Noob question - So if you have stone henge like floor standing speakers, do you need a subwoofer?

NeilF

NeilF

NeilF

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Looking at updating my surround sound system, and wondering space wise, if you have a pair of those more impressive tall floor standing speakers (rather than shelf sized speaker), do you still need a dedicated subwoofer for bass? Or can those floor standing speakers cover those lower frequencies?

I'm assuming a woofer would still be required? (Mainly for home theatre bass?)
 
So given it's a home theatre setup (as well as music), a woofer would still be required...

Thanks...
 
hornetstinger said:
I depends. Size of the room, material you watch, what amp and speakers you have, expected spl levels, and what expectations you have.

You could also have no sub, set sub to on, set crossover to small 60hz. You'll lose frequencies, as it's directed to non present sub but you won't damage your speaker floorstander speakers (because you ca easily damage small speakers when sub is set to none, with speakers set to large) can over drive your amp, and able to to have high speaker dB levels. It's not ideal but doable, until you add a sub.
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FYI - I currently have Onkyo TX-NR646 Amp, with Mordaunt Short Avant Premiere speakers (sub 308, center 304, rear 302) and I've upgraded the from 302s to 902i's.
 
hornetstinger said:
Having a avr doesn't help either as setting to full range strains your amp more. Whereas if I brought my amp round and connected to yours will help, 200w *7 or 300w * 7
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Basically we're going to be redecorating our ground floor, so looking at improving the speakers attached to my Onkyo amp. I'll have the choice of retaining my Mordaunt Shorts (putting the front 902i's either side of the TV say on a very wide TV unit, or on stands), or upgrading all the speakers - The center one I feel could do with a bit more ooommmph at times!
 
hornetstinger said:
Not as expensive as you think. Also don't buy cheap and nasty floorstanders as they're inferior to higher quality standmounts.

I'd say aim at around £1000 for floorstanders or less for second hand.

My speakers were £700 second hand but original price £4500
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And buying 20yr old speakers didn't worry you? :/
 
lucid said:
Centre speaker: The 905c is the obvious partner for the 902i front pair. It's bigger; digs deeper 60Hz vs 100Hz, and is more efficient too. If you scout around you could probably pick up a nice used example for £50. Get some foam wedges or rubber feet to isolate it from the cabinet. Try not to have it sitting inside a box within the cabinet, or if it has to then at least block out the space with foam to kill the chamber resonance.


Front stereo pair - floor-stander versus stand-mount. There's not much in it for how much space either takes up. What does catch folk out though who buy blind is the space that floor-standers need to work properly. They'll upgrade expecting great things, and in the worst cases end up with a horrible boomy mess because the speaker is stuffed in some tight space where the stand-mounter kind of coped, but the space is too small to dissipate the extra bass energy from the bigger speaker.

This can even be a problem for bigger stand-mount speakers. Much depends on the direction of the bass port and how deep the speakers go. Sometimes a better sub that really cooks is really the most sensible upgrade.
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It's interesting you mention " horrible boomy mess because the speaker is stuffed in some tight space " because one of my two 902s is on a shelf, right up against the rear of the unit, and there's definately a tiny bit of booming as it has a rear port, with no where to go except the rear of unit... Shame they're not 10cm less deep TBH!


905C - LOL! Just measured up the hole in my hifi cabinet immediately under the TV where my current center speaker lives. The 905C is 165mm high... My space is 163mm at best :) DOH!
 
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