What subwoofer should I buy?

Have 2 B&W 703's as my main speakers, 2 B&W 705's as my surrounds, HTM7 as my center.What subwoofer to buy?

• I am looking to buy a HSU research subwoofer. I heard they got some good reviews. Can anyone recommed a specific model that would be consistent with the above system. Also what kind of amplifier system would I need? Would I need separate preamps, amps for my surrounds, main speakers and subwoofer? any suggestions?

• Answer:

  Hi.Unless you have a very big room a subwoofer would be a waste of money.Your B&W 703 Speakers go down to 38 HZ.If you bought a sub. you probably would not hear much below 40 HZ.The idea of a sub in the first place is to hear (and feel) frequencies down to about 20 HZ. A 20 HZ note is about 56 feet long.If your room is about 28 feet long in one direction you will hear (feel) half a note. Any shorter than 28 feet wont be heard.The reason people hear the very low notes in a Cinema is because the inside of the building is usually longer than 56 feet. That's why the note is developed properly. When we try to do that at home we are up against the laws of physics and acoustics. I am not trying to talk you out of getting one i am trying to show you all the problems associated with subs.The structure of the walls of your home cinema room will determine the behaviour of the low notes from a sub.Also ,each room has a fundamental resonance caused by the volume of air in the room at a certain frequency generated by the loudspeaker. The worst shape for a room is a cube where soundwaves reflect off parellel surfaces creating standing wave patterns which are very overpowering and boomy. The next worse shape is a square room which is nearly as bad as a cube.If the walls of your room are thick and dense ,the bass notes will not pass through and it will take too long for the reverberation to stop and interfere with the other frequencies A thiner wall will absorb some of the bass and transmit some energy through the wall creating a booming sound on the other side. If you spend the money on a better amplifier ,you will have a much cleaner bass that will still go low for you to enjoy the sound affects properly .If you still decide you want one then there are a few rules to follow.A lot of wrong information is given out about subwoofers,such as :bass isn't directional ,you only need one subwoofer ,or you can put it anywhere. let's set the record strait : bass is directional in a room-the room causes it to be directional .So ,placement is important so that the bass blends with the rest of the music.Put the sub. in the back of the room and you'll get a boomy sound. To integrate the sub.properly into a system you must place the sub. at the same end of the room as the main speakers.To make the bass less directional and blend better you need to cross it over at a low frequency and ideally use a pair of subs. (only the very lowest frequencies are not directional.) My room is 26 feet long and my speakers go down to 45 HZ. and i still get tremendous bass "wallop" and "slam''with sound effects and music,so thats why i didn't get a sub. The better the amplification the better the speakers perform. I will let the other guys advise you on what sub to get ,if you still want one. If you want the very best sound from your speakers then this is what you have to do.You have to imagine the components of a home cinema linked together like a chain.The recorded information is retrieved from the software converted to an electrical signal and sent to the electronics. The electronics produce a larger copy of that signal and then send it to the speakers.The speakers convert the signal into the sound you hear .Information is passed down the chain from one component to the next and in one direction only.The most important fundamental is that nothing in the chain can improve upon what is sent to it.The best equipment does not degrade the original signal as much as cheaper equipment does,.Because we can't make the sound better than it is on the software the goal is to degrade it as little as possible If information is lost or damaged(distorted,changed,altered,)at the Source,nothing else down the chain can make up for ,or repair it. You have to put something good into the system to get something good out. .The Source is the first component at the beginning of the chain .It takes the information from the software and converts it into an electrical signal.The Source component has to maintain that signal and not degrade it in any way.The quality of the signal coming out of this first component affects every other component in the chain.Every other component in the system merely passes on this signal with greater or less accuracy.None can enhanse or improve it.The next component in the chain is the preamplifier which is responsible for volume adjustment ,input switching and the first stage of amplification. If the preamplifier introduces any distortions to the signal then the amplified distorted signal is passed on to the power amplifiers to be furthur amplified again and passed on to the speakers.Following behind the preamp is the power amp. its job is to move the speakers back and forth with control and accuracy while not introducing any noise or distortion to the musical signal it receives from the preamp,And last in the chain are the Speakers.Their job is to turn the musical signal coming down the speaker wire into an acoustic event in your room . The e greatest compromise in a Receiver is the use of a single power supply for all three sections (the preamp.the power amp and the tuner)The needs of the power amp section affect the preamp section the result is receivers are not as smooth ,effortless ,open and full sounding as separates.