Sound Happiness With Subwoofers

My current set-up is a little light in the bass. I get more bass from the headphones.

I ran across a video in which Steve Guttenberg talked about upgrading or changing gear: don't just make sideways moves, he said. Try a subwoofer, he said. You will be amazed, he said.

Steve Guttenberg is the hi-fi reviewers' hi-fi reviewer.

What do the experts have? is always a good question.

So I looked at subwoofers. Enough to start looking at how I connect an amplifier without a Pre-Out or LFE terminal to a subwoofer.

Also I calculated the possible standing waves in my room. The width and length don't correspond to a note on the piano, but the height is close to C (one C means all C's, as octaves go in powers of two). So standing waves won't be a huge thing.

Who else has subwoofers?

Hans Beekhuysen does.

Paul McGowan has one. In fact two. And in small rooms. Paul McGowan as in PS Audio.

Who am I to argue?

They all say the same thing about the difference it makes to the sound. It's the kind of difference I would like.

I watched some more You Tube videos about setting the things up. And how a music subwoofer can be way less powerful than a home cinema one.

REL is the go-to manufacturer, and I found the smallest one they do. Sevenoaks Hi-Fi shipped it over. I followed the instructions carefully, wired it to the B-speaker posts, and put it to one side of the shelving holding my speakers. Given that LS50's roll off the bass at 80Hz (just above E-flat 2, the 19th note on an 88-key piano) and the top end of crossover is around 120 Hz (just above B-flat 2), and the knobs have no markings, I wound the crossover right up and tweaked the volume now and again. The aim is to get rid of the sense of a thump when a low bass note hits, but have it loud enough that when I switch off the B speakers, the sound suddenly seemed, well, anaemic.

The result is EVERYTHING they said it would be. The music just feels more solid, more full, and what it does to the kettle drums in Bruckner 2 is something wonderful. And the additional bass seems to be coming from the bookshelf speakers, not a little box in the corner on the floor (yes, that is okay, according to REL).

Acoustics is a great mystery. For which we should all be glad.