Standard-Setting High-End Audio Equipment You Need to Hear to Believe

There are plenty of speakers and subwoofers that are purpose built to attack you with raw spl. On the other hand, Harbbotle affords you the opportunity to savor the content. Savor the film, savor the music, and as a result, be fully engrossed and transported. However, don't mistake it's civility for weakness. With THX certification standards and reference level ability firmly in our rearview mirror, and in some cases lapped, the ability to be attacked is always at the tip of your fingers if you so wish, just turn the dial. This fact makes Harbottle one of the best loudspeaker and subwoofer options on the market.

Accuracy How faithfully the music is reproduced by the playback equipment. Related: Fidelity Opposite: Veiled Harbottle: This is all efficiency, THD, and compression, and depends on the amplitude of the driver and how hard it is pushing and being pushed into compression either in the amp or in the driver. The box and/or port will be minimally affecting the sound until its threshold for withstanding the forces acting on it by the driver is realized. This is the “sum of all parts”. ADSR Attack: The time it takes for a sound to increase to its maximum amplitude. Decay: The sound immediately begins to decrease to the sustain level. Sustain: The sound remains at this level until released. Release: The sound decreases back to zero amplitude. Harbottle: This is efficiency and compression affected. Aggressive Excessively in-your-face sounding. Brightness tending towards unpleasantness. Related: Forward Opposite: Laid-Back Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency through the bandwidth with harmonic distortions leaning towards unpleasant. Airy Giving the perception of music reproduction in an open and empty interior space. Typically indicates high-frequency reproduction above approximately 15kHz. Related: Bright Opposite: Recessed Harbottle: Balanced efficiency from 5000 Hz and up and low THD across the whole bandwidth. Analytical Conveying complexity and detail. Related: Detailed Opposite: Veiled Harbottle: Balanced efficiency with a bias to extremely low harmonic distortion. Articulate Able to discern individual voices and instruments in the music. Related: Detailed Opposite: Muddy Harbottle: High efficiency with low compression and low THD. Attack The first part of ADSR, the ability to reproduce the initial part of a sound or note. Harbottle: Very low compression is required for breathtaking attack effect. Bass-Bleed An abundance of, or uncontrolled bass response that overwhelms or interferes with higher (midrange) frequencies. Harbottle: Audible compression with audible THD, usually 3rd and 4th order harmonics. Bleed Leakage of sound either from a device or between frequencies. Harbottle: Audible compression and low efficiency. Bloated Uncontrolled or excessive mid-bass (approximately 250Hz) frequency reproduction. Related: Boomy Opposite: Tight Harbottle: Enclosure resonance (distortion) and unbalanced efficiency in the system design. Unsalvageable design. Blurred Inability to quickly respond to rapidly changing dynamics, or inability to reproduce a sense of separation between the left and right channels of stereo audio. Related: Fast Opposite: Detailed Harbottle: High and early compression with low and unbalanced efficiency. Boomy Excessive bass (approximately 125Hz) reproduction, that sounds like low-frequency resonances. Related: Thick Opposite: Tight Harbottle: Audible harmonic distortion with poor efficiency. Boxy Excessive lower midrange (approximately 250-500Hz) that creates an enclosed or cupped sound. Related: Honky Opposite: Natural Harbottle: High and narrow efficiency band resulting in peaky sensitivity. Breathy Upper midrange and treble reproduction allow for audible breath sounds on wind instruments. Harbottle: Low compression, low THD, high and balanced efficiency through the bandwidth. Will change when compression kicks in. Bright Strong upper midrange and treble reproduction. Related: Airy Opposite: Dark Harbottle: High efficiency through that range. May be unbalanced due to compression if the lower end can not keep up through the amplitude range. Brilliance The impression of clarity from strong treble (approximately 6-16kHz) reproduction. Related: Airy Opposite: Closed Harbottle: High and unbalanced efficiency with possible THD. Listen for excessive crispy sound where there shouldn’t be any. Closed Treble roll-off above 10kHz, creating a lack of detail, delicacy, and openness. Related: Dark Opposite: Open Harbottle: Audible THD and compression. Listen if the effect is related to amplitude (volume level). If it cleans up at lower output levels, then it is speaker related, if it is