Seamless integration of sub with bookshelf - is it really doable?!

JohnKK

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Mar 12, 2012
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Can small bookshelf like R100 powered by something like arcam a-19 really be seamlessly integrated with sub for low end kick for music? By that I mean that I dont hear sub at all as a separate unit.

Although I was not a fan of this idea, last few days I am playing with budget sub that I already have (Monitor Audio ASW100) and result is OK(ish).

This sub is more for movies that music so it is more vibrating than having some good low end kick, but playing with crossover frq, phase and volume it can blend relatively OK.

Problem is that for some reason in some songs it is good and in some songs it vibrating like hell. So, my experience so far is that every time I am listening to music I have to fiddle something about sub which not so good.

In your personal experience, can small bookshelf be integrated with some better sub that I get SQ similar to larger floorstanders?

Also, good sub for music advices are very welcome, up to the price of R100 (BK monolith is out as it is not available here).

Music is wide, jazz, classic, pop, chillout, without heavy bass.

Thanks!
 

GSB

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Mar 27, 2011
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Tbh if you have a decent amp driving the R100's you might not feel the need for a sub,for stereo playback anyway.

The stereo amp driving my speakers has been a real eye-opener.
 

Lo Fi

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I used a sub with a pair of Monitor Audio RX1s and had no problem integrating it.
When playing music I could not tell that the bass was coming from the sub, it sounded like it cam from the speakers.
I blocked the rear ports first as the speakers no longer needed to do all the bass work.
I used a number of different subs, all sealed type. I used a disc with test tones and a sound level meter to integrate it. But in fact I found the settings were more or less the same as by ear alone.
 

ID.

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Feb 22, 2010
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Yes it can. One thing to watch out for is room interactions. These can accentuate certain bands of bass frequencies and make it boom a bit, and can be mistaken for poor integration. Some people prefer a sub because it will reach deeper than floorstanders and I've also seen speaker company demonstrations where they used a sub (2 actually: one for each channel) to fill in the lower end for their floorstanders.

You say "without heavy bass", so a sub shouldn't really be necessary, although it helps complete the picture for orchestral music.

From experience much pop these days actually has quite heavy and deep bass, and even chillout will have quite deep and solid basslines, so maybe you are selling yourself short on the amount of bass actually needed/desired. Most people like to claim they aren't bassheads, but there's so much more to deep quality bass than the subsonice rumblings of thumping dance tunes.
 

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