Subwoofer

"still most subwoofers own a slow response." So is there a commonly published measurement or some design criteria that separate the winners from losers in your opinion? Besides Duke's innovative approach mentioned above, was there a "game-changer" in subwoofer design that sets more recent apart from older ones?

When you say "your clients" you imply industry affiliation. You should disclose that in signature of your posts. 
Cheers,

Spencer

I guess it’s fair to say, "all speakers benefit from using a good subwoofer." So, in general, will good speakers with dual subs sound better than very good speakers without subs?

So while adding a single subwoofer will offer the benefit of improved bass extension, adding multiple smaller subs and spreading them around intelligently will additionally result in smoother bass throughout the room.

Duke, does your opinion change if I am only interested in good bass at a single location in the room?  In my case, I have a dedicated, albeit small listening room where I listen from a fixed location.  

That’s my take on why people rule subs out. After having much difficulty integrating one their first attempts having a less than great experience they become frustrated give up and rule them out. Ill suspect an issue in the room before a $1500 rel. It comes to mind when I see comments suggesting subs sound "bad", or subs just aren’t for me. That would suggest only certain personality types are suited to subs. That’s silly. I’m convinced they just haven’t "cracked the code" and had subs and the room properly dialed in. Or might be too overzealous with gains. Once you have its a whole new ear opening experience. Bass blossoms all around, it submerges you, yet not to overwhelm. In turn it highlights contrasting frequencies. That I believe is what gives a greater sense of depth and realism to the sound stage. Vision is a sense that reacts positively to contrasting colors making opposing colors appear more vivid than they actually are, standing them further out. Hearing being a sense why would it be any different? As I sit and listen that’s what seems to be going on, and it makes perfect sense to me ;) Full size mains can achieve the same effect quite well, but you can still make it bigger, better.