always present then it can be either the speaker or your amp, or something in your signal chain. Pro Tip: The amp is the most important part of your audio system, from an audio engineering standpoint. That is why designers and engineers use ultra high performance amps for benchmark testing. Coherent Indicates proper timing and natural sounding reproduction with good imaging and definition. Related: Definition Opposite: Muddy Harbottle: Balanced efficiency, inaudible THD and compression through the entire bandwidth. Color A change to the original sound, timbre, or frequency, that may (or may not) be pleasant sounding and desired, but regardless, is not accurate. Related: Opaque Opposite: Accuracy Harbottle: Distortion, either THD, compression, efficiency, or otherwise. Changes in sound as a result of amplitude or dynamic changes indicate an unbalanced system. This distortion changing effect is usually the result of an unbalanced efficiency somewhere in the system from the low power signal to the driver… very hard to track down. Congested Difficult to hear details due to distortion, noise, poor frequency reproduction, or timing. Related: Muddy Opposite: Articulate Harbottle: Audible compression, which is a distortion, so the official definition is not entirely wrong, it just alludes to THD when the distortion is actually from compressive effects. Most common is intermodulation compression and early compression. Cool Sound lacking lower bass frequencies under approximately 150Hz. Related: Dry Opposite: Warm Harbottle: Efficiency issues. Not sensitivity… two very different things. Crisp Good high-frequency extension. Related: Airy Opposite: Dark Harbottle: Lack of compression. Dark Stronger low frequencies and weaker higher frequencies, yielding a feeling of subdued details. Related: Veiled Opposite: Crisp Harbottle: Audible compression above the impedance peak with high inductance in the lower registers. Results in present bass but pulled back upper frequencies. Common on voltage drop (in an amp with a gradual compressor) above the impedance peak of a driver. The amp will start to compress to maintain power stability in the power rail, so the details are there, just pulled back. Hence, the amp is the most important part of the system statement I made earlier and for the past 5 years. Decay In ADSR, immediately following the Attack stage of a note, the amplitude decreases to the Sustain level. Harbottle: To get this effect to sound “real”, you need high efficiency with extremely low compression. Enclosure resonance can interfere, so the enclosure needs to shut up. Definition Subtleties in the sound are revealed or able to be discerned Related: Resolving Opposite: Muddy Harbottle: Inaudible compression and THD with balanced efficiency. Delicate Extended and smooth high frequencies above 15kHz. Related: Crisp Opposite: Roll-Off Harbottle: Inaudible THD especially in the 4th and 5th harmonics with smooth efficiency. Depth A sense of front to back space discerned in the music. Related: Imaging Opposite: Boxy Harbottle: Inaudible compression with balanced efficiency. Detailed A strong midrange and treble, as well as fast transient response, that conveys the most subtle elements in the music. Related: Resolving Opposite: Boxy Harbottle: Inaudible compression with balanced efficiency. Dry A lack of discernible reverberations or harmonics causing a thin sound. Related: Thin Opposite: Weight Harbottle: Low and unbalanced efficiency with compression usually from the amp. Dynamics The variation in loudness between notes or sections within the music. Related: Energy Opposite: Flat Harbottle: This is compression affected and is the precursor to many other reductions in fidelity. Edgy An excessive treble response, often due to unwanted harmonics. Related: Sibilant Opposite: Smooth Harbottle: Narrow and unbalanced efficiency. Energy A sense of power and dynamics in the music. Related: Dynamics Opposite: Flat Harbottle: Inaudible compression with high and balanced efficiency through the bandwidth. Euphonic Often used to describe the appealing harmonics and sense of increased fidelity created by tube amplification. Harbottle: THD that happens to compliment the sound, can also be described as color. Fast Rapid transient response. Related: Speed Opposite: Smeared Harbottle: Inaudible compression with balanced efficiency. Fatigue When prolonged listening causes discomfort to the listener, typically due to perceived low-level distortion, or strain caused by reflexively attempting to localize sounds in the music. The latter can be minimized with crossfeed. Harbottle: Audible compression, distortion, and unbalanced efficiency resulting in non-linear compression character. Fidelity Accuracy of the reproduction compared