larry5729, I am a reviewer for Dagogo.com, online magazine for 14 years. If you wish to see the speakers I have written up over that period, you can click on the "Staff" tab and look at my articles. BTW, "staff" is a bit of a misnomer, as I have not been paid to write. I push myself to do deep, involved articles for the love of the hobby, art, and personal advantage in development of methods that will allow me to achieve better systems.
With that background, I have used all manner of speakers in regards to bass; concentric/full range (i.e. Tannoy Glenair), horn hybrid (i.e. PureAudioProject Trio15 Horn1; disclaimer, I am currently reviewing another PAP speaker), dynamic (i.e. the Salk Sound SS 9.5 Speaker review just published), hybrid dynamic (i.e. a favorite, the Vapor Audio Nimbus White), dynamic hybrid array (Legacy Audio Whisper DSW Clarity Edition), Magnetic Planar (owned Maggie 1.6 QR, and reviewed hybrid magnetic planar Eminent Tech LFT-8A/B), ESL hybrid (own King Sound Guitar speaker, full range ESL (Sound Lab Ultimate 545), ESL array (Kingsound King I and III reviewed, and I own the King III), Open Baffle (Tri-Art-Art Audio B Series 5 Open), Transmission Line (Van L Speakerworks Silhouette), Dynamic hybrid with integral subwoofer (Legacy Audio V and Valor Speaker Systems), various bookshelf speakers too numerous owned or reviewed to mention; the Lenehan ML1 Reference was delightful), Quasi-D’Appolito (Daedalus Audio Ulysses), Line Source (Raven Design Studio Ebb), Omnidirectional (King Sound King Tower, and Ohm Acoustics Walsh Model F. I think the list covers most genres of bass technology that I have heard in my room.
I have used from a single 5-6" woofer, to sets from two to twelve 15" woofers. I have used many bookshelf speakers over 30 years with and without active subs. I also have used many towers with active subs, and some, like the Daedalus, with matching passive subs.
Every one is distinct and has unique characteristics. So, I find it horridly opinionated for an individual who is gleaning info from YT to be declarative in attempting to tell the community which bass genre/technology is best.
My favorites? None, if not set up well. Several, if set up well.
Over the years I am moving away from standard dynamic speaker towers. I am moving increasingly toward Open Baffle and Dipole (with or without subs). I can hardly stand the sound of a bass driver 8" or under; too earnest, too much popping of the driver when pushed. They just can’t handle LF and higher levels (Zero interest in arguing with people about this).
If you have poor amplification, you suck the life/quality out of the bass. If you have poorer cables, ditto. It’s a spectrum of performance, but also a spectrum of genres of bass technology - none of them definitively the best. YMMV
