Did you ever buy too much bass?


I talk a lot about bass and integration of subwoofers in a system and I realized that I need to hear more about the experiences auidphiles have when they go buy speakers and put them in a room.  Did you look at specs?  Did you audition in the home?  Did you end up with too little or too much bass compared to what you were expecting??

erik_squires

First and foremost i love lower bass and i will always advocate for subs even if you have full range. That said, I bought too much bass, but it was a lesson learned but no faults to the REL Carbon Specials.

My system went through many iterations and through that journey I ended up no longer using them for my 2ch. No, my current speakers didnt all of a sudden fill in the low bass void, regardless of what other foolish audiophile owners will tell you. They didnt even fix the null I had at my listening position - which I always had from day 1, but I was a bit too excited to build my system. I am also a believer in DSP but just never got around to implement it.

I was alway in the mindset of buying at least two, but I eventually realized how much gain my room has - keep in mind I’m in a shared space. I have hardwood floors over concrete slab, and quite honestly the two 12s excited the room no matter how I managed to dial them in WITH THE PLACEMENT I WANTED THEM TO BE IN, they just over took the room and then always covered up the bass slap that I like around 80-100hz. There are other areas that I truly like when the subs are on, especially with vocals, yes even female vocals. But over time, my ears just picked up and fatigued.

They do well with movies though! But yes, I never truly tuned for the lower frequencies as I should within the room. All about compromises. The subs will be moved.  I’ll revisit bass again with a new strategy in the future.

Eventually, over the course of building and adjusting/syngergizing just found a sound that I like and it started to become all about the music, and I find myself just listening to music (even though I know I’m missing information down low).

I've never seen a subwoofer that wasn't capable of supplying way too much bass.  Whenever I've tried to integrate a sub into my system I've had to run it very near the bottom of the volume range, so much so that I've considered installing a low range volume control pot to get more granular volume control.  In the end I bought speakers that didn't need a sub.  I still use a sub on my secondary system and it certainly could use a low range pot.

I did audition SVS pro subs and they were excellent.  then I decided to go with the subless speakers.  SVS pro allows you to adjust the volume from your listening chair, which every sub should do.   

Jerry

Subwoofers have adjustable crossovers and volume. The easiest thing to do is to set them too high. If properly adjusted, no you cannot have too much, within reason. The best bass is achieved with four subwoofers carefully placed to avoid standing waves.. this is typically mid wall on all sides… there are some great videos on the physics of this.
 

Most important rule… if you can hear them they are way too loud. They will completely screw up the imaging and soundstage if too loud. Poorly placed they will do no good.

I have gone through alot of subwoofers in my system and integration takes time if done right. For me to make it easier, I have used REW but I have used mostly A software called Smaart. Using the software just made easier if you know how to use it.  Currently I am not using a sub since my Vandersteen 2ci has adequate bass response for the size of my room.