to the original music. Related: Accuracy Opposite: Veiled Harbottle: LDLC Flat An unchanging (constant) loudness across the entire Frequency Response spectrum. Harbottle: Linear compression profile in dynamics and requires verification in burst with further testing in program playback to confirm. Focus Conveying a strong sense of width or depth. Related: Soundstage Opposite: Muddy Harbottle: Inaudible THD with balanced efficiency underneath the audible compression limit. Forward The music seems difficult to ignore and is presented in an ‘in-your-face’ manner. Related: Aggressive Opposite: Laid-Back Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency Full Music reproduction with a good balance of harmonics and fundamental response. Often indicative of strong bass response in the approximately 100 – 300Hz range. Related: Lush Opposite: Thin Harbottle: Low compression. Grain Conveying a rough, gritty, or unrefined texture to the reproduction of midrange and treble. May be called sparkle referring to higher treble reproduction. Related: Harsh Opposite: Liquid Harbottle: THD from the lower registers. Depending on the order of distortion it may be pleasing in some cases. Harsh Excessive upper midrange (approximately 3 – 6kHz) peaks causing the music to feel uncomfortable and abrasive. Related: Grain Opposite: Liquid Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency. Hollow A feeling of thinness, or lack of fullness in the music, caused by recessed midrange reproduction. Related: V-shaped Opposite: Full Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency. Honky Analogous to speaking through a megaphone or cupped hands. Elevated frequency response between approximately 500 – 700Hz. Related: Boxy Opposite: Natural Harbottle: Usually a horn related issue. Imaging The ability to create the perception of physically locating a specific instrument in a horizontal space created within the music. Differs from Soundstage, as imaging is a sense of progression between left and right channels, rather than depth. Related: Headstage Opposite: Veiled Harbottle: Efficiency Laid-Back Somewhat soft and gentle music reproduction that has a sense of distance or depth from the performers. May be due to a recessed midrange or rolled-off treble. Related: Relaxed Opposite: Harsh Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency, usually on purpose. Liquid Smooth, integrated, and coherent music reproduction that is not overly technical or detailed. Related: Smooth Opposite: Dry Harbottle: Reduced efficiency within a specific bandwidth. Low-Level Detail The quietest sounds present in a recording. Related: Bass Opposite: Treble Harbottle: Inaudible compression. Lush Music reproduction with a large number of even-order harmonics, which tend to be pleasing and warm sounding, often as a result of tube amplification. Often indicative of strong bass response in the approximately 100 – 300Hz range. Related: Full Opposite: Cool Harbottle: Balanced THD Muddy Poorly-defined, smeared or vague music reproduction, often due to slow transient response or decay, weak treble response, and/or excessive bass response. Related: Smeared Opposite: Detailed Harbottle: Audible compression with THD as a secondary effect. Musical Cohesive music reproduction that sounds natural, realistic, and ‘right’ to the listener. Related: Natural Opposite: Nasal Harbottle: Inaudible compression. Nasal An unpleasant confined sound, or a ‘speaking-through-the-nose’ sense for vocals, typically due to a peak in midrange frequencies around approximately 600Hz. Related: Boxy Opposite: Natural Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency. Natural A sense of realism in sound reproduction that sounds ‘right’ to the listener. Related: Musical Opposite: Boxy Harbottle: Inaudible compression. Opaque Vague or smeared music reproduction, lacking delicacy or definition. Related: Muddy Opposite: Transparent Harbottle: Audible compression with THD as a secondary effect. Open Smooth high-frequency reproduction that yields a sense of airiness or subtlety to the music. Related: Airy Opposite: Closed Harbottle: Inaudible compression and mild THD in the 2nd and 3rd order harmonic. Peaky Sudden or sharp ups or downs in frequency reproduction. Related: Sibilant Opposite: Liquid Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency with audible compression. Piercing Excessive treble response, typically due to peaks around approximately 3kHz to 10kHz. Related: Sibilant Opposite: Laid-Back Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency through the bandwidth of the speaker. PRaT Subjective (and controversial) interpretation of three basic building blocks of music reproduction. Harbottle: Efficiency in all cases of cause and