I Fell for the Biggest Audiophile Scam... Did You?

Have we been lied to about subwoofers?

>> Fancy a subwoofer, do you?

>> Have we all fallen for the subwoofer

scam?

>> Bodacious subwoofers, yo.

>> Well, I kind of feel like I have, but

I'm going to approach this from both

sides. The thing I've been thinking

about though is that I've been listening

to speakers professionally for almost 5

years. And I think some of us have the

thought process that subwoofers are as

important as refrigerators. The problem

is some subwoofers are the size of

refrigerators. So, do you really need a

subwoofer? Well, we're going to figure

that out today. So, sit down, grab a cup

of coffee, and let's talk about the big

subwoofer propaganda scam that we've all

fallen prey to.

In 100% transparency, I have a

subwoofer. I usually use the subwoofer.

I haven't lately, though. And when I

realized that, I wanted to make a video

about it. I kind of wanted to peel the

onion. So, we're going to go all the way

back, talk about the history of the

subwoofer, talk about when subwoofers

went mainstream, why most music doesn't

need a subwoofer, some challenges people

don't think about when it comes to a

subwoofer, some alternatives for a

subwoofer, and finally, if we actually

even need one. However, before we start,

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[Music]

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video.

The subwoofer as we know it was created

in 1964 by Raymond Dones Dun Donz. He

patented the first true home subwoofer

and it could go all the way down to 15

hertz. By the late60s, Infiniti was

playing around with servo subs outside

of mastering studios or engineers

basement. Subwoofers weren't really a

thing, but Hollywood decided that they

wanted to shake your feelings in your

teeth with some bass.

In 1974, a movie came out called

Earthquake. And Universal and Sherwin

Vega got together and collaborated on

making subwoofers for movie theaters.

The seat shook, the walls rattled. Well,

it was kind of the first true immersive

experience for a movie. And people

freaked out. They literally spilled

popcorn. They literally thought there

was an earthquake. It wasn't just about

sound now. It was about special effect

really. It was about immersion. And the

movie studios were on to something.

Movies like Midway and Roller Coaster

adopted it. And it was on. and the 0.1

from like 5.1 or 7.1. That's where it

all started

>> between 5.1 and 7.1 surround.

>> And obviously it didn't take very long

for the hi-fi companies to ask

themselves, how do we get people to pay

for this and put it in their homes.

80s and 90s is when home subwoofers

really happened. Veladine and MNK sound

started pushing home subwoofers. In the

90s, you had Dolby Digital, THX,

Jurassic Park wanting to make the cup of

water shake. Sony and Yamaha plastered

ads everywhere, and suddenly a subwoofer

was mandatory. But here's the thing,

music up to that point really never

needed a subwoofer.

All right, human hearing goes from 20

hertz all the way up to 20,000 hertz for

the most part. It's a little bit more

complicated than that, but for the

purpose of this video, 20 to 20.

However, most instruments, well, they

stop about 40 Hz. Producers even cut

subbase generally below 40 hertz for pop

and rock and roll music. Why? Because

most playback devices can't handle it.

Jazz, folk, classic rock. Really, no

subbase at all. I'm painting with broad

strokes here. I get it. There will be

outliers. For the most part though,

there's not a whole lot of music below

40 hertz. However, there would be new

genres of music that leaned in heavily

to subbase. The takeaway is that most

people's speakers are fine for most

music.

[Music]

And the thing about it is before we hit

that bass boost button, a room is kind

of already a bass boost button. Bass

waves are huge, very long. 40 hertz

equals a bass wave of 28 feet, which

means it builds up in most rooms. It

bounces, it piles up in corners. That's

why sometimes you can be listening in

one position, move your head, and you'll

notice that the bass drops off

significantly. When you add a sub, well,

you're just adding more big bass waves

to your room. Now, sometimes if you have

a really well integrated subwoofer, it

can kind of calm everything down. But

let's be honest, who really integrates a

subwoofer properly? Not many people. If

anybody out there uses a sub to balance

out room issues when it comes to bass,

please put it in the comments. Tell me

how difficult, how complex it was.

However, even if your room was perfect,

integrating a subwoofer properly is kind

of like trying to teach a cat algebra.

[Music]

You have to worry about crossovers.

Where are you going to set the subwoofer

to roll off on top? Where are you going

to set the speakers to roll off on the

bottom? If you don't do that properly,

well, there's issues. You also have

phase issues. You have placement issues.

If you do it wrong, you could have a

40dB boost at specific frequencies. And

a lot of affordable subs only have a

phase switch. They don't have a variable

phase dial. So, even if you know what

you're doing, you can't always blend

that sub in properly. Only having a

phase switch is like making a recipe and

you either get salt or you don't get

salt. And here's another crazy thing.

The music formats themselves and when

that music was made has something to say

about this bass obsession.

If you listen to vinyl records, if you

know anything about bass, to get deep

bass, it takes up a ton of real estate

on a record. That's why it wasn't used.

If you have a track that has a bunch of

dynamics, it reduces the amount of

tracks that you can put on the record.

So, all the way up to the '9s, records

just didn't have a lot of subbase to get

those low bass frequencies that your

stylus had to swing wide on your record.

like Uncle Allen on karaoke night.

