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On my old system the 220 watt Cerwin Vega 12 inch down firing sub sounded nice & tight from 40 hz down. Trying to play anything above 40 hz sounded very loose, very boomy, & very inaccurate. The Cerwin Vega mains had 15 inch drivers in them, but they weren't very efficient. So the bass coming out of them below 80 hz was very weak since all I was driving them with was the Denon at 125 watts per channel. But despite this I still set the subwoofer to 40 hz. Because I prefered having the 'weak' spot between 40 - 80 hz to having a 'muddy' transition.
It's my preferance to play as much quality bass as you can get. And to be honest, before stumbling across Axiom here, I was looking at a $1000 dollar 'Bass Cube' that I thought was rediculously priced. I really could hardly fathom spending that much on a subwoofer. Obviously my views have changed as I am looking at possibly waiting it out to get the EP800 (a $2200 dollar sub). But I still scoff at the idea of needing $8800 dollars (a 4 sub set-up) worth of bass in my livingroom. If the EP800 needs ANY help at all, then I'll seriously question why I spent $2200 dollars on it. But as sure as I am that I'll be more than happy with the bass output of this monster sub, I'm equally as sure that I will run the M80's on 'large' to get that extra little 'kick' of 34 - 80 hz performance!
....I just love bass.
It's all about location. Even more important is location. Location is the key.
It is not possible to place the mains in the best location for bass. You have to place them in the best location for overall sound (and keep them anchored to the screen). With the sub you can place it at the perfect spot to get the best response.
Plus, I love seeing everyone's quoting specs. That's great if you happen to be 1 meter from the speaker in an acoustically dead room. In the real world, it does not work like this. The response you get from the left and right speaker may vary.
And let's not forget about cabinet design. A sub is designed for only one purpose....