effect. Subjective, yes, and also not considered as a standard metric because system efficiency covers about 6 different things relating to every single metric of the TS parameter line up. So it’s just easier if we say efficiency is really cool stuff. Presence The clarity and definition of voices and instruments and the ability to uniquely perceive them, typically influenced by upper midrange and treble reproduction around approximately 3kHz – 5kHz. Related: Detailed Opposite: Muddy Harbottle: Compression, THD, with balanced efficiency. Punch Indicative of strong bass reproduction and dynamics, with fast attack and short decay, giving a sense of power but remaining coherent and controlled. Related: Weight Opposite: Thin Harbottle: Efficiency. Recessed A decrease in a section of the audible frequency spectrum in relation to the others. ‘V-shaped’ refers to a recessed midrange. Related: V-shaped Opposite: Flat Harbottle: Depends on if it is intentional or not. If it’s not by design, its poor efficiency. If it is by design, then the engineer should offer an explanation to the design goals. Relaxed Gentle or rolled-off treble reproduction compared to the midrange, which may result in a non-fatiguing but not overly detailed sound. Related: Laid-Back Opposite: Aggressive Harbottle: Efficiency roll off in the top end. Resolving The equipment’s ability to reproduce and separate the sounds between individual instruments. Detail is the interpretation of the reproduced resolution. Related: Detailed Opposite: Blurred Harbottle: Inaudible compression, THD, and balanced efficiency. Rhythm The controlled or ordered reproduction of the sounds and elements of the music in time. Harbottle: Found in efficiency. Sibilant Excessive, unnatural, and unwanted, high-frequency vocal noises, that exaggerate ‘s’ or ‘sh’ sounds, which sounds strident and unpleasant. Can also be heard on cymbals typically in the 4 – 9kHz range. Related: Harsh Opposite: Relaxed Harbottle: Overly unbalanced efficiency with THD and nonlinear compression in the low midrange. Smeared Poorly resolved sound reproduction that lacks detail, typically due to poor transient response. Related: Muddy Opposite: Detailed Harbottle: Audible compression, specifically intermodulation compression. Smooth Indicative of a non-fatiguing and even frequency response without peakiness, especially in the midrange. Related: Flat Opposite: Peaky Harbottle: Balanced efficiency. Soundstage The ability of the equipment to create a perception of space (width, height, and depth) in the music, within which the instruments and vocalists are located. Related: Headstage Opposite: Blurred Harbottle: Balanced efficiency with inaudible compression and THD. Sparkle Strong high-frequency reproduction yielding a sense of energy to the sound. Related: Brilliance Opposite: Dark Harbottle: High efficiency in the top end from 5kHz and up. Spatial Localization Interpretation of distance and location based on auditory clues. Related: Headstage Opposite: Blurred Harbottle: Inaudible compression with balanced efficiency. Speed Refers to the rate of transient response and individual note reproduction and discernibility. Harbottle: Efficiency. Sustain The third part of ADSR which is the level where the sound remains after the initial Attack and Decay. Harbottle: Efficiency with inaudible compression and THD. Sweet Delicate reproduction of the highest audible frequencies approximately 15 – 20kHz without distortion or peaks. Related: Airy Opposite: Sibilant Harbottle: Linear efficiency from 5Khz and up. Texture Describing the quality of sound reproduction, and if the number or structure of unique sound sources can be perceived in the music. Related: Timbre Opposite: Smeared Harbottle: Inaudible compression and THD with balanced efficiency. Thick Slow transient response and lack of clarity in bass frequencies. Related: Muddy Opposite: Fast Harbottle: Audible compression. Thin Reproduction lacking in low frequencies or weak fundamental harmonics. Related: Edgy Opposite: Full Harbottle: Unbalanced efficiency. Thump Indicative of strong bass and sub-bass reproduction and dynamics, but may lose coherence if not well controlled. Related: Thick Opposite: Thin Harbottle: Requires inaudible compression and balanced efficiency. Tight Easily distinguished and strong bass frequency reproduction, notable for quick transient response and control. Related: Punch Opposite: Muddy Harbottle: High and balanced efficiency. Timbre A measure of sound quality and the ability to reproduce the characteristic or realistic tone of a voice or instrument. Related: Natural Opposite: Smeared Harbottle: Inaudible compression and THD. Transient Response The ability to respond to rapid or instantaneous changes in dynamics, voltage, or