Let me provide my perspective of bass after having owned more brands than I can count and having calibrated many other rooms over the past 30 years. I have categorized three "levels" of bass reproduction.
Level I: A single capable sub properly placed and with some level of EQ, - and driven at "reasonable levels" - will allow the listener to HEAR the frequencies down to 20Hz or so - and maybe with room gain, lower than that;
Level II: Multiple subs (the number of which would be dictated by the cubic footage of the listening space) allows the listener to begin to "EXPERIENCE" the bass, in addition to "HEARING" the bass. Which was my mode until 10 months ago. By that I mean, there are enough QUALITY subs to move enough air to begin to "activate" the room walls or floor or furniture or all of the above. More noticeable on movies but depending on the music, noticeable on it as well. Some music from, for example, Bella Fleck would certainly qualify but if you want to listen to a FUN piece of music and have access to Apple Music, try the cut shown in the image below (and if you happen to have an Atmos capable system, this cut is also a very fun Atmos using all of the speakers in your room);
Level III: Until I first heard an all Ascendo sub system, I had never experienced this level of bass. This level requires a huge amount of air displacement [combination of woofer size and linear displacement e.g. X-max] AND amps with lots of quality power and subs capable of the INSTANTANEOUS compression of all of the air in the room. Certainly the Ascendos do that and with enough capable subs, some combination of Harbottle subs MAY be able to do it as well. (I hope to find out soon). No other room I have been in, regardless of room size and numbers or brand of subs, has been able to pull this off. It really does take listening to a different level.
But as noted in my initial post, the beauty of these subs is the combination of the "Level III" performance but also their ability to enable the listener to "hear" bass that is typically hidden in most systems. I'm not a subwoofer designer so can't tell you how that happens, but it does.
I've listened to 2 channel music for probably close 30 years using a sub, even when I had full range speakers capable of reaching the lowest octaves. In the typical 2 channel room, the speakers are place somewhere in the front part of the room away from both the front wall and side walls. That is almost ALWAYS not the optimum place in the room to get all of the best bass possible, so separate subs placed in the optimum location has the ability to provide the most optimum sound - ASSUMING the integration of the subs to the mains is done properly. In your specific case, and assuming sealed Ascendo subs, integration will be a lot more complex given the most likely totally different phase response between the subs and your Wilson speakers, which I think are a ported design.
I will be honest and say that if I ONLY listened to music in my room, and not movies, I probably would not have invested the equivalent of the price of a really nice car with my specific sub combination - though I would definitely still use Ascendo subs.
Level I: A single capable sub properly placed and with some level of EQ, - and driven at "reasonable levels" - will allow the listener to HEAR the frequencies down to 20Hz or so - and maybe with room gain, lower than that;
Level II: Multiple subs (the number of which would be dictated by the cubic footage of the listening space) allows the listener to begin to "EXPERIENCE" the bass, in addition to "HEARING" the bass. Which was my mode until 10 months ago. By that I mean, there are enough QUALITY subs to move enough air to begin to "activate" the room walls or floor or furniture or all of the above. More noticeable on movies but depending on the music, noticeable on it as well. Some music from, for example, Bella Fleck would certainly qualify but if you want to listen to a FUN piece of music and have access to Apple Music, try the cut shown in the image below (and if you happen to have an Atmos capable system, this cut is also a very fun Atmos using all of the speakers in your room);
Level III: Until I first heard an all Ascendo sub system, I had never experienced this level of bass. This level requires a huge amount of air displacement [combination of woofer size and linear displacement e.g. X-max] AND amps with lots of quality power and subs capable of the INSTANTANEOUS compression of all of the air in the room. Certainly the Ascendos do that and with enough capable subs, some combination of Harbottle subs MAY be able to do it as well. (I hope to find out soon). No other room I have been in, regardless of room size and numbers or brand of subs, has been able to pull this off. It really does take listening to a different level.
But as noted in my initial post, the beauty of these subs is the combination of the "Level III" performance but also their ability to enable the listener to "hear" bass that is typically hidden in most systems. I'm not a subwoofer designer so can't tell you how that happens, but it does.
I've listened to 2 channel music for probably close 30 years using a sub, even when I had full range speakers capable of reaching the lowest octaves. In the typical 2 channel room, the speakers are place somewhere in the front part of the room away from both the front wall and side walls. That is almost ALWAYS not the optimum place in the room to get all of the best bass possible, so separate subs placed in the optimum location has the ability to provide the most optimum sound - ASSUMING the integration of the subs to the mains is done properly. In your specific case, and assuming sealed Ascendo subs, integration will be a lot more complex given the most likely totally different phase response between the subs and your Wilson speakers, which I think are a ported design.
I will be honest and say that if I ONLY listened to music in my room, and not movies, I probably would not have invested the equivalent of the price of a really nice car with my specific sub combination - though I would definitely still use Ascendo subs.
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