Why the obsession with the lowest octave

I'd choose quality bass down to 40 Hz ballpark over somewhat muddy extension down into the bottom octave. An honest 40 Hz is pretty darn deep anyway.

That being said, recently I built a semi-custom four-piece subwoofer system for a customer, and this set is theoretically -3 dB at 16 Hz after room gain. Yes, it does add something that was missing before, and my wife wants me to build us a set. How cool is that - she's actually encouraging me to put BIGGER subs in the living room!

Duke

Duke said, "I'd choose quality bass down to 40 Hz ballpark over somewhat muddy extension down into the bottom octave. An honest 40 Hz is pretty darn deep anyway.

That being said, recently I built a semi-custom four-piece subwoofer system for a customer, and this set is theoretically -3 dB at 16 Hz after room gain. Yes, it does add something that was missing before, and my wife wants me to build us a set. How cool is that - she's actually encouraging me to put BIGGER subs in the living room!"
Duke

I for one am not impressed, a THERORETICAL -3db, who cares what you guess a system will do. Measure it and post a picture of the response and we can all be wowed.

How about a system that does +15db at 20 hz and is then extended to 13hz before it starts to drop off.
If you would like to see an ACTUAL measurement of it go here;

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/rew-forum/27565-my-new-room-response.html

An "honest" 40hz really is not low, don't fool yourself.

Bob

Why the obsession with the lowest octave?
It could also bestated;
Why the obsession with the highest octave?

I like pipe organ.So of course it is necessary. Yes, most music is in the midrange. Press both your tweeters in and tell me after a week if you miss the very highest frequencies. There's hardly any music there anyways.

I haven't read all the replies, but what you miss with the lowest octave is not only bass, but especially the ambiance cues of the original site that makes a recording sound "real" and complete. Then you can talk about soundstaging and imaging. As they say, you don't know what you're missing until you get it!

"a THERORETICAL -3db, who cares what you guess a system will do." - Acoustat6

Theory is not the same as guessing; it's what designers use in the design stage.

Duke
speaker designer