I had been low-passing at 40 Hz using a pair of Velodyne HGS-10s with acoustic room correction by an SMS-1 to supplement a pair of KEF Ref 1s. With some trepidation I recently introduced a fully balanced passive Marchand 80 Hz 24 dB/octave filter between the Ayre KX-5/20 and VX-5/20, reset the subs to 80 Hz 24 dB/octave, and reran acoustic room correction. First consideration was that the filter do no harm to the Ayre sound, and it doesn't -- an active Bryston 10B had. At first I doubted the filter had any perceivable effect, but with further listening to a wide variety of music I perceive more detail since the introduction of the filter.
Why the fascination with subwoofers?
I have noticed many posts with questions about adding subwoofers to an audio system. Why the fascination with subwoofers? I guess I understand why any audiophile would want to hear more tight bass in their audio system, but why add a subwoofer to an existing audio system when they don’t always perform well, are costly, and are difficult to integrate with the many varied speakers offered. Additionally, why wouldn’t any audiophile first choose a speaker with a well designed bass driver designed, engineered and BUILT INTO that same cabinet? If anyone’s speakers were not giving enough tight bass, why wouldn’t that person sell those speakers and buy a pair that does have tight bass?