Turned Off My Subwoofer ... And My Speakers Sound Great

FWIW, Jeff Joseph (who personally set up the Pulsars in my room) told me he thinks that because of the small room size, the subwoofer likely overloaded the room with bass. He thinks also that integrating a sub in such a small space is quite challenging. I tend to agree. In any event, this entire process, caused accidentally, has been quite a revelation. I guess everything happens for a reason.

@phillyb The sub is very well designed. It's a great piece of equipment in the right setting and, probably, with the right person (not me) setting it up.

@dpac966 ... I’ve tried it both ways. It has been run parallel with the mains from a second preamp output, and has been run in a loop with the sub output into the power amp input, thereby allowing use of the sub’s internal xover. In both instances, the sound feels compromised compared to running the mains full range without the sub.

I wonder also whether some speakers are meant to be mated with a sub. I recall hearing the Pulsars at various audio shows, and Jeff never used a sub. In addition, since the Pulsars are rear ported, I’ve been advised by some subwoofer industry big wigs to plug the ports which, of course, changes the essential character of the speakers that prompted me to purchase them in the first place. Oy vey!

@erik_squires Thanks for the links. My very small listening room (i.e., 10x9x8 - a converted bedroom) is treated with a variety of items from GIK. Perhaps the room is too small for a 10" sub, or perhaps the treatments negate the need for one at all. Even if adjustments need to be made on the sub, such as more futzing with the x-over, it seems to be a lot of work for a small return. All I can say is that the Pulsars sound really excellent on their own, and I am seriously considering selling the sub.  Sometimes, less is more.

@tomic601  I've heard both versions of the Pulsars in different rooms with different systems. I'm convinced that the Graphene 2 provides an incremental upgrade over the non-Graphene model. On a percentage basis, I'd say it's about a 3% improvement, in which case the law of diminishing returns applies for me.  

@millercarbon ... trust me, it’s way too tight for a DBA in my room. As I read the comments here and think about what has happened, I’ve concluded that a subwoofer is not necessary in every application where a 2 way speaker is used. That was a mistake on my part.

Plainly, room size and treatment play a significant role in subwoofer effectiveness. Sure, I could run the sub in parallel from a second preamp out, but all that does is duplicate the signal going to the power amp and eliminates the xover altogether. Since the Pulsars go down to about 41 Hz, bass is plentiful for me (generally, no low Hz organ notes in my rock/jazz listening). Thus, running in parallel wouldn’t seem to improve things much.

So, I’m back to square one. I’ll keep listening without the sub for a while and, if this sonic improvement holds up through various genres and recordings, then I’ll likely sell the sub. It’s a very nice JL Audio e110, so I don’t think it should be too hard to move.

@tomic601  I'll definitely keep the Pulsars in any event ... they sound wonderful. I have no desire to change speakers.

The more I listen to and enjoy the Pulsars without the sub, the more I'm inclined to bag the sub and avoid the hassle. At this point, I'd rather worry about the music than the gear.

@prof One of the things of concern is the issue of losing the character of the Pulsars by using the sub. For example, I've been advised repeatedly by some audio industry bigwigs to plug the rear port of the Pulsars when using the subwoofer xover. Well, I’ve tried that and it destroyed totally the sound of the speaker that I loved when I heard it at audio shows without a sub. I COULD simply run the Pulsars full range with the sub (and not use the internal xover), thereby just emphasizing the lower end a bit. However, that sort of defeats the purpose of the sub in the first place. I really think the small size of the room, coupled with the GIK room treatments, result in bass overload when using the sub.

@turnbowm ... I had the xover at around 60 Hz, so I don’t think I was mucking up the LF.

@allears4u ... I can relate to the constant futzing around with the sub settings. Ugh!