So...how what does a sub do for your movie experience?

[jc480]

I know this is a stupid question...my home theater is derailed as I'm waiting on finding a job so I can buy a TV. But I've never had a HT system and, while I have a sub coming, I'm just wondering what I can expect to experience during the movie...gives me something to look forward to when I finally do finish this project.

Do you feel it in your guts? Does it make the movie come alive in different ways? How does it tangibly or emotionally affect your experience?

Some of your favorite effects with your sub would be...? i.e. cannonfire, jets flying, explosions, etc...

[aramis109]

The subwoofer greatly increases the immersive experience for me in action movies and sequences. It creates a rumble I can hear and feel. It's loud, and accurately reproduces the sounds I would expect to hear were I in the same real-world situation.

When a building collapses, I don't expect it to go down with a whimper. Same for the roaring of a high-performance engine, or the explosion of a missle, or a cannon going off.

Blu-ray is all about getting as close to the director's vision as possible; to accurately re-create the scene both visually and aurally. Without a subwoofer or a very good tower setup capable of low frequency effects... you're completely missing out.

[CosmoKid]

I don;t think any tower speaker can replicate anything close to what a subwoofer can do. My buddy has top of the line Def Tech towers with powered subs built in and they don't come close to my HSU. The only thing they may replicate well is a cheap subwoofer.

To the OP, the best way to see the difference is to test it yourself. When you set up your ED put in a disk like U-571 and go to the depth charge scene.

Play it once with the sub off and then turn on the sub and play it again. You will never have to ask that question again.

[swingle007]

it's like night and day when you add a subwoofer....an entirely different and far more enjoyable movie experience with one in your setup.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by CosmoKid

I don;t think any tower speaker can replicate anything close to what a subwoofer can do. My buddy has top of the line Def Tech towers with powered subs built in and they don't come close to my HSU. The only thing they may replicate well is a cheap subwoofer.

Agreed. Even when a tower speaker has a powered sub built in, it still suffers limitations due to the cabinet not being designed exclusively for subwoofer duty. A "jack of all trades" may do several things fairly well, but almost never excels at anything.

Originally Posted by CosmoKid

To the OP, the best way to see the difference is to test it yourself. When you set up your ED put in a disk like U-571 and go to the depth charge scene.

Play it once with the sub off and then turn on the sub and play it again. You will never have to ask that question again.

Definitely. Once you're spoiled on a good subwoofer, you'll never go back. After you've listened to a few movies with it, it will be misery to go watch a movie at someone's house who doesn't have a real sound system.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by fireman325

Agreed. Even when a tower speaker has a powered sub built in, it still suffers limitations due to the cabinet not being designed exclusively for subwoofer duty. A "jack of all trades" may do several things fairly well, but almost never excels at anything.



Definitely. Once you're spoiled on a good subwoofer, you'll never go back. After you've listened to a few movies with it, it will be misery to go watch a movie at someone's house who doesn't have a real sound system.

I agree, but was just trying to minimize the opportunity of the thread getting derailed arguing that "I don't need a subwoofer because I have these Martin Logan's"... etc ad nauseum.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by aramis109

I agree, but was just trying to minimize the opportunity of the thread getting derailed arguing that "I don't need a subwoofer because I have these Martin Logan's"... etc ad nauseum.

Good point. Hopefully I didn't do too much damage and it'll stay on track from here on.

[Bikerbeast]

Dude its night & day, for example The Dark Knight I watched it on my system 3 or 4 time after it came out on blu. Then was over at my parents and they were watching it on dvd no surround so no sub and it just didn’t have the impact or the ability to pull you in with the foreboding low bass soundtrack like on my system. Also watched Iron Man, was not the same movie without surround and bass.

[gearyt]

a good sub will ROCK your world !!

[Rob J in WNY]

You'll love the sound with a dedicated subwoofer!

I ran my HT without a sub for many years. I had two Sony 12", 3-way front speakers (which I recently replaced with Polk T90e towers). If you check my gallery photos, you can see all the speakers I used. Basically, without a sub, I just set my receiver's sub output to "off," and it mixed the LFE channel (the ".1" channel) into my old fronts. LFE stands for "Low Frequency Effects" in case you didn't know.