Having a bunch of deep bass on a record

could reduce the length of the record by

25 or 30%. And it wasn't because of an

artist's choice. It was because of

physical limitations. The dynamic range

on a vinyl record is 55, I think, to 60

dB. On a CD, it goes all the way up to

96 dB. So, you have a lot more to deal

with on a compact disc. The takeaway on

that is if you have a pipe organ hitting

19 hertz, well, it's more likely to be

done on a CD than it is to be done on a

vinyl record. That's a long way to say

for a long time subbase just wasn't a

thing. So, if the format itself doesn't

need a subwoofer, why do we think we

need one?

In the 80s, there started to be

something called uh car culture, car

audio culture. They were all about the

bass. Subbase really became synonymous

with the culture itself. And by the 90s,

well, there were artists that were using

subbase a lot. Hip-hop, Dr. Dre's The

Chronic, Wuang, 36 Chambers. Bass wasn't

just an add-on anymore. It was part

of the music itself. It drove the entire

record. Some of my favorite bands in new

metal, especially K, also started using

very low bass. They were using downtuned

guitars, seven string guitars, and the

bass slap is part of K's identity. Kick

drums were also really downtuned to

adding a visceral punch to your music.

So, home theater definitely needed them,

and now some of the music required them,

and they started to become a bit of a

status symbol. What about you, though?

Do you use a subwoofer for music? What

type of music do you listen to? What are

the benefits? And what was it like

before you got the subwoofer for music,

not for home theater? So, there is music

genres that I think really requires

subwoofer to enjoy properly. But I also

think the subwoofer craze has been

something that we've been conditioned to

buy.

I'll be honest, I like a subwoofer, but

I also don't like my music to sound

super flat. I always like a little bit

of really around 80 Hz,

>> right?

>> If it doesn't kick me in the chest, I

think there's something wrong regardless

of what type of music I'm listening to.

AC/DC back in black is a perfect

example. It's really light on the bass.

I like it a little bit thicker when it

comes to the old bass drum and a lot of

speakers these days don't provide that.

And I think it's because there's been an

obsession with a flat frequency

response. If you go back and you look at

speakers like ADS, they had a lot of

bass punch. They also weren't super

neutral in their frequency response. And

I think the change in design of modern

speakers are one of the reasons why

everyone feels like they need a sub. But

a lot of the music that I grew up on,

Beasty Boys, corn, Metallica, well, it

just wasn't like the music that preceded

it. So, a lot of this whole subwoofer

thing, I think, has a lot to do with

what type of music you listen to, what

generation you grew up in, and just how

common place it was. I guess the real

question is, do you really need one or

do you just think that you need one?

[Music]

A lot of floor staining speakers can go

all the way down into the 30s

comfortably. Even some bookshelf

speakers can go down into the 30s. Let's

be honest, every hi-fi company out there

that makes speakers, for the most part,

also makes subwoofers. Why? Because

people love them. People buy them. They

can also be super expensive, which means

better margin. These are the companies I

love that make subwoofers. SVS, uh,

Emotiva, RSL, but everybody makes them.

Klips, Elac, everybody has subwoofers.

If you sell speakers, you sell subs.

Period. I think subs are actually a

flex. I think it's something to brag

about. Nobody brags about their

tweeters, but if somebody comes in the

house, you're like, "Hey, look at my

15-in subwoofer that's the size of a

refrigerator." To me, a 15-in subwoofer

is the equivalent of a lifted truck with

LEDs underneath.

It's obnoxious and unnecessary. They

also scare your pets. I get it, though.

If subs didn't sell, people wouldn't

make them. I still don't think it

changes the fact that most people don't

need them.

If you're mostly into movies with a lot

of explosions, uh, yeah, get a sub, of

course. If you're mostly into hip-hop,

new metal, yes, you're probably going to

need a sub to really get all of the

music. But for most genres and for most

of the history of recorded music, you

don't need a subwoofer. And if you have

access to an EQ, I really don't think

you need a subwoofer. Take 60 Hz up

about 4 dB. Take 80 hertz up about

three. Take 100 hertz up about 1 dB. And

you will be shocked at how much bass is

coming out of your speakers, even small

ones. And if you don't listen at super

high sound pressure levels, like 85 dB

or above, for a long period of time, I

really don't think you need a subwoofer.

So, before you bust out the credit card

and buy that $1,000 subwoofer, ask

yourself this.

Should I just play around with some EQ

for a little while? If you have a

subwoofer, maybe go on a subwoofer diet

for a week. Turn it off. See if you miss

a bunch of stuff. And I'm not saying

that you are wrong if you love

subwoofers. I kind of do, too. I just

think what we should think about this a

little bit differently and not think

that we need a sub to enjoy our music

because you might not. But I want to

hear your experience. Put it in the

comments. How many subs do you have? Is

it required? What type of music do you

listen to? What percentage of your

entertainment is movies versus music?

Let me know. Tell me what your favorite

sub is. If you like this video, check

out the video I just did about Yamaha.

It's a crazy story. I'll put that right

up here. Also put another video up here.

cassettes or CDs.