Subwoofer for digital piano sound?

QuasiUnaFantasia

I'm speculating about getting a subwoofer for my HiFi, through which I normally listen to my digital piano (using virtual instruments).

The question is: will a subwoofer even be noticeable when playing the piano, or is there really no sound to boost at the frequencies which a subwoofer covers?

Anyone tried this?

n-player

I've tried a few subwoofers. Good subs are big, sealed, expensive, and start running below say 70hz. There very little piano information in those frequencies. If you have good loudspeakers, a good sub adds the slightest bit of low end and visceral sensation. Subjectively maybe a 5% improvement, at most.

If you have decent sized/quality speakers, rather than buying a sub, I would recommend tweaking the placement of your speakers and maybe some room adjustments (rugs, bookcases, curtains, etc). These free adjustments are the best audio tweaks you will find.

More comments on subs if you make it this far...

Subs take a long time to set up and adjust, including tweaking the room. Proper setup requires measurements (e.g. REW software).
Subs can be great for pipe organs, action movies and some music.
Small unsealed subs are great for 3-way computer speakers. But for serious audio, they won't play too low and will be easy to locate. If the sub plays above 70hz, you likely will be able to locate it which ruins the effect.

Hope that helps.

Frédéric L

n-player There very little piano information in those frequencies.

Read Spectral Analysis of Musical Sounds with Emphasis on the Piano.

Unfortunately the data of the partial power level of a C1 (32.7Hz) are graphical, but roughly the first partial with a power above 5% seems the third. (98.1Hz) The 1st is at -40dB and the second is at -15dB.

n-player

Frédéric L Read Spectral Analysis of Musical Sounds with Emphasis on the Piano.

Opps. I meant to say that if you have decent speakers that play down decently to below say 50hz (full sized or fairly big monitors), a subwoofer would add very little to the piano experience.

For reference, I disconnected the monitors and just played piano with the big subwoofer (the subwoofer doesn't really reproduce sounds above say 60hz). I couldn't hear much more than the clack of the keyboard action, although at the lowest registers there was a bit of rumble.

Subwoofer is an expensive and time consuming en-devour for piano playing.

HZPiano

Hello,

I tried a subwoofer with my piano (added to a setup with six good quality 'bookshelf' type speakers).

It did little for the true fundamentals (as you would expect from the above mentioned small amounts of amplitude there). What it did do was muddy up the partials and a bit of the range above the lowest notes.

So I ended that experiment and am totally happy without the sub.

Cheers and happy playing,

QuasiUnaFantasia

Thanks for the insights, fellow clackers. Much appreciated!

Ralphiano

My main speakers each have dual 7" woofers, and they give me a nice representation of the low end of the piano. I have a 10" subwoofer that I have tried with my piano, but choose not to use.

Frédéric L

Ok, I have understood that there is little information about these frequencies