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Questions and answers
This is the question
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How low should you go?
Q. Is it really necessary to add a subwoofer to my home theatre system?
A. The short answer is no, you don't need a subwoofer to enjoy movies at home. The trouble is that without a subwoofer you're missing out on a huge amount of sonic detail encoded onto a DVD and in doing so missing out on viewing and hearing the movie the way the people who made it intended - and usually you're not getting full entertainment value. This applies particularly to movies with action or intense drama sequences.
Even if you can't afford a subwoofer you should plan or strategise to own one as soon as possible. In my experience it enhances your viewing experience by 100 percent across all movies, particularly if you use small front speakers, and/or have a large listening room.
Subwoofers produce bass sounds, often to the extent that you can feel them as well as being aurally aware of their existence. Most subwoofers are active models, which means they contain a built-in amplifier to power the driver and crossover electronics that let you adjust the sub's frequency range and sound level to blend in with your main speakers.
The performance of subwoofers is often affected by their placement. Ideally corner positions are not good and some wall positions can cause problems. Some room positions will cancel bass entirely. Usually the best location will align the front of the subwoofer with the acoustic front of the main speakers, even if the sub uses a downward firing woofer.
It's best to use the sonic capacities of the subwoofer rather than trying to enhance output by, for example, using walls to boost level. It rarely produces honest results.
Be aware that some disreputable manufacturers (a minority of them, thankfully) claim that their low range speakers are subwoofers, when in fact they are just bass boxes that don't produce the low bass we want and need.
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