Does a Sub Need To Match Other Speakers

[bigboss]

I'm using floor standing speakers and they are set to small, audyssey set mine to large. This is something you have to accept as part of the setup process. The exception in my setup is that for stereo use they are set to large and no sub. This is an option in the Marantz, so when i use the Linn for music that input is set to those settings.
The main difference maybe that i use a mini DSP for setting up the sub. The base is not booming.

I manually changed them to small during Audyssey setup.

 

[AJM1981]

If I only cared about movies and kind of searched for what the most average of cinemas offer in experience I would not really care about connecting frequenties and a lot of subs would receive a pass. But in case of music I would search for a well extending sub to my loudspeakers, only have them subtly extended.

It has taken me a while to go through reasonably priced subs, writing down specs I needed and selecting the one that delivered the best customization and lowest frequencies so it could extend my larger Wharfedale evo 4.2 standmounts only a bit. Not everything goes because most subs in that category are heavily overlapping in frequencies.

 

[treesey]

So which sub did you go for? Evo 4.2 specs claim FR of 54-22k

 

[AJM1981]

So which sub did you go for? Evo 4.2 specs claim FR of 54-22k

I went for the B&W ASW608, own it already for over a year or so I guess

The Evo 4.2.
Freq response - 54Hz ~ 22kHz
Bass extension 48hz (it has some bottom freq room)

B&W ASW608
Freq response 25 to 140 Hz
Cut off can be dialed all the way, which means it can connect at preference.

A big plus to me is also that it is a small footprint sub which can easily provide all necessary bass power for a living room altough I only use a minimum fraction of it. (it is not for a reasonable non-home cinema, but that's ok).

Seen many subs that don't provide that much floor and only allow a minimum dialing in to somewhere above the ideal extension point. I still have a sub (Polk) like that upstairs, which kind of connects well to my Denton 85 there. But finding subs that fit to print within a certain price range remains a challenge. Most of them are tailored towards smaller bookshelf speakers, which is fine. But the B&W just gives a bit more and receives praise in reviews for doing so. It adds about 4 useful settings rarely found on subs in this price range.

Edit: Just read the What HI-Fi review which gave it 4 stars, they probably have compared it to the likes of the B&W ASW610 or models a bit up the range which go even deeper. But when comparing it to the other models on the even lower priced spectrum, the B&W is a great performer. At least for the EU market (Might miss some UK / US models here)

 

[nopiano]

If you're gaming, you want a close match (same speaker maker and series at least) since things will be panning around you and it sounds weird when a sound changes significantly from one speaker to the next. If not gaming, it's less important, but I'd still want something with a similar tweeter.

Maybe you can show us some sub woofers with matching tweeters? But four months on, I’m not sure why you mention gaming either...

 

[WayneKerr]

Maybe you can show us some sub woofers with matching tweeters? But four months on, I’m not sure why you mention gaming either...

Spammer, nopiano, links in his post - reported!

 

[nopiano]

Spammer, nopiano, links in his post - reported!

Thanks, I did wonder if it was a troll!

 

[Al ears]

Thanks, I did wonder if it was a troll!

sorted, thanks.