<font color='#000000'>There is nothing I hate more now than ever is an audio snob. Well I hate other things too, but I will keep politics out of this, However I no longer drink french wines! Anyway, the other day I was at my local audio snob store checking out some subs and after listening to a few and really liking the little carver cubes, the salesman made a fatal mistake with me. He said, I am not a sub-woofer fan, but I like the carver because it blends better than the other subs, however nothing sounds better than a good full range speaker. That did it, he now was fair game. Ok before I jump into details on this issue here is a little history on me, not bragging mind you just some history.
I am 38 years old, I got bit by the audio bug in 8th grade, when I repaired a friends speaker and later she kissed me and wanted to go out, Not bad huh? My dad was into stereo at the time and would take me with him to all the shops. Quads and Klipsh were the thing at the time. I started reading about speakers and designs like a fiend, anything I could find. Later one of my first jobs was working in small audio shop were the owner built his own line of speakers. I soaked up everything I could and soon was way past his knowledge on the subject. In fact, that guy did not really know what he was doing at all, but he is still there today.
I met a friend at that shop back in 82 and together we embarked an a 17 year audio oddesy. We listened to everything, started building our own stuff and got pretty good at it. We would listen to the high-end stuff and not being able to afford it we would build something, and in some cases we built some stuff that was better, sometimes a lot better. OK fast forward to the present, that fellow and I are still good friends, however he is in Florida and I am in New Hampshire. Our feelings have changed, we no longer build speakers, we are no longer on a quest to find the ultimate speaker, It does not exist trust me on this I have searched. We are, I think, much happier now and at long last at audio peace with ourselves. OK enough about me and lets get to it.
The statement that guy made about a full range speaker sounding best is just crap, let me explain further. First and foremost, it is generally agreed on that the best sounding speakers are small monitors 6in or 8in two ways. There are several reasons for this. Such as: Cross over issues, phasing and time alignment, interactions between all the drivers and some other issues as well. The more drivers you throw into the mix, the problems just compound. There are exceptions to this but that is for a later topic. However, small monitors have one drawback and that is low end which is where the sub comes in. I am not saying a full range speaker can not be built, there are some good ones, but at a cost and only a very small percentage of them can crack the 20hz barrier like a dedicated sub, in truth most of them don't exceed 30hz. Also, when using a dedicated sub you will most likely be biamping which has a whole host of benefits. Some people believe that getting a sub to blend well is too difficult and placement is a problem, ect,ect. While it is true that you need to tinker with placement and cross over points to get your setup to sound it's best in your room, that is a good thing and let me explain why.
If you have a room that has problem with bass either with humps, dips, or resonance issues, a full range speaker is not going to make those issues disappear, in-fact you now have taken away ability to correct the problem because you can't move the bass section around to find the optimal spot. You are stuck with them up front which might not be the best place for your low end driver to be. You hear a speaker that you love, you get it home, hook it up and whamo, what happened to all that bass you heard at the shop? Or why is my bass so boomy sounding? Now what do you do? Anyone who says a sub is not musical or does not blend well has no way to explain why that is so technically, he is like the cable vendors and their snake oil; full of it! There is no valid technical, or acoustical reason these people can come up with to support their little fantasy. A good sub paired with a good set of 6 or 8 inch two ways will be a better performer and cost less than something you can find in a full range design every time.</font>