(09-27-2021, 07:41 AM)The Real Marty Wrote:

(09-26-2021, 07:08 PM)anonymous2112 Wrote: In the speaker nerd camp, Bose are considered average with an expensive nameplate (No highs, no lows, must be Bose).  But during my cheap thrift store speaker buying experience, I picked up a couple of 301s.  They're fantastic.  I gave them to my little brother one Christmas, knowing his wife would let him put them up, since name brands are a big thing with her.  He set them up as surrounds, and I am now convinced there's not a bookshelf speaker pair under a grand that can beat them. 

I've got a component setup downstairs and an old school 70s setup upstairs.  I love them both, but the upstairs setup is just super clear.  It's a 50 wpc Technics with some Radio Shack Optimus speakers with 15" woofers that weigh about 50 pounds each.  I've never turned the volume past halfway.  And as you mentioned, the craftsmanship of the older receivers/amps is nothing short of beautiful.

I'm currently at 8 receivers, 6 subwoofers, and about a dozen pairs of speakers.  I've run out of family to give them all to, but I've also got good enough stuff to stop acquiring equipment indiscriminately.

In my opinion, anyone who buys a subwoofer is not really into accurate sound.  It's artificially pumped up bass that has nothing to do with the original intent or original sound of the music.  What used to be clean bass notes that you could actually follow musically, it's a thump thump or a boom boom and you can't really hear the notes.  It's just pounding like a giant bass drum.  

Am I wrong?

It depends on how you want to use the subwoofer.  You can use it to accentuate the tympani in an orchestra while still being able to hear the bassoon, or you can use it as a device in a boom car to tick off everyone stuck next to you at the traffic light.

On my component system, I cross over the sub at 80 hertz, which allows the main speakers to work really well in their frequency range.  The sub allows the speakers to sound clearer, because they aren't being fed frequencies below 80 hertz.  When I take out the sub, all bass sounds less clear on the mains.  There's a level knob on active (powered) subs, which should be turned to a volume just before it starts to sound boomy.

So you should be able to hear that bass drum really well, but it shouldn't overpower the rest of the music.  It's a way to get big speaker sound without taking up as much space or requiring the amp to move big woofers.  They also make home theater sound fantastic, because there's a lot of low frequency in your average action flick that will be separated out from the dialogue.

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