Why Everybody Needs a Good Subwoofer And Why a Really Good Subwoofer is so Hard to Find
Audiophiles and music lovers are
missing out on one of the most dramatic improvements they can make to their
audio system: Powered Subwoofers. Most audiophiles won't even use the word
"subwoofer" in public, let alone plug one in to their precious systems. There is
a kind of snobbery that exists in the world of high-end audio aimed primarily at
receivers, car audio, home theater and especially subwoofers. As a matter of
fact, subwoofers are responsible for many people disliking both car audio and
home theater, since it is the subwoofer in both of those situations that tends
to call attention to the system and cause many of the problems.
The truth of the matter is that
subwoofers have fully earned their bad reputation. They usually suck. Most of
them sound boomy, muddy and out of control with an obnoxious bass overhang that
lingers so long as to blur most of the musical information up until the next
bass note is struck. We have all had our fair share of bad subwoofer
experiences, whether it's from a nearby car thumping so loud that it appears to
be bouncing up off the road, or a home theater with such overblown bass that it
causes you to feel nauseous half-way through the movie. You would think that
high-end audio manufacturers would be above all of that, but you would be wrong.
In many cases, their subwoofers are almost as bad as the mass-market models
because they too, are trying to capitalize on the home theater trend that is
sweeping the land.
You see, it's very difficult and
expensive to build a good subwoofer. One reason is that a sub has to move a
tremendous amount of air, which places big demands on the driver (or drivers).
Moving lots of air requires a lot of power and that means an amp with a huge
power supply, which can cost huge money. Finally, in trying to move all of this
air, the driver (or drivers) which operate in an enclosure, create tremendous
pressure inside of the box itself. The cabinet walls must be able to handle this
pressure without flexing or resonating. Building such a box involves heavy
damping and bracing which gets very expensive. When you consider these
requirements, you quickly realize that it is virtually impossible to build a
really good subwoofer (I mean good enough for a high-end music system) for under
$1000. Yet most of the subwoofers out there sell for between $500 and $900.
Manufacturers do this because their marketing research has shown them that that
is what people want to spend on a sub, never mind the fact that what people want
to spend and what it takes to get the job done right may be two different
things. The result is that even most high-end manufacturers are putting out
poorly constructed subwoofers that just don't sound very good.
I don't want to give you the impression
that anyone who really wants to can build a good subwoofer so long as they are
willing to throw enough money at the problem, because that really isn't true
either. There are some pretty expensive and well-constructed subwoofers out
there that you would never want to plug into your music system because they
would most certainly make the sound worse. Why? Because of their crossovers. A
crossover is inserted into your signal path in order to remove the lowest
frequencies (the deep bass) from your main speakers so that they no longer have
to do all of the dirty work. The deep bass will instead be dealt with by the
subwoofer. The #1 benefit of adding a high quality subwoofer to your system is
not how it further extends the bass response, but how it can dramatically
improve the sound of your existing power amp and main speakers from the midrange
on up. That, my friends, is by far the most compelling reason to add a sub to
your high-end music system. Once your main speakers are freed from the burden of
making deep bass, they will sound cleaner, faster and clearer, especially in the
midrange and midbass. They will also image way better because there will be far
less air pressure and therefore resonance and vibration affecting their cabinet
walls. And since the power required to make the deep bass is provided by the
subwoofer's built-in amplifier, your main power amp will be free from that
burden and begin to sound like a much more powerful amplifier. The one big
problem with all of this is that you need a crossover to roll off the deep bass
in your system and achieve all of these benefits. And the crossover that comes
with almost every subwoofer on the market will cause more damage to your signal
than can be overcome by these benefits. That is the main reason that audiophiles
refuse to consider adding subwoofers, even very expensive ones with well built
cabinets.
Enter the Vandersteen 2Wq 300 watt
powered subwoofer. This is the only subwoofer that is specifically designed to
be inserted into the highest of high-end music systems without doing any harm to
the precious signal. So how does Vandersteen do it? Simply. In fact his
crossover scheme is so ingeniously simple that it's a wonder nobody else thought
of doing it the same way. I'll spare you an in-depth description and just say
that the only thing you end up inserting into your system is a couple of high
quality capacitors. That's it, nothing more! No additional wires or gadgets
enter your signal path. Hell, you don't even have to disconnect the wire between
your amp and speakers to add this subwoofer. The model 2Wq sub uses the same
basic crossover scheme as the $15,000 flagship Model 5As. As a matter of fact,
you can even run the specially designed Model 5A crossovers (M5-HP) with the 2Wq
if you want the most transparent sound imaginable.
So what about the other reason to add a
subwoofer to your system: for more powerful and extended bass? I don't care how
big your main speakers are, they're no match for a good subwoofer in the bass. A
really good subwoofer can run rings around the best floorstanding speakers when
it comes to bass extension, power and control because it is designed to be
good at that and nothing but that, whereas main speakers have to be good at
higher frequencies as well. Ideally, you want two subwoofers so that you have
true stereo separation down deep into the bass. Stereo subs can also help to
lessen room interaction problems by providing two discrete sources of bass
information. Remember, if you can't afford to buy two subwoofers at once, you
can always add the second one later. Adding a pair of 300 watt powered
subwoofers is exactly like adding a pair of 300 watt monoblock amplifiers to
your system and upgrading to a pair of better main speakers at the same time.
The beauty is that you don't have to replace your main power amp or speakers to
do it.
