Small Speakers with a Subwoofer or Big Speakers That Can Do It All?

[Mark of Cenla]

Which do you prefer small speakers with a subwoofer or big speakers that do not need a subwoofer? I much prefer small speakers with a subwoofer. Peace and goodwill.

 

[Wardog555]

Bookshelf speakers with a subwoofer indeed. Nothing under 5 inches woofers though.

 

[TLS Guy]

Which do you prefer small speakers with a subwoofer or big speakers that do not need a subwoofer? I much prefer small speakers with a subwoofer. Peace and goodwill.

A small speaker and a sub does not really cut it, unless you play at low volume. The reason is that the bass octaves extend well above sub range. So, speakers do need a capable bass performance at power.

So a sub plus speakers with good spl. down to 40 to 50 Hz range or lower are required. Then it mates well with a sub.

A larger capable speaker with good bass extension at power is definitely preferable to a puny speaker and a sub.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I vote C. Capable towers with subs. I have no need for bookshelf speakers(in my main system at least, the other systems in my house have do have BS speakers and subs, but mainly due to space).
IMO bookshelf speakers can’t handle the midband on their own,(unless fairly quiet) and subs don’t handle upper bass like a good speaker can. Of course there are special cases where you have a small room, or only listen to certain content etc. fwiw my mains have 12” woofers.

 

[Bobby Bass]

I go back and forth between towers with s pair of subs and standmounts with subs every couple of weeks. It’s the best of both worlds. It’s good to have choices and subs make everything better.

 

[ski2xblack]

Generally, my preference is for big speakers that can do it all. Seems closer to the ideal, and without the potential pitfalls of trying to seamlessly blend subs in.

The issue is that such speakers comprise a tiny slice of what's available, and the good ones of that small group cost big money.

 

[TLS Guy]

Generally, my preference is for big speakers that can do it all. Seems closer to the ideal, and without the potential pitfalls of trying to seamlessly blend subs in.

The issue is that such speakers comprise a tiny slice of what's available, and the good ones of that small group cost big money.

Or you can build your own at reasonable cost.

 

[lovinthehd]

I think your room and distance and listening levels all come into such a decision. Sometimes even with capable speakers, adding subs can be better. In my large living room I use fairly capable speakers as well as subs, but in my smaller bedrooms bookshelf speakers work fine (with subs). Whatever works for your situation/preferences....

 

[highfigh]

As mentioned, mid-bass is incredibly important- without that, nothing sounds real. Without good/great mid-bass, human voices don't sound natural and without that, a sub won't make up for it.

If you don't have room for large speakers, I would recommend finding small ones that don't really need a sub for everything but they won't be tiny little Bose chicklets, they'll need at least 6"-7" woofers. Some smaller towers use two 6-1/2" woofers in a 2-1/2 way configuration and I can tell you from experience that they can sound excellent. I wouldn't recommend playing pipe organ or synth music with strong sub-30Hz content, but if you do play that, use a high pass crossover to minimize modulation in the bass/mid-bass. I experienced that when I played some tracks of the pipe organ in Atlantic City, which has the ability to produce frequencies around/below 20Hz and the modulation was easy to hear.

However, if you don't listen to music with synth/pipe organ in this range, they should be a decent choice.

Now, integrating the sub and satellites can be tricky. I don't like or recommend subs that only have an either/or 0°/180° switch because it only allows correcting problems that occur by coincidence- sometimes, speakers need to go where they need to go because of WAF (or whomever) door/window locations and furniture placement, so that creates a situation where the sub and satellite bass crossover region is between 0° and 180°. If the sub doesn't have a variable phase control, the response will have a dip at the 'crossover frequency', or worse- it could cause more problems that can only be solved by moving the sub to its optimal location. Sometimes, that means it could end up in the middle of the room, or just away from the walls.

It can be done, though.

 

[Happy Joe]

... my preference floor standing towers, front and rear ...And a big sub...
... I don't care to invest the time that small speaker set-up takes.

Enjoy!

 

[Teetertotter?]

My 8 X 12 HT room with 5" L/R and 4" center channel, bookshelf speakers, having 5.1 DD, fits my bill. Listening and TV viewing is 6 feet. Front tweeters are exactly at ear level. Perfect size speaker set-up for DD movies, for my room size.

 

[dolynick]

If I have my way, full towers with sub(s). It's rare to find modern floorstanders that truly go all the way down with the force I tend to prefer. That said, I firmly believe that one can have a decent sound bookshelf with sub setup that is satisfying (enough?) as well. And usually costs less.

 

[dlaloum]

A decent full range speaker does cost more than a decent bookshelf....

On the other hand it is full range (typically down to 30Hz - below that is rare)

Subwoofers are still needed if you want that 30Hz to 10Hz range to be covered in any way

Bookshelf speakers are much much easier to place in a room, so a sub/satellite system is always going to be the "lifestyle" friendly option... and a sub that fills out the "full range speaker" range need not be overly pricey.... so an 8" or 10" compact sub can do the job, and it is much easier to find a spot for.

But if you want high SPL's at 20Hz and a bit below - then you have no choice but to go big... and possibly multiple big subs... then there are complexities with tuning subs into the room, nodal peaks and troughs etc...

Full range speakers with that sort of extension do exist, but they are typically BIG. Well take a full range speaker, and a sub capable of 18Hz, and the combo takes a decent amount of room.... so it is sort of obvious - a speaker capable of that sort of frequency extension, basically has a sub built in.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I love towers of power that can truly output subwoofer bass for movies.

But if the only 2 choices are 1) small towers that can only output 30Hz at 80 Hz or 2) bookshelves + Sub that can output 20 Hz at 100dB+, then I will take choice #2.