input. Harbottle: Efficiency. Transparent The ability to discern individual components and details in the music, typically related to a flat frequency response with little distortion. Related: Flat Opposite: Muddy Harbottle: Inaudible compression and THD with balanced efficiency. V-Shaped Referring to recessed midrange reproduction in relation to bass and treble. The vocal sounds appear to be sitting in the background behind the strong bass and energetic treble. Related: Hollow Opposite: Balance Harbottle: See “recessed”. Veiled Loss of detail or transparency that sounds as though there is fabric in the way of the sound, often due to high-frequency roll-off or distortion. Related: Muddy Opposite: Transparent Harbottle: Audible compression. Warm Extended lower frequency reproduction and smooth sound signature, often attributed to strong even harmonics from tube amplification. Typically paired with rolled-off, or recessed higher frequencies. Related: Lush Opposite: Cool Harbottle: THD in the 2nd and 3rd harmonic. Weight Solid, deep, and substantial sense of bass response below approximately 50Hz. Related: Sub-Bass Opposite: Treble Harbottle: Inaudible compression. Width A sense of horizontal space (left to right) in stereo reproduction. Similar to Depth (which is space front to back). Related: Depth Opposite: Boxy Harbottle: Balanced efficiency.

LDLC stands for Low Distortion Low Compression. This is our engineering model and it forms the standard for our quality control measures. What it means is that every speaker we build will not distort or compress until it is within a safe margin from the mechanical limits of the driver motor. The allows the buyer to know they are buying a speaker that returns its value and ability by giving the user as much of the stroke of the motor to use in beautiful, clean, high quality sound playback. LDLC and Speaker Competence Generally, it is accepted that people learn and absorb information differently, and lets be real here, LDLC does not fit the normal conversation about audio. In fact, it ignores the vast majority of it. A way to discuss LDLC audio came to me when a customer was asking which was better, a tower speaker or a bookshelf speaker when a subwoofer is used at a crossover point that is higher than normal. The typical answer would be “it depends on how much you are willing to spend and how loud you want the speakers to go”. More audiophile-ish answers would revolve around “what is the application, but more specifically how is the application expected to perform”. In other words, “what do you want it to do?”, then use audiophile terminology to describe the sound you want. To me, that feels ambiguous, vague, and any number of other words simply due to the fact that terms can be interpreted differently from person to person, but mostly it is an answer that I hate giving because it is not technically correct. The truth is that the technical aspect is more simple than one would assume. The answer, in LDLC terms, is the speaker that is the most competent. And to me that competence is measured by the lowest distortion, lowest compression, and greatest efficiency across the bandwidth. This is how we engineer, design, and build our speakers. The issue is that these aspects are hard to identify by the standard way of discussing speakers, so they are given terms and phrases to help encapsulate these engineering properties. Think of it as cooking: all of the ingredients are ratios of each other, and in this recipe there is distortion, compression, and efficiency. All three of these, in different proportions make up the verbiage used in popular reviewer terminology. We feel that this compartmentalizing of physics into terms that are descriptive is fine, however there is a far more simpler way to discuss audio when distortion and compression are retained and minimized to inaudible levels, and efficiency is maximized to the most advantage it can have on the design. So we made a guarantee in place of popular terms and phrases. This guarantee is found in the LDLC whitepaper, and it's called the F1 threshold curve. It guarantees that distortion and compression will not be audible for 70% of the stroke length of the driver, this is known as Xmax in driver engineering terms. This is important because most drivers have a very difficult time getting to that point due to the standard of engineering that is most popular, which is based on low demand measurements and results, these are known as TS parameters. Now when the driver is clean for 70% of its travel as minimum, the removal of distortion and compression and increase of efficiency is prioritized, you can automatically equate that to competence without over engineering. We aren't simply just over building drivers, we