What does a subwoofer solve?

When I listened to my system without a subwoofer I was pleased and could clearly hear stereo separation. But I had heard other systems whereby I heard much deeper frequencies in the music. In those systems I could not always place the lower notes/sounds/instruments but I was surprised I heard that musical information I was missing on my own stereo system. Once I bought one, then two subwoofers I had that same effect. But I do agree, at some point, usually when one spends over $5 to $8k you can get true full range sound from stereo speakers. I do agree with many people commenting here that proper integration with sub and speakers that play well together is key.

Assuming that a quality subwoofer is properly set up as it is added into your system: 

- it will remove the lowest frequencies (the deep bass) from your main speakers so that they no longer have to do all of the dirty work. The deep bass will instead be dealt with by the subwoofer. The #1 benefit of adding a high quality subwoofer to your system is not how it further extends the bass response, but how it can dramatically improve the sound of your existing power amp and main speakers from the midrange on up.
 

- That is by far the most compelling reason to add a sub to your high-end music system. Once your main speakers are freed from the burden of making deep bass, they will sound cleaner, faster and clearer, especially in the midrange and midbass.

- They will also image way better because there will be far less air pressure and therefore resonance and vibration affecting their cabinet walls.

- And since the power required to make the deep bass is provided by the subwoofer’s built-in amplifier, your main power amp will be free from that burden and begin to sound like a much more powerful amplifier

What does a subwoofer solve? That’s a good way to put it, ‘solve’.

The thing is, doing without subs is simply doing without the low register; it simply isn’t there, nothing bad added, so I can understand that some ask why use them, and I too did without them for a long time.

I chose subs for speed and accuracy, not boom boom, and went with the philosophy that says, it’s a stereo, so bring both sides up to spec, so to speak, to fulfill at least 20Hz - 20KHz: and more so, you can’t tell from which direction 18Hz is coming from, but one can sense from where the higher sounds emanate, where the subwoofer’s contribution syncs with the speakers, so two subs make the sync more accurate and thus the soundscape is more accurate.

Since none of my speakers go below 32Hz, a pair of subs brought the floor down to 18Hz.

What they ‘solved’: they contribute the content my system could not previously recreate; they enable the system to transmit more towards the total of the available information.

Adding two subs fundamentally transformed my sound: I’d been building the system for three years and all the care I’d put into it ‘bloomed’ into a higher perfection with them; I felt foolish that I hadn’t prioritized them earlier considering they were some time and work to hunt down, but didn’t cost much.

Before the pair, during the months when I had only one, it clearly helped, but never sounded ‘just right’; it sounded like half the promise of what two could do.

I have a very dynamic system that is in a long room with high ceilings my old speakers "Dunlavy 4's" did a good job with the bass extension.

I now have the brand new "Carver ALS" speakers they don't have bass drivers so a Sub is mandatory

I was asked to demo some "Sun-fire Signature 12" subs I have listened to the Golden Ear's they were very muddy I tried Rel not enough oomph I tried Velodyne they sounded good but a little pricey and they seemed very happy playing movies.

I brought home 2 of the12 inch Signature Sun-fires and was completely blown away my room has a lot of air to fill well let me tell you something those subs are angry! They have so much energy its like there alive! Now I have (4) subs I use 2 of them at around 40 Hz the other 2 around 80Hz, two of the subs are not the original Carver Sun-fires Bob sold the company and a company called "Core brand" screwed them up basically they de-tuned them for liability reasons the Signature puts out about 1,700 peak watts and that's why they are so responsive they have an enormous driver and with the design of the sub-woofer being a 12inch by 12 inch sealed box it takes a lot of power to make the driver push out but even more energy to pull back according to Bob Carver who has become a very good friend of mine he is so passionate about high end audio I love that guy.

I have not heard anything that touches the Sun-fire very tight deep bass the cabnet is only 12 inches by 12 inches they have a nice black finish on them so if you can find a set grab them also because they are older you would be smart to have the drivers re-coned there is a company called "U Robot" there online the owner is very knowledgeable and actually made some modifications to the driver that made a noticeable improvement for I believe $125.00.

I am very grateful I have got to know  Bob Carver he's intense at times after getting his new flagship speakers which he put a lot of time into I decided I wanted to play around with a digital crossover It required a quad amp set-up so I purchased the "Mini HD DSP" and added two more amps that I had it took some time and lots of patience but the end results were beyond my expectations I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Bob's best friend Dave is very smart he gave me quite a bit of advice along the way he told me "your gonna be getting up and down a thousand times messing with that thing!" Well he was right I made adjustments for months and just couldn't get the high end frequencies to smooth out without killing the super highs those speakers like to play. Dave suggested I try a "Dbx 234 xs" analog crossover the Dbx is Pro audio equipment that's been around a long time its very well built and the price was right,

After playing with the Dbx for a couple of days the system came alive in a whole different way it is incredible, the high's that were very scratchy are silky smooth now.

I don't listen to vinyl I have a "Bluesound" streamer and use "Tidal" According to Bob Carver he says that "Tidal" streaming music is better than his $15,000.00 stylis Thats a statement for Tidal! The subwoofer is what ties the whole system together. The "Sunfires" blend into the system like there a part of the towers they are a very important part of the equasion I personally believe the more power the better the sub doesn't have to work as hard its cleaner and not boomy.

My girlfriend was taking a bath one day she didn't know I had returned so I downloaded an earth quake sound track! The track started out with alot of wind sounds then breaking glass with the house trembleing and I mean trembling it was kind of spooky down stairs I cant imagine what she felt upstairs lol all I know is she was calling my name with a very scared voice.

So my answer to the subwoofer question is try the sunfire Signuture!

Robert Purdy

Even for "full range" floor standing speakers, the optimal placement for bass response may not be the optimal placement to produce a big soundstage and clear imaging.  For the latter, you may need to pull them out into the room and away from the walls.  Unfortunately, that probably will reduce the bass response.  A sub(s) allows you to get it back (and then some, if you like).