does a subwoofer kill stereo sound?

Most "fullrange" speakers with really good bass response are very expensive, even in high end audio $$$. Ohjoy40 Kevin may have the luxury of a listening room where a speaker's mid/high sound and bass response both work in the same placement. I would guess many of us are not so fortunate as to have the optimum listening room and to afford a great fullrange speaker.
The subwoofer "compromise" is often used even with speakers that have impressive low end. A properly set up sub should not be heard- only missed when turn off.

I found the subwoofer to add more dimension and overall better sound. I use the Merlin TXM-mme bookshelfs on stands. I added the JL112 sub and very carefully tuned it, almost to the point you are uncertain if it is on or not. With tympanis and pipe organs I get the goosebumps! Also my preamp, McIntosh C2300 has selectable preamp outputs. With the press of a button I can have the sub in or out of the system. For the most part the sub is always playing. A vote for the subwoofer providing it is carefully adjusted, placed and matched.

String,

I got a chance to listen to "Mississippi" again. I believe that you're right re: Day Dream, but my post was actually refering to something different, like the series of drum beats that begins less than a minute into St. James Infirmary. I believe that it's higher in pitch than the passage you reference, but removing the subs on this song causes the stage to collapse (on my system) dramatically. I do believe that it's a bass drum struck with a mallett, but can't be sure.

The same collapsing stage occurs on Day Dream, but it's more dramatic on "Infirmary" in my system - for reasons unknown.

Marty

BTW - Don't know the old Kay basses, but I have (quite recently, actually) played one of their old archtops. It was a pig and I'm not sure why anyone is fond of these things. Different strokes, I guess.

In response to the original poster, a subwoofer has a pretty simple job to do...play frequencies in the 100 to 20Hz (or lower) range.

It's apparent you want more bass. Provided your bookshelves are capable of playing down to 80Hz or so, and you cross them over properly, there's no reason why you wouldn't enjoy the added low end reinforcement a subwoofer provides, with one caveat...some sort of EQ would provide the best integration with your room. The SVS AS-EQ1 is an amazing little piece of equipment.

So your decision really depends on your budget. A decent sub and EQ could cost from $1500-$2000. Are there full range speakers out there in this price point that interest you? If so, would they sound any better than your admittedly "great" bookshelves?

The added benefit of a sub (or my preference, dual subs), is that you can just turn them off, giving you added flexibility. Or just turn around and sell it(them) if it's not to your liking. You still get to keep the speakers you like.

There is no need to spend lots of money on a "state of the art" amp to drive a "state of the art" sub.

Disagree. Most subs (I mean 99%) simply distort so badly that they ruin the sound (at least at usable SPL's in the ultra LF range of 20 to 30 Hz).

It is EXTREMELY difficult to produce low frequencies at reasonable SPL without distortion and therefore extremely expensive to do it right (to audiophile standards).

The same can be said for speakers - it is just plain difficult to do ultra-LF well - the manufacturer may claim performance to 20 HZ on a full range speaker but what they don't tell you is that you will be hearing upwards of 10% THD at anything nearing useful SPL levels.

Distinct bass lines from drums is something that can be heard on a good system as the timbre is quite different (even if they may overlap in frequency range). The trick is to have a critically damped design as opposed to a ported resonant design. (although resonance gains efficiency and SPL it has a down side in that it destroys timbre and will make differences between bass and drums that much harder to hear)