Can you expand on what kinds of music you feel benefit from such a large set of towers? All music? Also, what room size?
Listened very contently last weekend (Billy Nomates, Fleet Foxes, Gorillaz, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Calexico, Telefon Tel Aviv, Giant Sand, Dead Can Dance, Mogwai, Notwist, Django Django) so I'm trying to understand your thoughts better. Maybe I'm in the Matrix and ignorance is bliss?
Hi...I also listen to Gorillaz, Rodrigo y Gabriela (Live in Japan is great), Calexico (again, their live with symphony orchestra album is great), Dead Can Dance, plus a lot of Hans Zimmer soundtracks (Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises, both Sherlock Holmes, etc), intimate and large scale orchestral, plus a lot of deep house music, blues, jazz, classical from solo to small ensembles to full-scale orchestra/chorals, even organ (though not much organ), etc.
Overall, I would say on the following, I find benefit with the 4-tower:
- deep house...for obvious reasons with all the electronic bass, synthesizer work
- orchestral + deep synthesizer: sound tracks, but also Vivaldi with a 20-piece ensemble...it is truly thrilling to hear as if 20 individual players are (or almost are) lined up in 2 rows, side by side in a really large room.
but interesting I also find it beneficial on:
- live band music (when Nirvana Unplugged really feels like a live stage, it is thrilling)
- jazz clubs...where the sense of the club space around you because of the bass providing the acoustical venue cues
- blues
- ensemble classical (ie, quartets, etc) where the recording venue is particularly well captured
Now interestingly, I would have guessed that a room of 17.5 x 40 x 11 would share the most benefit from this...and arguably it does. But I STILL found in our earlier room (16 x 30 x 7.5) where the system was firing down the SHORT side not the long side, that the bass made a huge benefit to the overall PALPABILITY.
There is 'rarely' a bass note you actually HEAR from a piece of music with vs without the sub on (the Velodyne has a mute button so easy to test). Yes, when you turn the sub off, there will be [some] musical notes with much reduced/lessened in impact...but that is not where the sub becomes indispensable.
For me, it is because you nearly always feel PRESENCE because of the sub, even if the music has stopped but the editor allowed the recording to continue before it fades out...you still feel like you are IN THE VENUE without the instruments playing, but as soon as it fades out to no signal...[snap!] you are back in your listening room.
The other things I would add is that it comes down to personal preference...if what I described is not addictive for some (I am sure it is not for all)...then it is not at all necessary. I just know for me, I would not do without it. Hope that helps.