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bass problem in a sailboat

Hi!

I have a sailboat with a nice marine-grade stereo, built by Poly-Planar. There are four speakers, powered by a 4 X 45 (180 watts total) head unit. The speakers each have a 5 1/4" "woofer". I generally like the sound. The not-so-low bass is great, but I'd like to boost the really low frequencies just a little. I listen to mostly classical music, and I miss a few very low notes that I hear clearly on my home system. I'm NOT talking about great volume. I just want to boost the very low bass a little. I did this once years ago in a Camaro by simply adding an equalizer to the factory system. I DON'T want to add an amplifier and subwoofer because I don't need the extra magnetic field nor the additional power drain. An equalizer also seems inappropriate because, in this case, it would be a "set it and forget it" thing that I would hide somewhere. Is there a simple way to boost just the very low notes a little with the existing speakers and head unit?

Regards,
Troy Scott
tscott1217d0eb
elevick
2,636 posts
 
With an open boat, the bass will simply dissipate into "thin air". Cars are enclosed and very small which enables the bass to resonate like mad.

First thing may be to find a spectrum analyzer to see what frequencies are missing. It may be quite surprising...

You may want to consider something like a "bass shaker". These little devices can be mounted either on you seat or in a boat, on the floor. You will need some sort of sub crossover which will send all of the signals below 60-80 to the bass shakers. Check out partsexpress.com for sub amps/crossovers. You may be able to run 2 of your channels to the amp/crossover and then to the speakers. The amp will divide the signal, amplify it, and send the bass to the shakers.
tscott1217d0eb OP
12 posts
 
Hello again,
I't's been suggested to me that my idea of running a dual voice coil woofer directly from two (at 45 watts each) of my four channels wouldn't be satisfactory. I still think it might work, especially since I'm only after the missing low pitches, NOT great volumn. Thoughts, please?

Regards,
Troy
tscott1217d0eb OP
12 posts
 
WRT "bass shakers", I do remember from long ago a device that could be attached to a wall to transform the wall into a speaker. I'm guessing that's what the "bass shaker" is. I'll check into it.

BTW, the sailboat in question is a Cape Dory 36. The displacement is over 16,000 pounds, and there are two nice cabins which are probably acoustically similar to a small room.

Regards,
Troy
linkster
431 posts
 
Hello Troy,
FYI, I owned a Robinhood 33 (hull no. 2) which is a downeast flybridge cruiser using a modification of the Cape Dory 33 hull. Robinhood Marine is the sucessor to Cape Dory- they build the Robinhood 36 which is identical to your 36, I think they are now close to hull no. 20.
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
a small Bazooka cylinder-shaped active car-type sub might work out for you; they don't cost a whole lot. One model isolates & sums two-channel line-level inputs driving a single cone via an integral amp. I think their larger model handles the channels separately. Simply tee-connect the left & the right channels respectively at line level in either case.
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