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A question of bass... Several actually.

I recently auditioned Dynaudio 72's and Rega R3's.
I enjoyed them, the Regas mostly. I found the Dynaudios didn't live up to their hype.
When I asked about bass (speakers having full bass response) the salesman (who owns the shop) said "If you want bass you have to shell out the big bucks."
Is that it?
Is it necessary to spend $1000 per speaker or over to have audible, palpable, appropriate bass reproduction?
To be clear I am not talking about disco dancing bass, but bass frequencies are a necessary part of the audio spectrum.
The salesman also mentioned that for high end audio a separate subwoofer is not appropriate as it "doesn't track."
To cover this fully, doesn't putting the amp output into a sub's crossover to be split to satellites compromise imaging etc?
rhanechak
acoustat6
357 posts
 
You really don't need a good ear, but you do need a SPL meter and the free program Room EQ Wizard available for free at the Home theater Shack for free, did I mention it is free?

If you really want to know what is going on in your system this is the best way, please, no more guessing about in room freq response. See the problems in your systems low freq response and fix them by tuning your system and room.

And know for a fact what it is doing. You can even post the results right here, and there are many here to help interpet the results and help you get better bass and therefore overall sound from your system.

Bob
Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,579 posts
 
Acoustat6,

You need more than a sound pressure meter in my experience. Most people's ears are more sensitive than a SPL meter and can integrate a lot more information in real time. SPL meter gets you on the green - your ears take you to the cup.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,579 posts
 
Rhanechak,

Careful listening is an acquired talent, which you already have based on your first post above. But I did see an Agoner in Cleveland with a pair of experienced ears listed for sale recently, 8.5/10 condition... (sold as is).
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,793 posts
 
If you want a reasonable subwoofer approach, take a look at the SWARM by Audiokinesis, http://www.audiokinesis.com/ click on Planetarium

This system obviates the usual room nodes and provides a seamless, extended natural bass.
shadorne's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
shadorne
7,477 posts
 

There is probably some curve you can draw where the cost of accurately reproducing bass notes increases geometrically with lower frequency, requiring increasing quantities of power, woofer area and box volume and bracing.

Yes, exactly.

As for decent bass from most modern speaker designs - I'd agree with that too.

I took the term "palpable, appropriate" to be the OP's criticism of most small box big bass sound. I think it is fair to say that with small speakers either

1) You can have very limited bass extension but excellent bass.
2) You can have great bass extension but merely "good" sounding bass.

You can't have 1) and 2) at least not at realistic SPL levels - so you can't have your cake and eat it so to speak.

The points made about room eq wizard are also important - as the room/setup can spoil the bass through suckouts and humps.
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