Does a sub HAVE to have a 20hz ext to be a SUB?

kuntasensei

No no... When I say ignorance is bliss, I'm not calling anyone ignorant. I'm just saying that most people who have heard subwoofers that don't go anywhere near 20Hz are perfectly happy with them. I know I was, because it was all I knew at the time (back when I was rockin' a Polk PSW350). But when you step up to something that DOES extend down to 20Hz, that's when you realize what you were missing. It would be no different than someone going from a PSW10 to a Micropro 4000, and has nothing to do with brand.

And don't get me wrong... I love Polk speakers. Hell, they're what I run in my 9.1 setup and why I frequent these forums. But it isn't unfair to honestly say that until the last couple of years, Polk has NOT offered a subwoofer suitable for the frequency range that home theater requires for proper reproduction. That's not brand bashing... It's just FACT, and it's something I hope they work on. Even as we speak, the only two subwoofers offered by Polk that are flat down to 20Hz would be their two highest-end models - the Micropro 3000 and 4000.

For the average consumer, that's fine... because they don't know the difference the way enthusiasts do, which is why I'm sure most of the subs that Polk sells are in the sub-$500 range - the ones that don't even come close to fully reproducing modern digital soundtracks. I would like to see Polk put out something that caters to both the average consumer AND the enthusiast - something in the $500-$700 range that can fully and cleanly reproduce the 20-120Hz sound that home theater requires. Given that they certainly have greater R&D resources than internet-only companies, I'm just surprised that it hasn't happened yet.

dorokusai

Ok, I can relate to that response a lot much better KS.

treitz3

hearingdoc wrote: »

I would love to test any fellow audiophiles hearing if your ever in the Bakersfield California area for free.

The cochlea cannot reproduce frequencies lower than 20hz. Its a physical inner ear impossibility. One may feel vibrations or air pressure but its not the fundamental frequency sound. Most are hearing "artifacts or Harmonics" of the original signal. This is the way we hear: acoustical energy converted to mechanical energy converted to hydraulic energy converted to electrical energy then converted to a chemical reaction near the temporal lobe sides of the brain within the acoustical imaging center of the brain.

The ONLY way to validate ones "Hearing Sensitivity" or "I hear this way..." is thru a calibrated testing system utilizing pure tone air conduction thresholds then comparing them to pure tone bone conduction scores. Also, having a Auditory Brainstem Response test within a clinical setting to measure brainwaves presented from the inner ear to the imaging center of the brain. Unless these tests have been done, one cannot say they hear lower or higher than what the body is designed to hear based on medical science.

Nice post.