Can tower speakers with built in powered subwoofer be great?

J

Jack Dawson

Audiophyte
i have a bit of a problem.

My wife and I had to move to a smaller condo on a ground floor due to her knees not being able to handle the steps in our old place... But during the move, my subwoofer got damaged beyond repair.

I have a 7.2, Harman Kardon AVR 3700, and I've wanted to try getting two sub woofers, but with one of them broken and a smaller unit, I don't think we could even fit two subwoofers in our new place. I'm not sure we can fit ONE.

That being the case, I'm thinking of getting tower speakers with built-in powered subwoofers... But I don't know how they sound. It seems like it would be a great solution, because I have space for tower speakers, but not to were speakers AND subwoofers.

I heard the bipolar 8060st's and 8080st's were pretty good.

What do you guys think?

Thank you!!
 
rojo

rojo

Audioholic Samurai
I think Def Tech is notorious for being too generous with their specs. If you want towers with integrated subs, the first company that comes to my mind is RBH Sound. Or you might also consider a pair of transmission line mains like the Phil 3's or Slims, and you could find that you don't even need subs. Or you could have Jim Salk build you a couple of custom subs to use as bookshelf speaker stands. Or if you've got access to some wood working tools, you could DIY one or two sonotube subs very inexpensively, each of them only taking up 1ft² of floor space.
 
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slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Yes, speakers with built in subs can sound great.

If you are interested in movies more than music, you want a dedicated subwoofer or 2, the built in subs won't cut it IMO.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Oh, yeah, I think speakers with built-in subs can sound fantastic.

It comes down to preference. Obviously, the best thing to do is audition the speakers.
 
BlwnAway

BlwnAway

Audioholic
Let me preface this by saying, I'm a DefTech fan and owner, all of my bed layer of speakers have powered woofers/subs, so don't think I'm just automatically discounting them because of what I've read or heard on the net.

Here's the deal with speakers with powered subs built in, most of the original designs were to aid in low end to create a truly full range speaker (and this still stands today) the concept of using them as essentially a bookshelf on top of a sub was originally an after thought in the late 90's when home theatre started to become popular, and is to this day, more of selling point to those who either don't know that they really won't work properly as Subs or who, like in your case, just simply can't use separate Subs.

So, "can" you use them as a bookshelf/Sub combo....yes.
Will they play as low or have proper placement...no.

But, sometimes you just have to do, what you have to do, they're better than no sub at all and if later down the road you change rooms or can add a Sub, you'll have a good full range speaker on hand.

But....

Honestly you really have to go out and listen to them first. Since your in a position where you "have" to come up with a solution no matter what, your real issue here may actually be whether you even like DefTech's sound or not, esp. when it comes to bi-poles. People tend to have Love / Hate feelings about them, and mostly with H/T. So you need to listen to them to decide where "you" stand when it comes to their sound, then just make the best of your Sub situation from there.
 
J

Jack Dawson

Audiophyte
Thanks, all! I'll see if I can find a place to listen to them.

I'll also let you guys know what I end up going with.

Any other comments or feedback always appreciated.
 
D

Dargent0628

Junior Audioholic
Have you given any thought to an in-wall subwoofer? I'm thinking about exploring this option myself when we move to our new place later this year, and if anyone on the forum has any experience pro or con I'd appreciate the feedback.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Have you given any thought to an in-wall subwoofer? I'm thinking about exploring this option myself when we move to our new place later this year, and if anyone on the forum has any experience pro or con I'd appreciate the feedback.
not sure if his building would be practical for the application.
 

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