are actually engineering them to be competent. Over building would be seen in the efficiency metric and easy to spot. So what exactly does this result in? First of all, the majority of audiophile phrases and lingo can be tossed. Some might find that difficult to deal with, however the popular terms used are simply a way of describing the effects of different ratios of distortion, compression, and efficiency. The conversation narrows to dispersion or width of the sound stage which also coincides with imaging and projection. From here the discussion is pretty simple. Let me draw some parallels for you: Imaging and projection: good imaging and projections will track with sound and kick the sound into the room, giving it a very 3 dimensional sound, in other words, surround sound without the surround speakers. Dispersion and sound stage: This has to do with the shape of the sound wave coming off of the driver cone or membrane. What this needs is a balance of efficiency over bandwidth and low compression. And not only low compression, but compression that is very linear, in other words, flat across the bandwidth. Important to note, dynamics and dispersion trade off with each other. If you want lots of dynamics, you have to sacrifice some dispersion and the other way around, which ultimately results in riding a fine balance of the speakers abilities. So now talking about audio is very easy… there are only a few things that affect the character of the sound, and it is entirely possible for a bookshelf speakers and tower speakers to sound and behave identically with the only difference being the raw output ability, how loud they go. And what this means is that it is much easier to buy a speaker for your needs, knowing that you will get the same quality sound with variations in sound stage and output abilities to suit your taste.

Yes they will. We engineered our subwoofers to be used in a large variety of systems and they can even blend with other manufacturers' subwoofers very well.

Have you ever bought an audio system and at first it sounded great, but the honeymoon seemed to fade away after a few months? Did you feel there was something missing in the sound, but didn't know what it was? Did you then go to the manufacturer and ask what the problem may be and their reason was that "you got used to the system" and suggest you buy either more or bigger speakers to go louder? This is common practice, and at it's root it does not solve the problem of making the audio satisfying. It tries to solve a "its missing something but I cant tell what it is" problem by calling it an issue of not going loud enough. It's simply the wrong tool for the job. The first step would be to discuss your sound system with a qualified audio calibration specialist and see if there is room for improvement in setting up the system so all of the speakers work in unison. This is a huge step that so many enthusiasts overlook or simply do not know enough about the work to have any real meaningful impact for the better. The hard truth is that system tuning is not an easy job, and automated systems might get you a measure of the way to your goal, but if you feel like there is something not quite right, then generally your ears are telling you the truth. Your ears and brain know what a realistic sound should sound like, so trust them and use a skilled professional to help you find your perfect tune. The second step to making your current system sound better is to seriously analyze the level of fidelity your system is reproducing. As mentioned in the above, if your ears and brain are telling you "that doesn't sound right", they are not lying to you. Take some content and play it on a system at a quiet level, and then ask yourself if you can hear everything as though it was really happening in front of you. Then play that same content on another system of some kind or at a different volume level (quieter or louder) and see if that song or show sounds more correct, more real... not "better" but more real. If the content sounds more real on one system and less real on another, or its realness changes with output level, then you have an issue with the quality of the sound. So don't get duped into thinking you have to buy more gear, you can find nice sound improvements in a number of areas. One would be to discuss with the calibration specialist mentioned in the previous FAQ and see if the system you own is known for its fidelity and sound quality. A second solution would be to add acoustic treatments to the space. If these are not in your future, then you would need to consider going to some extremes in technology to handle the specific conditions of your room, something we are well versed in. Please feel free to contact us to discuss.

