Should I bother to try a subwoofer?

"Need"? YES YOU DO! I'm a huge fan of the REL stuff for hifi. A friend turned me on to 'em a year or 2 ago (he has the same main speakers as I do). I bought a clean used one (Q150E) and man...anybody who smugly claims there is "no benefit" from a well designed sub instantly destroys their audio opinion credibility and shall be forever removed from my christmas card list. Read the current issue of "Absolute Sound" for a nice REL review...I've done the experiment of turning the REL off and on to see the difference, and when off it dramatically diminishes every aspect of the overall "life" (tonality, soundstage, dynamics, odor) of my system.

Personally, there are many brands I'd look at before REL, but I would definitely look at a sub. My view is about a 180 from most on x-over frequency. I'd say cross pretty high for best results.

My reasoning is that careful placement of a sub will produce much smoother bass response than any speaker out in space possibly can - due to room modes/cancellation effects. Better yet, use DRC style bass EQ and the improvement is most often not only audible, but pretty startling.

In a carefully treated room, you can fix most of the mess down to 150hz or so and bass busters will usually get you into decent shape down below 100hz. After that, I let my subwoofer and EQ do the rest.

IME, the first benefit of a sub is smoother response in the critical 50hz to 100hz region, the increased LF extension and power are just icing on the cake.

Just one more opinion on this subject.

Marty

You are absolutely missing out. When I added a sub to my system it was the most. Dramatic upgrade I did, especially for music but it has to be a good sub. The low end subs will destroy sound quality.

Having owned a pair of REL Stadium 3's for approx. 8 years, I can say with certainty that all of the above posts recommending a REL sub(preferably 2)are spot on!!! As recommended, cross it/them over low and don't turn 'em up too loud.

I doubt Kenscollick has ever heard a GOOD sub used for music. He doesn't know what he's missing. They add much more than just additional low frequencies. As mentioned, they really open up the soundstage, add power and weight to the music, and all the little nuances and musical cues come through more clearly.

Just my 2 cents!

Subs are great for affects , I leave mine off for music . Subs are for people that buy the wrong speakers .