Where's the subwoofer?
Behind the clock!
Heard outside the box
(The best sound heard from a subwoofer is no sound at all)
First and foremost is the need for a subwoofer to provide adequate deep bass augmentation (enhancement) to any speakers from mini-monitors to full range, high-end tower systems. This goes for home theater as well as music – two-channel stereo or 5.1 surround sound. Unquestionably, the small fries need a lot of help at the bottom end but so do most of the big boys.
In terms of performance criteria, there is far more at stake in any loudspeaker system than sound pressure level, frequency response and low distortion.
Some audiophiles have given up on hearing the full audio spectrum that really low bass contributes to music because a discrete subwoofer can be obnoxious if it is not discreet. Double talk? Not really.
A discreet subwoofer can be a critical component in high definition, natural sound reproduction; but only when it integrates with the other speakers does it help achieve the realism of live audio.
We want clean, deep, tight bass but not unless it is blending with the entire speaker system without calling attention to itself. HDTV lets you see the image through a window as opposed to on the screen. So, why shouldn’t hi-definition audio demand that you hear the music, not the speaker?
Put another way, it’s what a subwoofer doesn’t do rather than what it does do that matters most. More double talk? Nope. Setting aside technical design parameters, in an ideal world of speaker performance there should be no sound whatsoever heard from a subwoofer itself. The box should be completely transparent to the sound – the anti-subwoofer factor.
Why this phenomenon is never mentioned nor described by professional speaker reviewers and acoustical engineers is an enigma. Is it because it really doesn’t exist? No, it is real alright, and it matters; you just have to experience it firsthand to believe it.
It goes to how well the sub “voices” or integrates outside the box with the other speakers. This includes the front two main speakers in a stereo system and, additionally, the center channel and rear channels in a home theater surround sound system. Not to be confused with “blending”, integration has to do with hearing the bass imaged in the correct speaker and emanating only from the correct channel where it was recorded.
For music, if a bass guitar was on the left side of the soundstage then that is precisely where should be heard – in the left speaker. If a kick drum was located in center stage, then it will be heard there even in a two-channel stereo system’s phantom image. And, when a pipe organ hits that glorious low C it is voiced in all your speakers. With home theater, if there’s thunder or an explosion in a rear channel, it should sound like the sub is voicing with that surround speaker. This phenomenon has never been heard (or heard of) by most folks.
You can place your head next to a mini monitor or any speaker that is incapable of deep bass and if it is voicing with the subwoofer as described, you will only hear the sub’s bass coming from that speaker! Once the anti-subwoofer factor is auditioned, it is unbelievable that a speaker that small is really capable of reproducing bass that low… and it’s really not! The sub is just integrating with the little fellow. Conversely, if you stick your head close to an anti-subwoofer you will hear nothing. How discreet is that?
The anti-subwoofer factor enhances and reinforces the sound stage making it as close to live and natural that any speaker can reproduce. Total sound immersion experienced with a discreet subwoofer – the anti-subwoofer factor – is what I am talking about. Could this be the “Holy Grail” of high definition sound that we all seek at the bottom end?
Magellan™ subwoofer professional reviews:
Dan Dzuban: “The Race for Bass 2: Will You Know the Finish Line When You Cross It?”