But there is a problem here as well.
Everything comes at a price, and the price you pay with most subwoofers is that
when you add them and their built-in amplifiers to your system, they don't tend
to blend or integrate well with the sound of your power amp and speakers. This
is especially true if you own a tube amp, because the character of your amp is
nothing like the character of the big solid-state amp that is built into most
subwoofers. The result is that your system sounds split in half. You can hear
where one part of the system leaves off (namely your amp and speakers) and where
the other part takes over (the sub and its amp). This is a HUGE problem for
audiophiles who aren't willing to destroy their system's coherence for
additional power and bass extension. Fortunately, Vandersteen has the perfect
solution for this problem that is, again, so simple, I wonder why nobody else
thought of it first. His solution is to build a very powerful 300 watt amplifier
that strictly provides the huge current needed to drive the subwoofer. You can
think of this amplifier as only half of an amplifier; or just the power portion
of an amplifier. The release of this power is controlled by the signal that is
provided by your power amp. Vandersteen's amplifier needs a voltage to modulate
its current output, and what better place to get that voltage than from your
main power amp? This way, your power amplifier is directly responsible for the
sonic character of the deep bass coming from the subwoofer because it provides
the necessary voltage signal. This voltage signal contains the unique and
characteristic sound of your main power amplifier and insures that that
character is maintained in the sound of the subwoofer itself. The beauty of it
is that your amplifier is only providing a voltage reference and no actual
current, so it is not taxed with the burden of "driving" the subwoofer in any
way. As a matter of fact, your amplifier doesn't even know that the sub is
connected to it. The 2Wq's potential is almost unlimited given that it will
ratchet up its performance as you improve your power amp. Remember that you
always want your subwoofer to sound just like your power amp. No better, no
worse. NO DIFFERENT!
After having spent time with the
amazing Vandersteen Model 5A loudspeakers with their 400-watt powered, metal
cone subwoofers, we were reminded of the sound we had with the awesome Audio
Research Reference 600 mono power amps. With the Ref 600s there was a sense of
effortlessness, openness and unrestricted dynamic freedom that we have only
otherwise heard with live unamplified music. Listening to those monstrously
powerful amps made us realize that all other systems sound compressed by
comparison. Only when we heard the new Vandersteen Model 5As with their hugely
powerful built-in subwoofers, did we again have a strikingly similar sonic
experience. The reason is that the Model 5As provide a total of 800 high-quality
watts, to which you have to remember to add the power of the amp we were using,
the ARC VT-100, at 200 watts. This means we were listening to about 1000 total
watts of amplifier power - not far from the 1200 total watts provided by the Ref
600s. With the Vandersteen subwoofer crossover and amplifier, you are able to
get those hundreds of subwoofer watts to blend seamlessly and even take on the
character of the ARC VT-100. It's amazing! What's even better is that the price
of the system with the Model 5As and the VT-100 is under half the cost of the
Ref 600s alone! Since this discovery, we have achieved the same kind of
unbelievable dynamics and seamless blending with ProAc loudspeakers and twin
Vandersteen 2Wq 300 watt powered subs. So, if you want the sound of Ref 600s but
cannot afford them, buy a pair of Model 5As or your favorite pair of ProAcs plus
a couple of 2Wq subwoofers and mate them with a VT100 and you'll get
surprisingly close. You can cut the cost even further by running a pair of
Vandersteen 2Wq 300-watt subwoofers with your existing speakers. Or mate a pair
of 2Wqs with your favorite ProAc. In any case, it is the magic of SUBWOOFERS
that allows this to happen. It is for all of the above reasons that there is
only one subwoofer in existence capable of integrating seamlessly into a
high-end music system, allowing you to reap all of the benefits of having a
subwoofer, with none of the drawbacks. And the Vandersteen 2Wq is the one.
And just in case you think I am a biased source, our correspondent Blaine Peck
(who, for all you know is also a biased source) recently wrote the following,
with no discussion between us about the topic prior to his sending us his
comments. Whether reproducing the plucked string of an acoustic bass or the
sound of an analog synthesizer, the Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofer is a seamless
extension of any system. Nothing else need be added! With its internal 300-watt
power amplifier, it is the perfect compliment to any sound system. Designed to
take on the characteristics of your main stereo amplifier, the amp in the 2Wq
will not sound foreign in your system. Also, through an extension of the
Vandersteen design philosophy, a unique gradually sloping crossover system is
implemented so you simply do not know where your main speakers stop and the 2Wq
begins.
Now that your main speaker/amplifier
combination need not concern themselves with those power demanding low
frequencies, they are freed up to work in a more comfortable range. Yes, now
what is coming from your main speakers will sound better than ever.
The 2Wq is not just another subwoofer.
It consists of three 8" floor-facing drivers, each with a massive motor. So why
not a more typical single 12" or 15" design? Well frankly, the mass of a larger
driver will not allow it to respond as quickly as the Vandersteen 8" drivers to
today's demanding recordings. The 2Wq's 8" drivers are designed to handle the
content but be "fleet of foot" at the same time. Concerned about where to put
them? You need not worry. With the control of both its respective level and the
"q" (how loose or tight the low end is) you have the flexibility to place them
in a location that fits your living environment and not sacrifice performance.
The simple beauty of this product will soon become an addition to your room.
So whether on orchestral music, hard
rock or something in between, the Vandersteen 2Wq will exceed your expectations.
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