After around thirty years of various systems moved to a larger room and dual REL Gibraltar G2 (modified internal wiring). 3/4 of what I enjoy is live recordings, some recordings are a sonic astounding engineering feat for the live experience....going to two large and musical subs is like finding the "truth" in a live recording...and its been there a long time, I was missing it, never heard it! I call the current system my "Time Machine" because it will take you back in time to the culture and sound of what was going on. Cranking up live Grateful Dead to "11" with duel subs is like finding the "Ark of the Covenant"...I couldn't be happier (at the moment).
Finally Learned: Subs serve much larger role than adding more low bass
I sold my older powered sub a while back. reasons-
1. It did not integrate well.
2. I was pretty satisfied with my 2 speakers bass output.
3. Was big, heavy and ugly.
After traveling around the counrty and listening to home systems put together by people who know their way around the industry I realized they all have something I did not. A well integrated bass array.
So what does a bass array add to a 2.0 system?
This is where words fail but I will try:
-Increased Involvement in the listening experience
-More enjoayble sound stage
So if you are like I was, a sub denier, I suggest you try one small
sub, as I did, and see what you experience. My $500 REL T5x experience
did it for me. Now I will buy a second one.