How many listen to 2 channel music with their sub on?

gfong

Curious as to how many of you listen to music with your sub woofer on when listening to cd's, records or tapes? 2.1 setup

I am not asking about Blu-Ray music discs or any other mulit-channel format!

When listening to cd's or records I have the sub off.

What are some of your reasons that we would use a sub with 2 front speakers?

Pycroft

I do not listen to my 2 channel with a subwoofer, mainly because I feel my speakers do a great job producing accurate and deep bass sound, so I do not need a subwoofer. I'm guessing if I had a great pair of bookshelf speakers, or floorstander's that did not produce a good low frequency sound, I would want a subwoofer to fill in the blanks.

James

tonyb

I would imagine most do, mainly because most don't have true full range fronts that can dig low enough.

TNRabbit

Yes, but purely in a supporting role. It's not overpowering in any way, just used below 40hz to handle the exceedingly low energy.

grimmace19

I use mine because even though the lsi15s can hit somewhat low there is no replacement for my fathom f112

coolsax

i said no, but that's because currently I don't run a sub with my 2 channel system.. one of these day's I'd like to.. probably a micropro 1000 or 2000..

Erik Tracy

I run bookshelves so I use a sub to fill out the bottom end, but the gain is pulled waaaay back as I'm not a basshead and don't want that to be the primary focus of the musical experience.

quadzilla

I've got monster floor standers in the multi-channel rig and CRS+ for 2 channel. Neither needs the subs for strictly 2 channel, but I do listen to some muti-channel music and other than going into the AVR and setting sub to no, there's no way not to have the subs on. And on multi-channel, it sounds fine like that. 2 channel, not so much. Never could get everything to really blend in completely right with the fronts set to small. Bass sounds much better with them off, and they dig plenty deep for any type of music.

PrazVT

I play music in 2 ch pure direct w/ my RTi A7s. They dig plenty low too.

EndersShadow

I put yes because normally I do most of my listening by streaming Pandora through my blu-ray player on my main rig, or through my Xbox 360 and Windows Media Player. The Integra sets itself to stereo which adds in the sub. With my Monitor 60's crossed at 60 and powered by an external amp it sounds good to me.

I tried setting it all to direct but it was quite obvious that I needed the sub to fill in the low end, especially due to the size of the room and that its open to the adjacent dining room.

My office rig will be getting a sub eventually because I am using bookshelves, but I dont do enough listening there yet to justify the cost and would rather put the money in my main rig downstairs.

Toolfan66

What Sub???

dfledezma

Depends on the situation. When I listen acoustic guitar, or vocals mainly I prefer to rely only on the main speakers. For rock I feel a bit of punch is needed so I turn the sub on but without exaggerating the output.

In my office and rom rigs is strictly 2 ch and I feel fine with that.

BlueFox

Obviously, if you have a sub in the system then you are not pure 2 channel, but letting the AVR filter the signal in some manner. Of course if you have the sub wired via the speaker cables going to the sub first, and then going to the speaker, that is different, but I doubt if many use that method.

I do not have a sub in the two channel system. In the HT/multi-channel system I rarely turn the sub on for movies, and never for music.

jbooker82

Yes because I dont have an amp to drive my RTI A7's. If I had a 300 x 2 amp then it might be a different story.

Erik Tracy

BlueFox wrote: »

Obviously, if you have a sub in the system then you are not pure 2 channel, but letting the AVR filter the signal in some manner. Of course if you have the sub wired via the speaker cables going to the sub first, and then going to the speaker, that is different, but I doubt if many use that method.

I do not have a sub in the two channel system. In the HT/multi-channel system I rarely turn the sub on for movies, and never for music.

I run a hybrid setup for HT and music with the sub connected to my AVR via the LFE input, but at the same time to my Integrated Amp (with HT bypass) from the L/R preouts to the sub's Line level inputs.

So for music - no AVR, no filtering, so technically one could argue it isn't a 2.1 cuz the bass is not synthesized as a separate 'channel'.

I found this to be better for music - I'm not a big fan of letting AVRs do 2-channel music to the level that a dedicated configuration can.

It hasn't been easy to integrate the sub for music - I'll admit that, but I've found a very 'happy place'...for the moment.

thesurfer

No, subs hit the scene mainly for HT, if you are trying to recreate the live experiance useing a sub, its nothing what a live concert sounds like,,, also, most rock music does not go that low,,, off course, if your really into that added thump, and wallop, effect than it might be your cup of tea,, Back in the day, i used Cerwin Vegas for that type of thing, I dont even think they had Subs back then.

