Why do we need towers when we use a subwoofer?
hey guys ... for a very long time this was a million dollar question for me.
Technically speaking, the subs will take care of the LF and bookshelfs are enough to handle and the rest of the frequencies.
I have auditioned a couple of different bookshelfs in various demo rooms, and at fellow FMs houses.
Few of them are in the price range of 80 to 1.5k (for me, they are expensive bookshelfs)
And I have seen some towers too.
Well..., my understanding as on date, based on my personal experience is as follows.
Please note: I will talk only about movies. Not music.
Towers+Sub sounds a lot more dynamic than Bookshelfs+Sub (even if the avr has the optimum settings in both cases)
If you love the movie experience to be very dynamic, and vibrant, towers are the way to go !!! (even if you have a sub)
If you want me to pick an example, taga Platinum F120 towers can literally shake a medium size room @ 55k.
Adding a sub will take the whole experience to a different level.
None of those highend bookshelfs could give that dynamic feel, even with a subwoofer period !!
Bass sounds are something we hear and also feel in the form of vibrations.
Bookshelfs may give very good bass to hear.
But when it comes to the feel of bass, towers do far better job than bookshelfs @ a given price.
In that scenario, adding a sub is a bonus.
Let me put it this way.... lets say I have two towers that are capable of giving a semi-subwoofer feel.
And let's say I add a subwoofer. Then its almost like having 3 subwoofers in my room.
(not an accurate analogy, but I hope u can understand what Im trying to say)
Lets look at 2.1 configuration. Lets say we have a pair of good bookshelfs and a sub.
Now you replace those bookshelfs with a pair of dynamic sounding and room shaking towers.
The whole experience will change. (I agree there are many good bookshelfs that can beat towers in general sense)
On paper, and in theory, it looks logical to say bookshelfs+sub is enough.
But experiencing the setup gives a different feel altogether.
MY personal usage experience limited to one brand:
Speaking in terms of my personal 5.1 setup, I had 5 bookshelfs from taga platinum series and one subwoofer.
Platinum series bookshelfs and TAV series towers perform equally good when combined with a sub.
But when I bring some towers like F120 into the game, the bookshelf+sub sounds like a joke. No comparison at all !!
Tiny bookshelfs + sub is not equal to good towers + sub. Particularly for movies.
I have not used them personally, but from the auditions, I can say the same holds true even for highend bookshelfs+sub.
To sum up, this is my personal observation, based on my limited experience.
And remember, everything I said above is related to movies and that too, if you like a very dynamic and vibrant movie feel.
As my experience grows, If I change my opinion in future, I will make sure to come back here and correct my claims.
Regards,
Naveen
hey guys ... for a very long time this was a million dollar question for me.
Technically speaking, the subs will take care of the LF and bookshelfs are enough to handle and the rest of the frequencies.
I have auditioned a couple of different bookshelfs in various demo rooms, and at fellow FMs houses.
Few of them are in the price range of 80 to 1.5k (for me, they are expensive bookshelfs)
And I have seen some towers too.
Well..., my understanding as on date, based on my personal experience is as follows.
Please note: I will talk only about movies. Not music.
Towers+Sub sounds a lot more dynamic than Bookshelfs+Sub (even if the avr has the optimum settings in both cases)
If you love the movie experience to be very dynamic, and vibrant, towers are the way to go !!! (even if you have a sub)
If you want me to pick an example, taga Platinum F120 towers can literally shake a medium size room @ 55k.
Adding a sub will take the whole experience to a different level.
None of those highend bookshelfs could give that dynamic feel, even with a subwoofer period !!
Bass sounds are something we hear and also feel in the form of vibrations.
Bookshelfs may give very good bass to hear.
But when it comes to the feel of bass, towers do far better job than bookshelfs @ a given price.
In that scenario, adding a sub is a bonus.
Let me put it this way.... lets say I have two towers that are capable of giving a semi-subwoofer feel.
And let's say I add a subwoofer. Then its almost like having 3 subwoofers in my room.
(not an accurate analogy, but I hope u can understand what Im trying to say)
Lets look at 2.1 configuration. Lets say we have a pair of good bookshelfs and a sub.
Now you replace those bookshelfs with a pair of dynamic sounding and room shaking towers.
The whole experience will change. (I agree there are many good bookshelfs that can beat towers in general sense)
On paper, and in theory, it looks logical to say bookshelfs+sub is enough.
But experiencing the setup gives a different feel altogether.
MY personal usage experience limited to one brand:
Speaking in terms of my personal 5.1 setup, I had 5 bookshelfs from taga platinum series and one subwoofer.
Platinum series bookshelfs and TAV series towers perform equally good when combined with a sub.
But when I bring some towers like F120 into the game, the bookshelf+sub sounds like a joke. No comparison at all !!
Tiny bookshelfs + sub is not equal to good towers + sub. Particularly for movies.
I have not used them personally, but from the auditions, I can say the same holds true even for highend bookshelfs+sub.
To sum up, this is my personal observation, based on my limited experience.
And remember, everything I said above is related to movies and that too, if you like a very dynamic and vibrant movie feel.
As my experience grows, If I change my opinion in future, I will make sure to come back here and correct my claims.
Regards,
Naveen
that's an unfair comparison between S90SL and F120
