Why do so many people have problems with bass?

Did you say bass problem?

 

DeKay

When most of were young we listened to systems that were less than perfect… maybe our desire for better sound were enhanced by drugs and alcohol. So, as we got jobs and became more affluent we desired greater detail and slam. So, slap you in your face… compress your chest bass became a desirable attribute. My musical taste added jazz, then classical, then world, then electronic… etc. My tastes in sound changed to natural, musical and detailed in a real sense. My speakers are appropriately flat from 28 hz to 2oK. I am very satisfied with the coherence across the audio spectrum. I got rid of my two subwoofers.

I always struggled to integrate them perfectly. I am really happy to have a system that is simple and elegant (for a change) without the subs. You can see it under my UserID. On the other hand, if I had an extra $14K right now I would probably buy a pair of Sonus Faber subs to match my system. I guess it is hard to get away from the desires of your youth.

@jumia , I will give you a hint. Stand in the middle of your room. Look around. You can probably see the problem source. Most people have 6 of them. Some have more. Large flat surface. They reflect. Your room is like a giant bath tub for bass. Slosh the water in the bathtub just the right speed and you can make a mess pretty easy. That is the main problem. Most audiophile have speakers that can put out enough bass for most music. Maybe not for movies, but for music, sure. But it goes everywhere, and just like that bathtub, it sloshes around, and you get high and low points, and because your 6 flat surfaces are all different distances from each other, the peaks and troughs are not all in the same spots. You can move your speakers and make it better, but never perfect. To do that costs money. More speakers or lots of things to absorb sound and bass takes a lot of space and mass to absorb. Audiophiles also seem obsessed with a single set of big speakers. If you happen to get two big speakers in the perfect spot for perfect bass and perfect everything else, go buy a lottery ticket or apply for your Nobel. If you can afford the room and pissing off your soon to be ex with enough things to tame the bass from two big full range, sure go for it. If you can't, and your want good bass, there are better ways.

I wouldn't know what to say, that seems like a really good question though.

Well, it's a huge part of a truly high fidelity system. The details are really beyond the scope of what what can be said on a forum of this nature but for me besides my background in physics, educating myself about acoustics and using a good testing rig like REW laptop software and berringer mic. has helped me to arrive at a really good solution. Active analog crossover and dedicated mono amplifier is key for me as well.