Do you think you need a subwoofer?

Great articles posted by Davehrab.
They explain it perfectly.
I lived with the REL Stadium II subwoofer in my system for 10 years and loved every minute of it but my main speakers are large floor standing units incorporating 12" paper cone woofers with NO crossovers.
The adjustments available for the REL allowed for beautiful integration but mainly because the main speakers were going down well to 40 Hz.
The only criticism I have with subwoofers (or any drivers that have adjustment available).....is the sheer TEMPTATION to fiddle.
On some music tracks, the bass is satisfyingly solid and deep, but on others there appears to be a distinct lack of it because in fact that was how the track was recorded, engineered and pressed.
But the sheer differences in the bass quality between records, tempts one to turn it UP for one record, and then turn it DOWN for others.
This eventually destroys the careful set-up procedures outlined in the articles attached by Davehrab.
A year ago I bought the Halcro DM58 monoblock amps which are able to drive my main speaker's woofers down to 28 Hz and I found the REL subwoofer was not going below this in my room anyway.
I now have no subwoofer and have removed the temptation to add or eliminate bass.
What the record has....I get.

Raul,

Davehrab posted 2 links when you first raised this issue.
Go back to first page of this Forum to click the links.

Here are two articles that you might find very interesting. They go a little beyond what is normally touched on here in the forum.

Read THIS and THIS

I've intergrated my 15 inch Velodyne sub to my NHT3.3 main speakers (which are -3db@ 23hz) by setting the sub crossover at 45hz just like the article says, and it works GREAT.

Easy, and quick reading ... soon the student will be the teacher.

Good Luck, Dave
Davehrab (Threads | Answers)

Raul, whilst I may query your selection of turntables and arms on occasion, I must tell you how right you are about the utilisation of two subwoofers over one.
For 10 years I had a single REL Stadium II subwoofer integrated in my system and was quite happy with the sound. After installing the Halcro DM58 monoblocks, I found that they drove my full-range speakers down to the same low frequencies as did the REL.....so for the last 2 years I have lived happily without any subwoofers. Your thoughts, and those of Richard Hardesty in the Audio Perfectionist convinced me to try two subs in my system. I purchased two Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofers, and after some help from John Rutan of Audioconnection in integrating them properly, I must admit that everything you say about having two instead of one is correct. The extra extension into the lower octaves is probably the LEAST important improvement wrought. The entire musical presentation has rocketed to a previously unimaginable level. The 3 dimensional space between and behind instruments has snapped into such dramatic relief that guests who listen, turn to each other in disbelief. The sound of the main speakers have an ease and purity together with seemingly unlimited headroom, and listening to full symphony orchestras with a solid bass foundation is as close to the real thing as I have experienced. It's great to have your contributions on this forum.......it's just that you may not be right ALL of the time?

Raul,
There are scientific studies done that show that 4 subwoofers are better than 2. Of course they ran a computer plot to show that the ideal in a SMALL rectangular room was 5000 subs.....not much room for the listeners however :)

Raul,
Here is the link from Two Subwoofers - comb effect.
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs...