I am on the opposite camp. In my many years of audio I have always used subwoofers with small and large speakers, but I only like augmenting, speaker-level-connection subwoofers such as REL and MJ Acoustics. When well blended to come "from underneath the mains" as an old REL brochure read, they will improve any speaker in my experience. And the most improvement is not primarily on bass, but on ambiance and soundstaging.
Why are subwoofers so polarizing?
I will admit I have never been a proponent of subwoofers in a 2 channel system. Maybe i've not heard the proper set up or the level of sub was not equal to the speaker. The last great application was over 20 years ago when I heard a Pro-Ac Tablette with a forgotten subwoofer. I'm sure in the last 20+ years the technology has improved but why are subs still mainly limited to home theater systems? As always I appreciate your time and thoughts.