Mark Levinson subwoofer poll

[markmanner]

OP here and I also changed my vote from NO to YES after testing it better.

My test tracks:
Chris Stapleton - Starting Over
Eagles - Hotel California MTV Unplugged version
Timblerlake and Stapleton - Say Something

I originally had the back hatch open and listened to my usual songs that I normally listen to and moderate levels, which for the GX was around 25. Translating those levels to my desktop with an inexpensive THX speaker/woofer setup lower frequency bass from those tracks could be heard and felt. Similarly in my Tacoma with an 8" ported subwoofer. My home theater has a 15" HSU Research subwoofer which can be felt around the house. I'm familiar whenever a lower frequency portion of a song is missing.

Anyways, with the volume at 25 it appeared that the subwoofer wasn't working. Heard nothing and visually couldn't see the driver vibrating so I assumed it was a dud. It wasn't until I rear recommendations to increase things to 40 and set the fade to the rear did I barely notice the subwoofer doing some work. What's interesting is the crossover is set to the lower frequencies like what a properly sized and powered subwoofer would be doing. But due to the small size and how far away from the ears (perhaps the gain is also artificially low or underpowered) it's ineffective.

So it's working, but it feels like an afterthought and does less than what many aftermarket 6x9 speakers with 50 watts RMS could provide.

Your experience is very similar to mine.