By asking what the manufacturer is open to telling you, how much full disclosure there is. If there isn't much for comparative data, is there a system of guarantees that surpass standard warranty limitations? The system ability "tell all" is compression. Compression is not the reduction of output, it is actually the audible symptom at 1 dB that the driver is starting to suffer in the ability to control flux and heat within the motor assembly. With compression, intermodulation distortion and intermodulation compression (laws of physics support that this statement is true) will start to runaway, first in the fidelity aspect will be clarity and a sense of ease of sound. After that, the sound will thicken, then it will clearly be audibly suffering. Look for a speaker manufacturer that clearly indicates the compressive limits and character of their equipment, and if it is 1 dB or less across the entire bandwidth of the speaker, then you can buy with confidence.

Not to worry, we have you covered. You can add a Harbottle Carbon Series subwoofer by using a splitter on the left and right channel, and running a left and a right directly into the two inputs on the subwoofer. From there, our advanced DSP will sum the two signals into a mono subwoofer bass signal and give you the most optimum performance available. To blend the subwoofer with your stereo system, simply use the display interface to adjust your crossover point, gain, delay, and all eq filters, to get your perfect sound. We favor versatility and want our clients to have fun using their audio gear, so we have made user adjustability without any constraints. Tune and tweak my friends... or don't, either way you want to approach it, we have you covered.

Ah, the everlasting question in audio. It is well founded that subwoofers help audio, but in some stereo purist circles they are still viewed as heresy and rightly so. Here's why, with minimal audiophile lingo. Competence. A speaker being asked to perform 20 to 200 Hz is a huge task. It is noted that many speakers are fully capable down to low frequencies but we need to ask where the useful limit is. This has a lot to do with the designed purpose of the speaker, however, the simple fact is that most stereo left and right speakers have a very difficult time producing frequencies below 100 Hz. This is not to say that there aren't any that can, but rather the ones that can (in general) can struggle with the task. Then there are the truly exceptional speakers that can hit 60 to 80 Hz and not flinch. So in terms of speaker competence, does your audio system sound real? If it is hazy, heavy sounding, or lacks a certain "something", you probably need a good quality subwoofer to ease the burden of bass from your main left and right speakers.

This is because bass frequencies are very very long, and they require a lot of driver stroke to produce. Surface area of the cone is only a small part of the equation, and in reality has very little to do with high quality sound because the duration of time the cone & coil has to spend on either side of the 0 degree stroke mark is simply longer. So it makes perfect sense that the driver should be biased towards complete authority over the stroke in the frequency bandwidth it is supposed to reproduce. The more stroke you have available, the more SPL, the deeper the driver "should" be able to go, and the better the sound. All of this takes a lot of engineering that is far different, and possibly more complex, than any midrange or tweeter driver, and that engineering takes money. So to make sure you get the most value from your subwoofer or speaker, make sure the manufacturer indicates that you can use all of its stroke without adverse effects of compression.

