Do you think you need a subwoofer?


Why almost any one needs subwoofers in their audio systems?

I talk with my audio friends about and each one give me different answers, from: I don't need it, to : I love that.

Some of you use subwoofers and many do in the speakers forum and everywhere.

The question is: why we need subwoofers ? or don't?

My experience tell me that this subwoofers subject is a critical point in the music/sound reproduction in home audio systems.

What do you think?
Ag insider logo xs@2xrauliruegas

I'm happy with my Genelec 8351Bs that reproduce accurately down to 32 Hz with no subwoofer. Most of what I listen to, i.e. recordings of acoustical instruments and ancient 78 RPM records, isn't recorded below that, anyway, so I don't care. It would be nice to have one, but the amount of expense and trouble I'd have to go to to get something appropriate would be far disproportionate to the amount of enjoyment I'd get out of hearing the handful of recordings I listen to with crazy-low notes. I have better things to worry about.

Dear @mke246: Well, your powered 3-way monitors are really good ( I had the opportunity to listen it. ) specially at near field position.

The weakness ( if any ) is when you have a greater room and don't listen at near field position where the bass range at higher SPL just distorts, nothing is perfect and in my case even that normally I listen at near field position my room is to big and I listened to evry kind of MUSIC with low bass content. I don't know how you considere Organ instrument as an acoustic o0ne or not but not only the organ scores but what mijos posted about the venue breaths.

I don't know the kind of room you have and your seat position but maybe you are acandidate to integrate a pair of subs using only low-pass filter, using the subs as a low bass reinforcement crossover30hz-40hz 8th order filter shape. Just thinking " loud "..

 

R.

Good points, I may think about getting a pair of Genelec 7360s in the distant future. Not something I really need but might be fun to have. I mostly work on ancient acoustical and early electrical recordings from the 1910s through 1933 or so, and the bass response on those cuts off around 100 Hz on the acousticals and maybe 50 Hz on the really well-recorded electricals. Even 100-year-old records are often surprisingly high-fidelity if restored properly. I have a few Fats Waller organ records which are very well-recorded for the 1920s with big luscious room tone, but they don’t test the monitors’ capabilities in the least. I do listen to modern music on streaming on rare occasion and remember just how great my equipment is! I’m almost always in my office in the near field restoring old records. If I have a listening party I can use a different GLM setup and tilt the monitors a bit to move the sweet spot back. Subs would be overkill for my needs, but I guess I’ll keep them in the back of my mind. It may be a while--there’s always a more pressing need like getting more custom stylii made or a rare record. Down the road, I could see squeezing them into the budget.

@mke246 Cool Loudspeaker. I assume you have them up on stands? I saw Ain't Misbehavin 3 times. 

Think of it this way, you are getting two subwoofers to improve the performance of your Genelecs. Your woofers cross to the midrange at 320 hz. Middle C is 256 Hz. Your woofers are handling a very important chunk of the midrange. The Doppler effect inducing frequencies start at about 100 Hz and the effect increases as the frequency goes down, the worse being under 40 Hz. Genelec did a smart thing by rolling off the woofers at 32 Hz to save power and avoid the worst of the problem, but it is still there. Subwoofers used with a two way crossover will lower distortion in your Genelecs. I can't believe the processor that comes with them does not have digital bass management considering they also sell subwoofers. I am all in on  active speakers. The excellent latency and group delay performance of your speakers is due to digital processing. The easiest way to integrate subwoofers into a system is digital bass management and you are already there. When you do play modern recordings the bass will put a big smile on your face. 

I have a bunch of 78s. I can hear through to the instruments and voices and extrapolate to what the real sound must have been like, but the sound is awful. They are fun to play. Many of them have severely tortured spindle holes from changer use, talking about wow. I use an Ortofon specifically for 78's. It has a humongous stylus.  I also have a collection of popular music on 10" discs, the 45's of the day. 

One of the tragedies of my life was my Grandmother's ancient Victrola with the flowered horn. I thought I had dibs on it, but it got sold out from under me. I've never seen another that was in such good shape. 

Dear @mke246  : Good. The other parameter that we have to know with your Genelec's is at what frequency crossover those 8" woofers to the mid-range....

 

R.