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Need Advice on Subwoofer Selection

Let me say up front that I'm not a bass freak but I've come to the point, regrettably, where I'm considering the addition of a subwoofer to my system. I say regrettably because I've always felt that subwoofers were an ersatz way of achieving full range sound quality and that a properly designed 2 or 3 way speaker in the appropriate room should provide more than adequate bass. And indeed, that has been the case for me with both my ProAc 2.5s and ProAc D38s in various room set ups.

Now, however, I find myself relegated to using my ProAc D2 bookshelf speakers in a rather large and not so well damped room. And despite breaking these speakers in for many hours with the Granite Audio, Ayre and Purist Audio burn in CDs along with the addition of some Primacoustic isolation pads, Van Den Hul speaker cable and driving them with a 250 watt per channel Hegel integrated amp - alas, the overall sound is a bit bass shy.

Because I am very fond of the ProAc brand, my inclination is to simply go with ProAc's ER1 subwoofer. However, as much respect as I have for the brand, the Proac sub has not been updated for 9 years and I have to believe that there has been enough advancement in subwoofer technology that a subwoofer superior to Proac's might be available at a similar price point.

It does appear to me that "speakon" connectors capability is the way to go. I'm looking for something with a small footprint and would be loathe to go with a driver any larger than 10 inches. To end range of my budget is $2,500.

Any advice would be most appreciated.
rathmullan

Showing 1 response by vicdamone

vicdamone
850 posts
 
You should understand that most all the recordings you own went through post production mixing where subwoofers were used. While there are a very few passive full range speakers they all have the inability to provide the increase or decrease in low frequency gain their environment may require.

The audiophile credo against the use of subwoofers was clearly born out of the inability to properly integrate subwoofers with main speakers. Today there are many forms of digital signal processing and a few analog processing of low frequencies that make this once complicated integration quite seamless and easy.

Even the most fundamental subwoofers (crossover, gain, and phase) can be controlled by outboard components and firmware. Some offer very involved manual Room Optimization that can be adjusted in multiple ways so one can alter the equalization with one touch of the remote at the listening position. Most recordings will benefit from a simple reversal of phase.

Keep in mind what ever is said here regarding subwoofer characteristics is completely dependent on rooms equalization and the interaction.
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