Initially i was underwhelmed by adding a second sub. Sure it helped a bit with staging and loading the room but all in all it didnt seem like the gamechanger i expected. Fast forward and i'm trying a new amp, and whenever i make electronic changes i initially turn the subs off to do a:b comparisons (i don't know why) and my inital reactions to the new amp were mixed - cleaner less distortion and better at high volumes, all of which i liked, but the soundstage was now very much defined almost like a frame by the speakers, as opposed ti the whole front of the room. I listened for a few days, decided i could live with and enjoy the new amp despite this trade off, and turned the subs back on. Wow, everything got better - soundstAge was even bigger than before with the old amp, tones got more depth and instruments were more clearly placed, more musical and engaging. Blew me away! And i'm not using high end equipment, subs are vintage rel amp change was vintage krell to NAD m22v1, speakers thiel 2.3.
Finally Learned: Subs serve much larger role than adding more low bass
I sold my older powered sub a while back. reasons-
1. It did not integrate well.
2. I was pretty satisfied with my 2 speakers bass output.
3. Was big, heavy and ugly.
After traveling around the counrty and listening to home systems put together by people who know their way around the industry I realized they all have something I did not. A well integrated bass array.
So what does a bass array add to a 2.0 system?
This is where words fail but I will try:
-Increased Involvement in the listening experience
-More enjoayble sound stage
So if you are like I was, a sub denier, I suggest you try one small
sub, as I did, and see what you experience. My $500 REL T5x experience
did it for me. Now I will buy a second one.