On3s&Z3r0s

Wow... kinda surprised at how many people do use their sub. I have my HT receiver configured to use the sub for 2-channel also for a few reasons. Mainly, if it wasn't set up that way the sub was being left out of any stereo signal, so even the stereo audio from old DVDs or TV was not using the sub. The fronts are set to Large and the sub set to Plus/Double Bass, so the receiver isn't restricting any part of the signal for the fronts. They get the full meal deal and the sub gets the low frequencies. The sub rounds out the low bass nicely on the M70's, and I can always turn it down/off at the sub more easily than mucking with the receiver settings if I don't like it on certain 2-channel music.

In my dedicated 2-channel system I don't have a sub.

slammin86

Sometime I do, others I do not. Since I put an external amp on my monitor 70's the sub really isn't needed.

mystik610

Depends on what I'm listening to.

F1nut

Subs? We don't need no stinkin' subs. :biggrin:

Knucklehead

My RT8t's seem to have plenty of low end...no sub needed.

mdaudioguy

My receiver doesn't support a sub in "direct" mode, but a pair of RTi10 towers sounds pretty good to me. My future 2-channel plans include a Monitor 11 setup w/ no sub, and a 2-channel Vienna Acoustics bookshelf rig for which I'll most likely be adding a sub.

Sometimes a pair of bookshelves, although definitely not "full range", sound really nice for 2-channel. A sub might make the audio experience more "complete", but for a lot of music, it's not necessary for casual listening. For example, a pair of LSi7s and a decent integrated can create a very satisfying experience.

PolkClyde

gfong wrote: »

Curious as to how many of you listen to music with your sub woofer on when listening to cd's, records or tapes? 2.1 setup

I am not asking about Blu-Ray music discs or any other mulit-channel format!

When listening to cd's or records I have the sub off.

What are some of your reasons that we would use a sub with 2 front speakers?

I'm not going to let you color my thought, a sub sounds good with 2 front speakers,in two channel.

JimAckley

Because of the way my system is setup, there's always an active subwoofer. I cross my receiver at 100Hz and let the LSi25s' 10" drivers take all of that information. My PSW receives the same signal, but I cross it at 50 and keep the volume relatively low, so it's just kinda like a low-fill subwoofer. I'm still playing with my setup now that I have the Pio, and might switch the 25s' subwoofers to the L/R preouts for fullrange fronts and use the PSW for just LFE. We'll see.

PolkClyde

BlueFox wrote: »

Obviously, Of course if you have the sub wired via the speaker cables going to the sub first, and then going to the speaker, that is different, but I doubt if many use that method.

.

That's exactly the method I use.

gfong

Awesome points all, I am really surprised at how many of you use a sub for music. I am not saying it is wrong or right, just surprised. Actually as of now the split is 17 yes and 12 no.

I ran a sub with my Polk satelites and had it hooked throught the speaker leads and not the sub cable. I experimented with that a few times and always went back to the speaker wire hook-up (like you would wire a passive sub)

Maybe I will try messing around with the sub and 2 channel. I am sure my SVS is up to the task if asked! Who knows!

Fongolio

Home theater sub yes
Two channel sub no

vc69

Because of the way the question was worded, I had to vote "only with multichannel" but I NEVER listen to music in multichannel even though those formats offer the option. Even my bluray audio discs have a stereo mix.

Gadabout

I don't have a sub in the 2 ch rig. It digs plenty deep, especially since I bi-amped the Audes. I do have a sub in the HT system, but I don't play much music on that system. Only time music gets played on the is when I have guests over.

I do have 2.1 system in the bedroom. The bedroom is mutipurpose for music and movies. The mains in this system are LSi7's and the addition of a small sub really helped both movies and music.

I voted no cause there wasn't an option for both. That being said, if I only had one system. I would probably listen to music with the sub on.

Scott

cubdog

I listen to Dahlquist DQ10s in my main 2 channel system. A sub is kind of a requirement with the DQ10s.

cubdog

treitz3

I answered yes. This is at a low level as I do not like boom at the bottom. When used in conjunction with the SMS-1, it's like there is no sub. Just an extension of your speakers when set up right. Like they aren't even there. However, you notice a big change when you turn them off.