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"Slam"--what is it, is it really accurate?

I put this question under speakers because I assume "slam" is mostly a function of the speakers, but perhaps a certain level of amplification is required. The only places I have experienced slam is listening to certain demos at audio shops, and some live music. Most speaker demos I have heard over the years did not produce slam.

So, what mostly accounts for a system producing that "slam" you can feel in your chest? Is it that certain speakers are "voiced" with a mid-bass hump that causes it? Do they EQ the signal to produce it? Do they employ super powerful amps?

Secondly, how accurate is slam? How much of a goal in speaker selection should the ability to produce slam be?

The reason for the questions is that I am getting close to being in the market for new main speakers. My current amp is a McCormack DNA 1, BTW. Thanks for any info!


mtrot
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Its a catchy, marketing term that sounds a lot sexier than dynamics....which it essentially is...similiar to acronym PRAT...just clever verbage
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Slam is a description of bass performance, like crunch, best shown off with recordings of stream locomotives, atomic bomb tests, the T-Rex running in Jurassic Park, Mickey Hart drum recordings, soundtrack to The Terminator 2, things of that nature.
kiddman
341 posts
 
Remember that in real life the SPL of individual drums being hit reasonably hard (slam would imply more than soft gentle drumwork) is going to be over 100db. Well over. Most speakers simply don't have the ability to convey music that loud without a lot of distortion. Most audiophile speakers just won't do it.
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Also a term that became popular during the advent...of the HT era...iI dont hear it that much in audiophile circles....
mtrot OP
804 posts
 
Kiddman wrote:

"Remember that in real life the SPL of individual drums being hit reasonably hard (slam would imply more than soft gentle drumwork) is going to be over 100db. Well over. Most speakers simply don't have the ability to convey music that loud without a lot of distortion. Most audiophile speakers just won't do it."

So, could that be why some are drawn to large cabinet speakers with light, fast cones such as Daedalus? I'm beginning to think the ability of speakers to achieve that sense of dynamic "liveness" may be as or more important to a sense of realism than frequency response accuracy.
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