To subwoofer or not to subwoofer...that is the question.

    Hey guys! I have a a pair of Yamaha HS-8s for my Kemper and love them. I'm a bedroom jammer so these work great for me. HOWEVER, the wife has given me the thumbs up to get a new piece of gear. I was looking at the Friedman ASC-12 for the "amp in the room" feel, but thought that maybe the Yamaha HS-8 Subwoofer might do the trick too. Do y'all have any thoughts? I not concerned about loudness or overkill. Any pros and cons to each would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

    This might not be relevant if you're only using it for guitar, but if the HS-8s are reference monitors that you use for recording and mixing, subs can be tricky.


    You probably already know this, but when you're doing a mix, room acoustics and your speakers make a big difference in how "portable" the mix is. What sounds great in your room may suddenly have whoompy bass, piercing highs or any number of other maladies when played in your car, at someone else's house, etc. That's because you'll naturally turn up the frequencies you don't hear, and turn down the ones that are too loud, as you mix.


    If your room is reasonably flat (very few are perfect), then your decisions are well informed. if, however, you have a sub and it's set too high, you'll turn down the bass when you mix. When you play it back somewhere that the sub isn't set to stun (or doesn't have one), the bass disappears.


    That's not to say you can't use a sub to good effect, but if you have one I'd recommend doing a bit of frequency measuring in the room to make sure that the sub is turned up to the point where it reinforces where the HS-8s roll off, and not beyond. All perfectly doable but, as I said, tricky to get it right.


    Of course, even if you're using it exclusively for the Kemper the concept still applies. If the bottom end sounds too thin or too whoompy on a given profile, who's to blame? Is it just a whoompy profile, or is the sub turned up (relatively) too loud? With a sub in the mix, it's harder to know what to tweak unless you know the sub is dialed in perfectly.


    Anyway, just some food for thought. Hope it helps.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

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    Thanks Chris. I don't do any mixing with them. The Yamaha HS-8's are just for the Kemper. I may eventually buy some recording software and a Focusrite to have fun with, but I usually just learn songs, noodle, and jam with backing tracks. Thanks for the info...very helpful!

    Something to consider is that the purpose of a sub in a studio setting is not to get more low end. It's to give more headroom to your main monitors for cleaner playback since the sub's amplifier handles the low frequencies. So you get both cleaner midrange and a cleaner low end when you pair two-way monitors with a sub.

    I just got my Kemper and also recently switched from my HS80's and HS10W sub, but if my experience using my Axe FX II through the Yamaha's and through my guitar cabs is anything to go by, adding the sub will not give the amp in the room feeling you seek.