Is Subwoofer necessary?

[mclaren85]

Hello, I've been using Altec Lansing BXR1121 model 2+1 speaker system.

But Creative claim that their product is so unique that it doesn't need a subwoofer yet its sound quality is much better than ordinary 2+1 sound system. The model is Gigaworks t 40.

Do you think this is actually true? If we talk about this specific model, Would creative sounds better than the Altec?

 

[Night]

Nothing can replace a subwoofer, either for music or movies. Creative might have better quality speakers, but it's missing out on a subwoofer.

 

[nomdeplume]

BS marketing data spits out BS marketing data no matter what you think is being compared.

At this level of sound reproduction, at any level of sound reproduction, it is wise to avoid the above or any decision with basis in price point. Go with what sounds best to you.

I will say there is a great amount of homogeneity in the computer speaker market. Different combinations of the same elements creating what might at first appear to be... you are listening to the same level of circuitry and components.

 

[Super Firm Tofu]

This question is like asking which fast-food French Fries taste better a day later from the refrigerator.

The only reason to buy anything new is that if it doesn't sound good to you. Never feel that something you have isn't good enough based on the fact that some marketing tells you it's not.

*edit - not enough coffee this morning*

 

[Tatty_Two]

Creative Gigaworks T40 came out around 2007 I think, the T40 series 2 in around 2011, pretty decent sound quality, however the first paragraph of this review for the series 2 sums up the Sub question.........

Creative Gigaworks T40 series II review | Expert Reviews

 

[Vayra86]

PC speaker sets are pretty much.... meh territory. Just buy an amp and a set of passive speakers and you're set for... decades, or life.

I'm now looking at 20+ years on my Harman kardon 5.1 setup, cost 450 bucks at the time. Hard to beat Over the years that setup has been the TV speaker set, done house parties/DJ sets... used monitor speakers on it for music production... and now it's serving as a 2.1 because you simply have that flexibility.

One thing got replaced over that time, and guess what... its the subwoofer. Its the single most vulnerable part of any music setup, especially an active sub. Similar things apply to active speakers relative to passive speakers - I would strongly suggest the latter, though for sub, its generally more (cost-) efficient to get an active unit (and a lighter amp since you don't need to power the sub from it).

 

[Bill_Bright]

Small speaker technologies have come a long way in the last few years to the point where some pretty good sound can come out of those speakers.

That said, when just the front-left speaker from a 1/2 way decent surround home theater system could cost $1,000 or $2,000 or several times more, and that does NOT include any electronics to drive it, can you get audiophile sound out of any computer speaker systems that have a suggested retail price of $150 - for both left and right and the amplifiers to drive them? Ummm, no.

Go with what sounds best to you.

^^^This^^^

Just don't expect anything worth serious listening.

 

[mclaren85]

Creative Gigaworks T40 came out around 2007 I think, the T40 series 2 in around 2011, pretty decent sound quality, however the first paragraph of this review for the series 2 sums up the Sub question.........

Creative Gigaworks T40 series II review | Expert Reviews

That review was the thing I wanted to hear. Thank you. That means I don't need to change my current setup until it gets broken. Alas, there are much less choice of sound system than 10 years ago. I can't take Logitech or Steelseries seriously when it comes to audiophile grade sound system.

 

[ir_cow]

I turned mine off a few years ago lol. If you have speakers that can output 120Hz or below, no need for one. I find the rumbles more distracting.

 

[Tatty_Two]

That review was the thing I wanted to hear. Thank you. That means I don't need to change my current setup until it gets broken. Alas, there are much less choice of sound system than 10 years ago. I can't take Logitech or Steelseries seriously when it comes to audiophile grade sound system.

It's not always that simple though, which is why I always say to truly know what sounds best for you they need to be heard, for example in your case, how well does your sub perform with 7w? I am no audiophile, far from it, I just have my old Home Theatre 5.1 surround receiver connected to my PC via SPDIF, my Sub (Yamaha) is only 50w but for gaming it sounds pretty decent, I don't really play music or watch movies with it so my perceptions are limited.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Don't confuse watts with quality. More watts does not mean better quality. Neither does loudness. There are way more factors involved such as speaker efficiencies, distortion, frequency response, distortion, dispersion, distortion - just to name a few. Did I mention distortion?

I find the rumbles more distracting.

Rumbles from a high-quality system can be very entertaining - when realistic and not over exaggerated. I think we must also note the words "woofer" and "subwoofer" came out of the audio reproduction industry for listening to music. That is, when the woofer (and/or sub) were part of a "stereo" system.

These days, woofers are commonly knowns as LFE speakers or low frequency effect speakers and are more commonly part of a home theater audio system, either 2.1, 5.1, 7.1 or even 9.1 systems.

These speakers are intended for music, but also things like loud explosions and other sounds intended to "rumble".

The ones that really bother me are those in cars when I can hear them coming from three blocks away. And I am not talking about the sound coming from the subwoofers. I am talking about the rattling door panels and fender. If is really sad when the distortion is louder than the music. And what's worse is they actually think that sounds good!

 

[kiriakost]

I turn off my sub when I am in battlefield-V so to not scare the neighborhood.

