Speed doesn’t matter. Integration is a misleading misnomer. There’s more out of date thinking on low bass than anything in audio. And that’s saying something!
Speed doesn’t matter. If speed mattered then my Talon Roc would be the King of subs. Why? Its isobaric design guarantees the driver moving the air sees no pressure variance behind it. It is indeed a very fast sub. Which does not matter. Why? Because with low bass unlike higher frequencies we don’t hear the sound coming off the driver. We hear only the waves that have been bouncing around the room many times already. Low bass waves are so long they create many modes and cancellation areas. In the modal areas the bass is so strong it takes a long time for this energy to dissipate. We hear this long slow dissipation as slow bass. So the answer to fast bass is smaller modes. The way to get smaller modes? More subs! So its not the speed or power of the subs that makes for fast bass. Its the number. The more subs the better.
The whole concept of integration is misleading. Integration creates a false impression. Integration makes people think the subs need to be similar to the mains, or aligned somehow, or that timing matters. No. Wrong on all counts. Sure levels need to be matched. Yes its nice being able to adjust phase. But nothing remotely like the way the mains require precise placement. Low bass is a whole different animal.
Big subs are great. When it comes to the lowest frequencies, you probably cannot have too big. But you sure can have too few. Until you get to four, that overshadows everything.
Speed doesn’t matter. If speed mattered then my Talon Roc would be the King of subs. Why? Its isobaric design guarantees the driver moving the air sees no pressure variance behind it. It is indeed a very fast sub. Which does not matter. Why? Because with low bass unlike higher frequencies we don’t hear the sound coming off the driver. We hear only the waves that have been bouncing around the room many times already. Low bass waves are so long they create many modes and cancellation areas. In the modal areas the bass is so strong it takes a long time for this energy to dissipate. We hear this long slow dissipation as slow bass. So the answer to fast bass is smaller modes. The way to get smaller modes? More subs! So its not the speed or power of the subs that makes for fast bass. Its the number. The more subs the better.
The whole concept of integration is misleading. Integration creates a false impression. Integration makes people think the subs need to be similar to the mains, or aligned somehow, or that timing matters. No. Wrong on all counts. Sure levels need to be matched. Yes its nice being able to adjust phase. But nothing remotely like the way the mains require precise placement. Low bass is a whole different animal.
Big subs are great. When it comes to the lowest frequencies, you probably cannot have too big. But you sure can have too few. Until you get to four, that overshadows everything.