Sabrina X Anyone Add Subwoofer(s)

Soix you're painting things with a pretty broad brush.  If you talking home theater then I'd have a tendency to agree.  If you're talking good 2 channel well then I'd have to disagree.  And I've owned some pretty good systems (with and without subs) and heard some of the finest (with and without subs) :-)

vonhelmholtz,

What integrated did you get? 
 

If you don’t want to add a highpass crossover (hard with some integrated amps) I would pass on the subs. It will be a phasy mess without one. 
 

Rather than subs making it a little better it will make it a little worse but the crossover will open up lots of tuning options for over all better sound. 

If you're talking good 2 channel well then I'd have to disagree. 

That’s cool.  How boring would this site be if everyone agreed all the time?

I'm really not looking for more base as much as more authority and clarity.

Well, you’re going to get much more than that.  You’ll find your entire Soundstage will expand in all directions and imaging will improve along with a better sense of air and space.  Then, if you turn the subs off the whole thing collapse and you’ll trip over yourself to turn them back on.  Anyway, that’s my experience in addition to a more solid foundation, authority, and solidity.  

What integrated did you get?  

McIntosh MA12000

If you don’t want to add a highpass crossover (hard with some integrated amps) I would pass on the subs. It will be a phasy mess without one. 

What subs have great electronic crossovers?

Sadly I don’t know of many subs that have good built in crossovers. wilson audio makes an external one but it is $5k. Their new subs are built in. The JL E-lines is fine as in no loss of detail but super noisy and raises the noise floor. JL-audio and Bryston make good ones “cheaper”. There are lots of cheap options but I don’t know the quality. I have tried my JLs (system pictures under my profile) with and without the crossovers many times. There is really no comparison. The crossover is much better in spite  of the increased noise. 
 

Anyway on the MA12000 you can add an external if it doesn’t have internal bass management (I don’t think it does). On the back there are two bars that bind the preamp section to the amp section. You can pull those bars out and insert the crossover there. So it would be out from the “pre” into the crossover then back into the amp input. 
 

review of the cr-1 here. 
 

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/537-jl-audio-cr-1-active-subwoofer-crossover