And this is the thing. For some speakers, especially nearfield and towers, a sub is not absolutely needed. You can get awfully close to what you want to hear. But in my current system I have 4 7" woofers that can reach down to around 35hz with authority. I still spent time and money on an 18" sub to compliment them. Supposedly, there was really no need for that.
But it shows through in the music. I have been known to push the signal to that 18", but I don't do it very often. What it's there for is to give that gentle bolster to the already very good 30-50hz area. I'm using an FMOD inline crossover, and they aren't exactly..."analytic". They're sloppy. They let some of the above 50hz signal bleed over. And the thing is, it works for the system and the sound. It's not like a digital crossover where the part of the signal you are trying to keep out just plain isn't allowed. It's not even like an integrated analog dial where you can MOSTLY shut out everything above a certain hz mark. It' just somewhat evenly rolls off all the stuff above 50hz. At a nice low volume, all of a sudden you're not ever straining to hear the bassist, regardless of the mix. It reinforces the separation and imaging, in a way that only a low volume, high displacement driver can. You're "feeling" the lows, but not because of volume, but instead because of SPL and subtle transients that blend into the greater whole.
Now that it sounds like I'm contradicting myself, I'll slowly wander over to the nice men in white standing by their windowless van...
