Stepping down in scale, the differences are no less apparent. Playing the angular Scherzo from the Mandelring Quartet’s from Nr. 11 (in their recording of the Shostakovich Complete String Quartets, Audite 21.411) the sub adds body, focus and location to the instruments, makes it easier to separate the tonality and line of each instrument, especially the woody texture of the viola and adds shape and natural balance to the sound. This sense of balance is important. Overdo the settings on the sub and it doesn’t just become thick and clumsy, it leaves the top-end sounding dull and shut in too. But get it right and the added presence in the instruments counteracts any lack of extension, accentuating the speakers’ exceptional agility, their ability to capture the sharply jagged contrasts in the music. Add that to the heightened sense of space and location and you get a more natural perspective to go with it. The end result is not just a more exciting performance, but a more convincing experience too.
The benefits apply across all genres of acoustic music, from the reassuringly impressive body of jazz horns to the natural intonation and instrumental weight of a singer/guitarist like Eleanor McEvoy. But shift up to tracks that are simply wider bandwidth by nature and you get more as well as better. The spatial, weight and scale benefits the sub brings to orchestral recordings are to be expected, but the temporal benefits are more surprising, as shape and pattern fall into place and add direction and, if appropriate, momentum to proceedings. Well-recorded pop, like Crowded House’s ‘Fall At Your Feet’ (Woodface, Capitol Records EST 2144) gains its proper, undulating, suggestive, swelling rhythm, along with the presence and intimacy in the lyrics to go with it. Mainstream tracks with a more dance/club orientation gain whole strata of additional information – and the propulsive urge that goes with it.
In one sense, the conclusion here is obvious: a well-integrated sub-woofer can make a really impressive contribution to the musical performance of an already well-sorted system. But the key word in that sentence is, “can”. Your system better be working as well as it possibly can and not all sub-woofers are created equal. Despite the fact that, in theory at least, the demands of audio and AV systems are essentially identical, in practice they’re far from it. The goals and priorities are different and, as a result, they accept different compromises en route to achieving them. The dramatic increase in the range of sub-woofers being offered owes much to the demands of AV (and gaming) systems. You are going to struggle integrating products optimised for that market into a quality two-channel system.
Rules is rules…
When it comes to choosing a sub for a stereo/music orientated set up, the rules and priorities are actually exactly the same as they are for the rest of the system. Just because it’s the bottom-end, the things that matter don’t change. Less is still more. You need the capabilities and adjustments demanded by the required performance and for set up and integration – and no more. Analogue solutions are preferable but increasingly rare, while cheap digital is still cheap digital, with all the flaws that implies. Given that your performance priorities are still transparency, pitch definition, dynamic range and time and phase coherence (across the system, not just the sub-woofer) the challenge should be clear. It impacts the unit you choose and the way that you use it. For successful two-channel integration, the approach is clear – and mainly consists of ‘don’ts’.