Subwoofer Integration and Planer/ESL Speakers

[b_panther_g]

<font color='#000000'>Hello. &nbsp;I am not a home theater expert, so please forgive my ignorance
regarding this subject. &nbsp;

I am wondering why is it so difficult to integrate a subwoofer with
planer or ESL speakers? &nbsp;

Is it simply a problem of speed? &nbsp;Since planers/ESLs generally vibrate
faster than cones, is it that traditional subs simply cannot keep up
and we hear the difference as loss of detail?

Is the problem the dispersion patterns? &nbsp;Subs have a point source
dispersion pattern while planers/ESL usually have a line source dispersion
pattern. &nbsp;Can our ears perceive the difference?

Is it a matter of setup? &nbsp;Most people do not use a parametric EQ when
setting up their subwoofer. &nbsp;Since few rooms (if any) are ideal for
bass, I learned that the best way to get the flattest frequency response
out of a sub is to use a parametric EQ. &nbsp;If one were used properly, would
the perceived difference vanish?

Is the problem a combination of these things? Or is it something that I
am not even thinking about?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
B</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'>I suspect that the whole &quot;it's hard to integrate dynamic subs with planars&quot; thing is another myth. But I haven't tried it myself, to be honest. I think, as you guessed, that it's a matter of setup. It's a time consuming and fussy business to properly integrate a sub with any speakers (less so if they were designed as part of the same system, of course). I'd guess that the kernel of truth lies there: in failing to properly setup their subs, many users blamed the &quot;incompatibility&quot; of planars and cones for their poor results (as in the old saying, &quot;a poor workman often blames his tools&quot.

&quot;Speed&quot; is a myth, too. As one writer put it, &quot;if a woofer were fast, it would be a tweeter&quot;. A planar or dynamic driver reproducing a 1000Hz signal, say, are both vibrating at exactly the same speed: one thousand times per second.

Finally, I have read that even though the wave launch characteristics of planars and cones are indeed different (line source and point source, respectively), it is pretty much a nonissue at low frequencies.</font>

 

[jeffsg4mac]

<font color='#000000'>I think both Martin Logan an QUAD have dispelled that myth a long time ago. They both are hybrids.</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'>Good point, Jeff. But if you read the Stereophool/The Absolute Scam-type reviews and the posts of 'philes who believe them, they will often carp about the woofer integration of a given hybrid; the myth is still alive. Which, I must admit, is the main reason I raise my eyebrows at the whole subject!

Which I think is the main lesson to impart here to b-panther-g and other newbies: take anything you read in just about every audio mag (and on the Net!) with a very large grain of salt! Audio journalism has been overrun by hacks, flacks, and self-indulgent dilettantes who don't know the difference between MLS* and MTV.

The reason I and many others hang out here is because this is one of the few places on the Net where people are willing and able to talk sense about audio, and where the founders/moderators take a healthy scientific and skeptical attitude. Hope it starts a trend...welcome.

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*A speaker measurement method</font>