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does a subwoofer kill stereo sound?

I was wondering whether adding a subwoofer to a pure stereo system would cause any harm to the soundstage and other features of the system. What are your experiences? Should one buy a subwoofer to complement a great bookshelf pair (that may be lacking some bass) or necessarily one would have to buy a new par of speakers with deeper bass?
tvfreak

Showing 2 responses by bdgregory

bdgregory
1,721 posts
 
I find the contrary to be the case, provided you have a good sub, properly integrated. The deep bass opens up the sound stage a lot as compared to a stereo that rolls off at ~50hz +, and in no way degrades the stereo separation or imaging.
bdgregory
1,721 posts
 
Regarding soundstage... In my own experience adding a subwoofer seems to perceptually expand the soundstage, particularly the depth. Larry Greenhill has mentioned the same effect in his subwoofer reviews for Stereophile.

This is exactly my experience.

Further, some of the assertions made in this thread seem to be based on a "perfect world" basis where we have unlimited funds, and unlimited flexibility in our listening environment. I think when you allow for the fact that this is rarely true for most of us, a subwoofer will provide a more optimal imaging than the alternative full range floor standers that may have limited low end due to budget, or sub optimal placement due to room limitations.
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