Does full range guarantee bass?

Phasecorrect, if you meant me, I did not mean to sound as if my feathers were ruffled. They were not. Shoot, I don't even have feathers.

Like I said, your one statement about subwoofers seemed pretty dogmatic. I meant nothing more and nothing less.

Sorry if my words came across any other way.

-IMO

IMO, Full range should be around 20Hz to 20+ kHz. And therefore, should guarantee bass. Quality of bass is another story.

There is much musical info at the 22Hz to 40Hz range almost regardless of music preference. And yes the amp plays as big a part as the woofer itself. If either the amp or the woofer come up short, ill-defined bass is the result.

Perhaps Vandersteen suggests full range speakers in order to allow their subwoofer to focus on the lowest bass regions leaving the speakers to concentrate on the bass and mid-bass regions.

Full range should always give full range however good or bad it does that.

However, without getting into specifics, in order to obtain the best of full range, one must seek out the best quality recordings, speakers, cables, front-end source, preamp, amp, room acoustics, and proper handling of air-borne vibrations by the equipment (cones, spikes, rubber footers, etc.) and rack/stands.

Not to mention the synergy of all the above.

And price usually has little to with achieving that level of quality. Although sometimes it helps expedite the process or quest.

-IMO

Phasecorrect, you seem pretty dogmatic about that subwoofer guarantee. Some of these so-called subwoofers aren't even rated to reproduce frequencies below 24 or even 30Hz. Go figure.

Perhaps these should fall into a new class called 'sub-midrange'. At least that classification would be more accurate.

I wouldn't be the least surprised if somebody qualified stated that there are probably more inferior subwoofers on the market percentage-wise than there are inferior speakers.

Matchstikman, there is a full range speaker that has really peaked my interest of late. The VON SCHWEIKERT VR-4 GEN III / VR-4 GEN III Special Edition and it's frequency is 16Hz to 40kHz. Now that's a true full range speaker!!!

Most subs won't even go that low. Anyway, the VR-4 GIII SE retails for $6k and according to a few, including a StereoTimes reviewer, may just be the best speaker under $20k.

If I were looking for a new speaker, that would probably be the first on my list. Even though it may not be the prettiest.

And of course with that frequency range, you should never need a subwoofer.

-IMO

Gmood1, as I'm sure you know, finding the 'right' full-range speaker is only half the battle. Contrary to popular folklore, there is still another battle to be won. And that is finding the 'right' amp to drive the 'right' speaker.

It amazes me how some to many think excellent sound will come from the 'right' speaker without giving hardly any consideration to an amplifier's unique characteristics, benefits, and shortcomings.

If one had speakers capable of reproducing frequencies down to 16 or so Hz, I would think one had better give serious consideration to aquiring the right amp, or they may end up blowing a few drivers, crossovers, etc..

There are a few benefits of having a seperate subwoofer. If the sub is active, then hopefully the sub amp is an excellent match for the sub driver. Thus eliminating some of that guess work. And then of course the main amp is free to concentrate on everything but the lowest of frequencies. Thus giving more variety toward the purchase of an amp (depending on configuration).

-IMO