I would like to know how carefully a sub-woofer needs to match the rest of the speaker system. I have a new system - an Integra 5.2 receiver - and paradign mini-monitors for fronts, CC-370 for center channel and Atoms for rears. I understand how important it is to match your speakers - but i'm wondering if it's just as important for sub-woofers. Right now I don't have a sub-woofer - the cheapest paradigm one being almost $300. I'm not missing it that much - but wondering if I can get away with a much cheaper sub-woofer from another brand without screwing stuff up. If I can't, I might not get any subwoofer for a long time. Thoughts?
Assuming price and/or quality is equal, brand-matching a subwoofer is completely unimportant. (Although I'm sure the manufacturers would have you believe otherwise.)Why? Because our ears can't discern things that low--we can certainly hear those frequencies, but the subtleties that separate one brand from the next are virtually impossible to distinguish. That said, it's still worth spending money on a decent brand--don't do the $149 special. You can certainly hear the difference between a good sub and a cheap-o sub. Don't ruin the silky sound of the Paradigms with some crappy subwoofer. If you do, you'll spend $149 for a crappy subwoofer, hate it, and then go spend money for a good one.
Take a look at some smaller Velodynes or Polks. They won't be too much less than the Paradigm sub, but they should give you great results.
Ariel
Posted on
for music listening and you are not interested in pipe organs, the minimonitor can hold it's own. for ht, you are certainly missing something without a sub. as andrew mentioned, you don't need to timbre match the sub with the rest of the speakers. for your budget, it's hard to find a good sub unless your ok to go with the used ones. it's better to save up some more than buy a cheap crappy sub.