One of the reasons bought my Oberon 3's are for their low end, expecting that I would get the coveted "doesn't need a subwoofer" experience. Paired with the Cambridge Audio CXA80 it gives well controlled and full-sounding (without frequency dips) bass at all volumes. In the beginning I tried to combine it with my small 7" subwoofer but it didn't seem to add much to the sound.
A few days a go I combined the subwoofer with the 4" PC speakers just for the fun of it and the bass impact blew me away! Both the Oberon 3's and the Nubert subwoofer have a 7" woofer. Despite the bass being tight and well-defined in the case of the Oberon 3's it lacked the impact, which is generous in the case of the subwoofer. You cannot attribute it to the subwoofer having a Class D amp of 500W, it actually has a Class A/B amp with 100W RMS/150W peak. The Cambridge Audio CXA80 delivers 120WRMS per channel at 4Ohms, so you can't attribute the change to a more powerful amplifier or a different amplification class. Weight is another story though, 13kg for the subwoofer, 6kg each for the bookselfs, as is port dimensions: in the case of the subwoofer the port is around twice as wide and twice as deep and down firing.
Looks like if you focus the design of the speaker to the reproduction of low notes you can achieve way more than is possible with full-range speakers. Maybe floorstanders with internal cabinet isolation between the woofer and midrange drivers perform better, i.e. deliver the impactful sound that even a small subwoofer can have.
A few days a go I combined the subwoofer with the 4" PC speakers just for the fun of it and the bass impact blew me away! Both the Oberon 3's and the Nubert subwoofer have a 7" woofer. Despite the bass being tight and well-defined in the case of the Oberon 3's it lacked the impact, which is generous in the case of the subwoofer. You cannot attribute it to the subwoofer having a Class D amp of 500W, it actually has a Class A/B amp with 100W RMS/150W peak. The Cambridge Audio CXA80 delivers 120WRMS per channel at 4Ohms, so you can't attribute the change to a more powerful amplifier or a different amplification class. Weight is another story though, 13kg for the subwoofer, 6kg each for the bookselfs, as is port dimensions: in the case of the subwoofer the port is around twice as wide and twice as deep and down firing.
Looks like if you focus the design of the speaker to the reproduction of low notes you can achieve way more than is possible with full-range speakers. Maybe floorstanders with internal cabinet isolation between the woofer and midrange drivers perform better, i.e. deliver the impactful sound that even a small subwoofer can have.
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