Subwoofer for music, how low?

@jheppe815

I fully agree with our assessment of frequency ranges of instruments. Granted some pipe organs with 60 foot long pipes can go lower, most of the musical information is on and above 27 Hz. I don’t buy this theory about reproducing "lowest ambient resonance of the recording venue" using sub-woofer(s). Again it boils down to what is the source.

My home theater setup is based on Yamaha DSP A2070 processor. Yamaha has done extensive research in the area of reproducing ambience of concert halls and venues. I have played with this system using 2-main speakers, one center channel, two rear speakers, two front-effect speakers, two sub-woofers. Listening to music, Yamaha processor can transform your listening room to Concert Hall A, B, two cathedrals, jazz club, etc. One can setup a number of parameters to based on room size, acoustics, to optimize the performance. Yes, I do listen to music on this system too and it does a great job. Two sub-woofers (cut-off at 80Hz) add something to the music, but I cannot say it works every time.  Sub woofers may work for double bass, but it is a distraction for reproducing tabla! But I never felt my main system with Thiel 3.6 speakers lacking anything and it reproduce all types of music I have to my satisfaction.

When you add sub-woofer(s) to the setup, it basically amplify your lowest octave (depends on the cutoff) and add it to the music with an initial delay and reverberations from room reflections. This setup will emphasize lowest octave more than everything else. But this sound will not be coherent nor time-aligned. If that makes you happy, then I am happy for you.