Is a subwoofer important with floorstanding front speakers?

[Gerrardasnails]

I have finally pieced my 5 speakers together after upgrading from my highly acceptable Jamo A10s. I have Monitor Audio RS6s at the front RSLCR for the centre and have just ordered R90 rears. Given that the bass from my RS6s is excellent, will I notice much from a really good subwoofer? I still have the Jamo 20 watt sub which came with the 5.1 set up. I have my eye on a RSW12 on ebay but don't want to spend when I don't really need to.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Sorry, that should have read 200 watt and not a measly 20!

 

[Anonymous]

As with most things, this will be a matter of opinion. I feel that for the best movie experience, especially action/adventure movies that contain a good deal of deep bass, a sub is essential.

Having good bass from a set of front floorstanders is just that.......bass, not SUB BASS that you get from a SUB! The better your main speakers, the more you will need to spend on a quality sub bass system. Most "lifestyle" 5.1 speaker set-ups can be greatly improved with a £150 subwoofer but YOU may need to spend £750+ to make it worthwhile

Even with my B+W 803's, the addition of my REL Stentor was significant

HTH.

Gerry.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Oldskool"] YOU may need to spend £750+ to make it worthwhile

.[/quote]

Or £400 on e-bay! he he,

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Thanks Oldskool. Anyone else? Andrew, Clare??

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Running 5 speakers and missing out the .1 being the sub then yes ultimatly you will loose out on some LFE action but the actuall amount you miss out on has to outweigh the extra money and space you need for the sub. I have tried a good REL sub in my set up and yes it did give the whole sound slightly more weight to proceeding but not enough extra enjoyment to make me shell out over £500 on the sub.

 

[Anonymous]

if you have room you could try the bk monolith its fast tight and goes very very low! i replaced my mj ref 200 with the monolith and the differnce was staggering, i didnknow subs could move your insides!

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Is that just with reggie or with movies too?

 

[Andy Clough]

A subwoofer isn't absolutely essential, and the speakers you've got are great, but I'd say it's definitely worth adding a sub for movie soundtracks as/when you can. If you can find a RSW12 on ebay at a good price, I'd go for it.

 

[Anonymous]

i would have to agreed the silver rs6 are great speakers will go down to 39hz but the rsw12 is terrific sub will go down to 20 hz and will compliment you living room,i have above in my system with rs6 set to small and crossover at 80hz,in reality only subs can handle deep dolby digital and dts sounds because of low frequency .buy one you wont regret it please be advised hope you live in a detached house.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

I do thankfully, I don't think that floorstanders are fair otherwise, especially RS6s in full song! You set them to small? Is that wise

 

[Anonymous]

i have crossover set at 80hz all bass below that goes to sub the rs6 are good but i would not class them as full range speakers no matter how good speakers are they cannot produce low frequencies as good as sub.this is just my opinon other people have different set ups i have tried different set ups and i find setting the speakers to large plus sub produces to much heavy bass,dts soundtracks go well below 40hz where that does sound go when your speaker can only handle frequencies to 40hz,when you have speakers set to large and sub plus ,all low frequencies going to large and sub but the large speakers cannot handle these low frequencies where are they going ?nowhere i find by selecting speakers to small across the range and a crossover of 60 or 80hz which means all low freq below that now goes to sub i find that this gives better sound across the range and greater impact to movie soundtracks.a lot of people have the idea that because they have floorstanders they should be set to large not so the setting of large and small should be determined by freguency range of speakers,sometimes manufacturers have been known to be generous it might be worth adding on 10hz to there spec for example if range is 40hz to 3khz it might be better to set crossover at 60hz or so,unless you can measure it with a sound meter,every individual has different set ups and rooms i suppose it is what sounds best to you,i usually change settings to large for listening to music i would like to hear peoples opinon on this.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Gerrardasnails"]Is that just with reggie or with movies too?[/quote]

Either! smashin sub for £400 quid that goes down to 20hz without breaking its stride!

 

[John Duncan]

I have nothing to add, apart from the fact that I had that picture of Blackmore on my wall when I was about 14..........