters and the name of the song is "I make Him Feel Good". On that track, the bass was to strong for my ears, and I didn't know what would happened if I add to a subwoofer. Again it was a very big surprise when I listened to that song with the sub. It was like the sub performed as a room corrector and fixed that problem. Again the sound was much clearer on the lower frequencies. For the first time I enjoyed listening to that song. Then I tried some organ music ( JeanGuillow performing Pictures at an Exhibition. 24kt dor-9917) what a joy. I never thought that I would enjoy that CD as much as I did. With any music that I tried (in the last 2 months) this sub added so much purity and power to the sound. The lower half octave that I was missing before is present now with authority and purity. No one ever noticed that I have a subwoofer in my system because it is placed behind the couch ( 3 feet left of the left speakers) and the sound appears like it is coming from my Offrandes. It is like the Offrandes "big brother" that is there to give the support when the time is right ( 30 Hz). I am still amazed again and again how big the different is between listening with or without this sub. At the beginning, I asked my wife to participate in the audition and played her music with and without the sub, without telling her when it was on or off. It was very funny when she said every time that she prefered the sound without the sub because it is more musical without the boomy bass (not knowing that is actually was with the sub on...)
