nobody listening to headphones should make a move to bookshelf speakers unless they have a seperate midrange and woofer (known as 3-way speakers)
my midranges are crossed over at about 500hz.. and the 12 inch woofer takes care of frequencies below 500hz (down to about 30hz)
THEN you get a subwoofer for the 40hz - 10hz frequency range.
i have read on more than one occasion where people are buying 2-way bookshelf speakers and throw in a sub to compensate the 'low end'
a subwoofer is NOT a woofer.
proper methods are to have a tweeter (or even two tweeters) and a midrange for vocals.. then a woofer for lows with a SUBwoofer for tailoring to the frequencies that the woofer cant attain.
lots of DJ's at nightclubs and bars are making the same exact mistake.. one tweeter with one 12 inch woofer as a midrange and then a single or dual 18 inch woofers to complete a 3-way setup.
while the speakers MAY or may not be capable of playing a frequency sweep without any differences in perceiveable output.. you want DEDICATION for different chunks of the frequency spectrum.
stretching a speaker to play its upper or lower limits may be possible to reach a smooth blending volume between one speaker and the next, but the details will be misconstrued with the speaker reaching its frequency response limits.
so why spend an amount that could allow you to drive off a new car dealership with a vehicle that has less than 100 miles on the odometer when you could take the job of one speaker and divide it into two different jobs with cheaper speakers capable of only half as much as what you would normally purchase (mentioning a speaker that can do it all without help) ?
another example would be lifting something heavy.
why bust your back when you can have a buddy help and reduce the workload by HALF ?
i had to take a 175lb television and throw it in the garbage (it was standard definition and i wasnt willing to pay for a repair with all the new high definition content becoming available)
i grabbed that tv and lifted it off of its stand and threw it out into the hallway until someone or something could help me bring it to the alley.
sure, i might have been able to tip toe my way up the stairs and to the garbage.. but having help makes breaking out in a sweat only a bloody joke.
have you ever seen jacks lift 300 tons ?
they dont use 3 or 4 jacks.. they use about a dozen jacks to spread the workload across multiple pieces of equipment.
one jack might be capable of lifting 500 tons.. but add eleven more jacks and the total weight becomes a silly joke rather than a serious event of effort.
i've heard speakers with 'super tweeters' and usually these are found at places like walmart and the tweeters used are generic not audiophile.
but the concept is totally accurate.
if i were to build my own crossover, i would have two tweeters.. one midrange.. one woofer.. and one subwoofer all in one single cabinet/tower.
THEN i would have some dedicated subwoofers with an amplifier more powerful than the receiver to really push out the 20hz and lower frequencies (especially for movies and games)
such a setup would be so immersive that (if the screen was appropriate size) would possibly fool you on an acid trip.
was that the movie or did a semi just pull out from a stop sign?
sure.. lots of midranges and bookshelf speakers can rip open an exhaust from a sport bike.. but it takes exceptional base throughout the frequency spectrum to really appreciate a theater room you call 'dark matter'
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I've never done this, so I am not sure which route is best.
I have seen a couple friends of mine get a receiver and get two good bookshelf speakers and run them off of that, and of course get a good sub to go with it.
What a are your thoughts? I am new to home theater type audio but I am a semi professional car audio installer and I am into headphones way to much. So I guess you could say I catch on fast with this stuff.
