Anyone here use sub with towers

[ematthews]

I have the RAAL towers on order. Just getting an idea of who uses a sub with their towers for a 2.1 music only system? Right now my RBH SX6300/R towers do not require a sub.
Thanks

[randyrlee2]

Hey ematthews,

I also have the RAAL Towers on order (and can't wait to get them!!!). In my current system I have two Velodyne Mini-Vee 8 subwoofers that I use to supplement vintage Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers.

My thoughts were to give my new speakers at least a month to break-in and for me to get used to the sound of speakers with RAAL tweeters. Then I will put on some music with bass and see if I want to use the two subs to supplement the Ascends or not. Since I am not a real basshead, and will only be using these speakers for stereo music, I am not expecting to use the subs.

I know this doesn't help you, but those are my thoughts.

randy

[mde8965]

ematthews...

I have RAAL towers (and Sierra 2's as surrounds for that matter) and yes I use subs even for 2 channel music. In fact I use 2 Rythmik F15 subs with placment being FBC (Front and back center). Even with two channel music I like the extra punch of the subwoofer to make the music seem more "live" or "visceral" or "insert favorite adjective" or just say "to make the music seem MORE.". Additionally, remember that even if the RAAL towers had 15 inch woofers, that the placement of the mains in the room is likely not ideal for even bass reponse in a given room. So you benefit from the placement options that your subs can provide.

Assuming you use room correction software (bass management particulary in this case) especially, your new RAAL towers will benefit sonically from your use of a quality sub or two, or four....

[kdaq]

I haven't heard the RAAL towers unfortunately, but I can comment on pairing a Rythmik LV12R with a vintage Dahlquist DQ-10 pair (nice taste, randyrlee2!).

My buddy has the DQ-10 setup in a small listening room. He was wondering the same thing -- will a sub really help? So I brought over my LV12R. We found that the most effective crossover point was something between 50 and 60 Hz. So the sub was only handling a bit more than the bottom octave.

With the sub dialed-in right, it just got out of the way and the system sounded seamless. Most everything had added life to it. In some cases, the sub barely made a difference, as the recording didn't do much in that bottom octave. In other cases, we noticed details here and there that made a song feel new. Overall, a very nice pairing.


There was this one recording, though. It was jazz, I forgot the artist. The thing about it was that the band was playing together in a room, and you could hear the room. Spacial cues to the brain or something, I don't know, but it was unmistakeable. We got up and turned off the sub. *poof*, the room was gone. Turned the sub back on, and it clicked right into focus again.

Now, I know the Sierra towers and the DQ-10 are not in the same league and this isn't a perfect comparison. The towers reach lower. Even so, I thought this particular experience might be pertinent. The impression I get is that bottom octave isn't just for bassheads. :)

Really, I'm a newb. Anyone else experience a moment like this?

[Sivar]

With the smaller Sierra 2's, I prefer no subwoofer for about 2/3 of music.
RAAL towers (awaiting construction), with their superior bass will likely increase that ratio.

This is, of course, a preference and may have been different if I had smaller subwoofers. My setup was intended for home HT use where subs are more important.