Why I'm not adding a sub to my 2-way monitors for music

A quick update on my experience with SVS Micro 300 and Harbeth m30.1.

A beautiful pairing. Like they’re made for each other. The sub simply fills in the bottom range of most music. The SVS phone app makes all the difference; I would not consider a sub without a remote app now. I find myself changing volume by recording; the sub extends the range if there’s anything "down there". Could be subtle or dramatic - my choice based upon recording. But the extension is always appreciated. Makes the Harbeths into a full range setup. The app gives me almost real time control of volume, low pass filter, and other settings.

The sub itself seems fast and I notice no timing issues. Integration was not brain surgery either. Just not hard with the app and some basic knowledge.

If you’re on the fence, just do it. My guess is you’ll be very happy.

@steveashe

Agree on that. Do the same. Run front speakers (Salon 2’s) full range and adding a velo 15 dd+ to that. The velo goes a little deeper and gives more distortion free spl at lower freq. Gives the opportunity to easily adjust the support from the sub to the recording (or movie). Some recordings need and some music can take more bass. The best of two worlds and not so much talked about. All speakers eq’ed to the room with a combination of Dirac and Roon.

after i sold my horse and buggy, i set eyes on delivering meself from the tryranny of a DBA... als, i am still hostage ... yet we sleep, we dream of bass ...

Steveashe, good to know the M30.1 has worked out for you. The 30.1 certainly does not go too deep in the bass, reaching down to 50 Hz on paper which in my book is inadequate. Although my current Marten Dukes go down to 38 Hz, I still added a sub to the speakers. I am happy to report that the integration of the sub in my system is quite seamless as well.

I attribute the successful implementation to 2 main factors - positioning of the sub which is of utmost importance, and secondly, isolating the sub with proper isolation product. Placing the sub on spikes or directly on the floor without spikes is a rather serious compromise as I have just found.

PS - I heard Debussy's La Mer, LA Philharmonic last night.  Simply an outstanding presentation with deep (for non-Organ) bass notes throughout.  Outstanding.

I also heard tracks from the Hsu/Boston Audio Society that had deep organ notes.  I could see the woofers moving, but to be honest, they were pushing rope!

So, for sure, there are limits to the performance of a 6.5" mid-woofer, but as a lifestyle choice this is an outstanding setup for a small simple system.