YAMAHA 4x + YAMAHA sub-woofer.
The sub-woofer its great if you have a normal in dimensions room and not a cage = less than 10 square meters.

 

[ir_cow]

Your subwoofer shouldn't be making audible sounds. Just low LFE and some rumbles. If you "hear" the subwoofer, your doing it wrong.

 

[Operandi]

PC speaker sets are pretty much.... meh territory. Just buy an amp and a set of passive speakers and you're set for... decades, or life.

You really have to look at things in context. Only within the realm of 90's and early 00's PC multimeida speakers would a 4" driver and 7 watts be considered a subwoofer, in no other context would the ".1" in that Altec be considered a subwoofer. Bottom line is neither of the Altec or Creative are going to have real meaningful bass that a subwoofer would cover so in that sense these two are probably pretty comparable. The Creatives are more modern, likely use drivers that are much higher quality, and won't suffer from bass and mid bass coming from the .1 speaker so I'd be surprised if they weren't noticeably batter.

If you have speakers that can output 120Hz or below, no need for one.

120Hz is practically mid-bass. 70Hz is about the cutoff for a F3 response otherwise its going to sound very, very lean on just about all genres of music.

 

[P4-630]

Is Subwoofer necessary?​

No.



I got this 2x60W with 3-way speaker set connected to my PC, a lot of bass and no sub needed...

 

[qubit]

No amount of quality can beat physics. Little speakers can't outdo a dedicated large woofer, so it will kick out much more bass. However, within their frequency range, small speakers can still sound very good.

 

[Shrek]

Necessary, of course not.

Desirable, many would say so.

 

[freeagent]

Some of the best stereos I’ve heard had no sub attached and still rocked hard. I can’t speak for those little guys though. They probably sound ok..

 

[Operandi]

No amount of quality can beat physics. Little speakers can't outdo a dedicated large woofer, so it will kick out much more bass. However, within their frequency range, small speakers can still sound very good.

You can do a lot with a sealed enclosure, DSP and tons of power. The tiny subs from REL and KEF are the real deal. Its the same concept used by portable bluetooth speakers use to make reasonable bass that would otherwise not be possible given their size and the volume they have to play with.

 

[Shrek]

Headphones might be the way to go in order to avoid annoying others.

 

[Vayra86]

You really have to look at things in context. Only within the realm of 90's and early 00's PC multimeida speakers would a 4" driver and 7 watts be considered a subwoofer, in no other context would the ".1" in that Altec be considered a subwoofer. Bottom line is neither of the Altec or Creative are going to have real meaningful bass that a subwoofer would cover so in that sense these two are probably pretty comparable. The Creatives are more modern, likely use drivers that are much higher quality, and won't suffer from bass and mid bass coming from the .1 speaker so I'd be surprised if they weren't noticeably batter.

120Hz is practically mid-bass. 70Hz is about the cutoff for a F3 response otherwise its going to sound very, very lean on just about all genres of music.

Exactly but the OP is looking for a subwoofer which implies 'looking for sub lows'. I'm merely pointing out where the real bass is at. Buying yet another PC speaker set is a sure road to rapid replacement and ditto weak lows. Or a soundbar... I mean... yes, you can fake a lot of bass in a smaller enclosure, but I honestly haven't been in front of many sound bars that performed well, and the ones that did, are way too expensive.

Audio must be kept stupid simple, its just the most effective way to go about it. A good pair of bookshelf speakers or any half decent, not overpriced 2.1 ~ 5.1 speaker setup on a regular amp is going to perform admirably in any setting. The only difference here is you need to place the amp somewhere and connect speaker cable to it. Even surround... a solid stereo setup where you're positioning in between properly is really quite effective in providing the right thing; an accurate sound stage. I don't miss it, honestly, using 2.1 in (competitive) gaming for years now.

No.

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I got this 2x60W with 3-way speaker set connected to my PC, a lot of bass and no sub needed...

You're not 'needing' one, but you're definitely missing a sub frequency range on bookshelf speakers. There is bass. But not sub bass, or just a sliver of it. You don't necessarily need to have it for good audio; the fact remains you're missing part of the frequency spectrum the content might provide. This means you might miss out on some definition that is provided by a sub - a great example is hi-hats against a deep sub bass; the two accentuate one another. Sub adds weight to whatever's on top of it, basically.

 

[freeagent]

The tiny subs from REL and KEF are the real deal.

Yup.

 

[Vayra86]

The ones that really bother me are those in cars when I can hear them coming from three blocks away. And I am not talking about the sound coming from the subwoofers. I am talking about the rattling door panels and fender. If is really sad when the distortion is louder than the music. And what's worse is they actually think that sounds good!

The distortion IS music man, it does sound better than what's being played underneath Yea... I remember being inside those cars too... I'm sure I lost a few frequencies there for the rest of my life!

 

[1freedude]

Dual 15" or gtfo

 

[Operandi]

Exactly but the OP is looking for a subwoofer which implies 'looking for sub lows'. I'm merely pointing out where the real bass is at

Yep, I was trying to reinforce your point. When I said "you" I meant it in the context of anyone looking at these tiny multimedia speakers with "subwoofers"