This depends on design and application, which is a complex topic. For this reason we like to deal with prospective clients one on one. Please feel free to contact us for a no obligation consultation. For a generalization, we will always suggest buying the best main left and right speaker you can afford using the prerequisites on advertised compression as your barometer to tell if the speaker is engineered for audio performance. Once you are satisfied with your audio, then look at getting a subwoofer to supplement the low end bass.

It's marketing lingo for the accuracy of audio playback to the original recorded content. It is also accompanied by a wide variety of verbiage called audiophile terminology that describes the character of the sound. However, all of these terms can be reduced to two very simple engineering terms: distortion and compression, specifically the lack of these two things. Distortion is usually measured in harmonic which is the mechanical noise of the unit. This is a very simplistic view that has very little to do with fidelity other than the point at which the mechanical components of the driver reach their limit of linearity. The bigger indicator of fidelity is compression. At the point of audible compression, approximately 1 dB, the subsequent output that follows with each increase in applied power to the driven unit is now compromised and sound will degrade accordingly. This is due to the fact that the components of intermodulation distortion and intermodulation compression are a direct result of the compressive behavior. In most cases this is a result of flux modulation and suspension character working in concert to exacerbate intermodulation effects. What this means is that compression is not simply a loss of output, it is accompanied by distortion and distorted audio behavior. For your audio system to maintain fidelity, it must exhibit minimal compression.

Setting up a Carbon series subwoofer is actually quite easy as most AVR systems have the ability to tune and correct for room related anomalies. As each subwoofer has a number of presets available to the user through the display interface, it is quite easy to get your subwoofer set up and optimized for your listening preferences. ​ What you will need: Stand alone measurement system. I recommend Omnimic V2 by Dayton because it is fast. You only need track 2 (omniphonic short sine sweep), and you can run that test track for 10 min and see the result of your adjustments live as you change settings without having to reset and sweep each individual setting change. It very easy to see an improvement as it happens. Patience. Read your AVR manual and source online publications for in depth information. ​ What you want: You want to be able to fine tune the auto calibration after it is done. This will allow you to use the base line settings as a datum point and then improve from that point. Make sure that your AVR can do that. ​ Rules to follow: Use as few EQ filters as possible. I shoot for 4 filters at the most. Cut in EQ, then boost back what was cut in the gain If you have a null, cut around it in the EQ, then boost back the overall in the gain to restore output. ​​​ I use a ratio of 6 dB cut to 5 dB gain boost. Boosting in EQ will hit the limit faster in the amp at that one point. This means that the amp is having to work harder to cover more changes within its own frequency response. This can make your system sound stressed and yucky. Steps Match your levels from your mains to your sub/s. Run the sub/s to the upper limit of their advertised response. If it advertises 100 Hz, run it to 80-100 Hz. ​​ Rough in the delay. Set your delay up according to the physical distance of your speakers from MLP. This will not be perfect because it does not account for system latency, but it will get you close.​ The goal is to match the speakers so all the sound hits the MLP at the same time. Provide a gap to the main speaker crossover. If the sub is at 90 Hz, then set your main speaker to around 105 Hz and adjust the slope and move it up and down in frequency until you get a nice big sum (bump upwards) in the crossover range. Generally you will see about 15-25 Hz gap between the sub and the main speakers.​ You want to look for the smoothest transition with the most gain. This is free gain without any amp stress or extra stroke being used by the drivers, so the more you can get the better. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the best possible sum; this will be a combination of timing delay and crossover work. So you will have to work both in smaller increments to get the best possible sum. Be patient. Now that you have a big sum (bump upwards) you can be sure that you do not have any cancellations between your main and your sub. Write down these settings. Now tune or auto calibrate your system. See if your system will allow you to adjust the crossover after the auto calibration. If it does, you can run the auto calibration and then adjust the settings on the crossover and do some manual set up to really dial in your sound. Once these steps are done, listen to the system for a week or so, and revisit the set up to see if you can get any more tuned performance from your system.