The difference in sonic quality with a dedicated sub is absolutely worth the extra time, money and effort. My single sub (Polk PSW125) VASTLY outperforms the two 12" woofer drivers in the old speakers....VASTLY. One crucial thing about subwoofers is the correct placement in the room. The sub's most optimal room location to give you the highest performance (at your preferred listening position) may NOT be along the front wall with your TV and front speakers. Tower speakers with built-in subs may not be the best choice for a given room.

Indeed, you will love the LFEs much better with a subwoofer than without, hands down. As has been mentioned, you won't just hear the bottom frequencies. You'll really FEEL them, and these sensations add immense dimension to your viewing experience - even emotional!

[rragland]

Originally Posted by jc480

I know this is a stupid question...my home theater is derailed as I'm waiting on finding a job so I can buy a TV. But I've never had a HT system and, while I have a sub coming, I'm just wondering what I can expect to experience during the movie...gives me something to look forward to when I finally do finish this project.

Do you feel it in your guts? Does it make the movie come alive in different ways? How does it tangibly or emotionally affect your experience?

Some of your favorite effects with your sub would be...? i.e. cannonfire, jets flying, explosions, etc...

A 5.1 system without a subwoofer is a 5.0 system.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by jc480

Some of your favorite effects with your sub would be...? i.e. cannonfire, jets flying, explosions, etc...

I'll address this portion of the question..... since I don't know how to answer the rest


My favorite effect is a slowly building crescendo..... like the sound of a train coming from the distance, but starting slowly, and building to a tremendous roar.

If you have your levels properly set, the sub won't be distracting during dialog, and it won't sound like an explosion when someone shuts a door......

There are sounds that reach levels that are felt, and the subwoofer can/should replicate those sounds as well.


While it's not the most important speaker in the system, I'd have to say at many times, it's the most "Fun" and certainly the most surprising at times too


EDIT:

In some of the scenarios listed by others, the other great advantage of a subwoofer is to allow the other speakers to focus on other frequencies, and thus reproducing sound more accurately.....

[mgrimsley]

i remember the first time i watched close encounters of the third kind with my first sub. the part where the ufo hovers over the truck. all the ornaments on the mantlepiece fell off their was so much rumbling/bass. play this without a sub and it would probably sound like a fart in a teacup. does this answer your question ?

[Driver_King]

Simply put, you're going to keep a spare change of clothes around after listening to your A2-300 and letting it rip for the first time.

[gearyt]

Gives " left home alone " a whole new meaning
wife doesn't even hit the driveway before the volume goes up

[Marine Mike]

It isn't a Home Theatre without a Subwoofer.

While doing a stupid experiement I watched a movie with my subwoofer on and then with it off.

Its the difference between watching a movie in Black and White compared to Color. Sure some Black and White films are made that way to invoke certain theatrical elements or what have you, but lets assume they did it just because they didn't have color.

Yeah...its like that.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Marine Mike

It isn't a Home Theatre without a Subwoofer.

While doing a stupid experiement I watched a movie with my subwoofer on and then with it off.

Its the difference between watching a movie in Black and White compared to Color. Sure some Black and White films are made that way to invoke certain theatrical elements or what have you, but lets assume they did it just because they didn't have color.

Yeah...its like that.

I used to own an 11 inch mono black & White TV in college. I used to watch late shows, and re-runs of Perry Mason in my dorm room. They used to give me more pleasure than some of the new movies in my state of the art home theater room. I miss the good old days. Everything is relative.

[mavlow]

its funny when people get there sub they come here and say they watch all of there movies again...i never quite understood it until i got my A2 last week...you are going to enjoy the hell out of your new sub...i know i am

[jc480]

Thanks folks. You've given me alot of insight and validated my financial commitment to this HT project. I've found that research and understanding things helps alot to alleviate or eliminate buyer's remorse or second guessing myself.

Really looking forward to receiving my A2-300 and experiencing what you guys described. When my HT theater is complete, I'll come back to this thread and compare notes (for those that care).

[Geezer00003]

[QUOTE=jc480;1592581]
Do you feel it in your guts? Does it make the movie come alive in different ways? How does it tangibly or emotionally affect your experience?QUOTE]

Not to burst anyones bubble but not all subs are created equal.
Having used 2 200w 12" subs together in years past, I've lived what I'm talking about. They were replaced by a 15" 1500w sub and totally out performed by it!
Yes now I get a viseral gut churning butt kicking feeling that just wasen't even hinted at by my old subs. So be prepared for different levels of realizism depending on what you get.

Cheers