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There's a lot more bass in a 6.5" driver than most of you think

One topic of discussion I often see new audiophiles touch on is whether to get larger speakers for more bass.

I usually suggest they tune the room first, then re-evaluate. This is based on listening and measurement in several apartments I’ve lived in. Bigger speakers can be nothing but trouble if the room is not ready.


In particular, I often claim that the right room treatment can make smaller speakers behave much larger. So, to back up my claims I’d like to submit to you my recent blog post here:

https://speakermakersjourney.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-snr-1-room-response-and-roon.html


Look at the bass response from those little drivers! :)


I admit for a lot of listeners these speakers won’t seem as punchy as you might like, but for an apartment dweller who does 50/50 music and theater they are ideal for me. If you’d like punchy, talk to Fritz who aligns his drivers with more oomf in the bass.


erik_squires
pirad
59 posts
 
One more interesting concept is dipole bass, proposed by Siegfried Linkwitz in his  LX521. The subs are v-frame dipoles and the side wall modes are minimized by cancellations. The bass is incredibly clear and tight.
Finally, one can put the single sub next to his listening position to get at least one good spot with it.
erik_squires OP
16,046 posts
 
In your post regarding Linkwitz you prove my point. The idea that only swarms can produce great bass is what I object to.
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 
Hello pirad,

    I was so impressed with your knowledge and posts on this thread, that I looked at your profile and read many of your previous posts on a wide variety of other threads and subjects. They were equally impressive, demonstrating an equally substantial knowledge of the science of the subjects combined with an obvious good measure of practical experience on the wide variety of subjects.  
    I'm fairly certain my very high opinion of your posts as very high quality are influenced by the fact that I agree with the vast majority of your well worded opinions. I was just curious whether you're associated with an audio industry company or just an interested consumer hobbyist?

Thanks,
  Tim
pirad
59 posts
 
I have built both dipole and distributed bass systems. Dipoles are great for any kind of music down to the bass guitar low E (40Hz). Under 30Hz the experience is not impressive. The Swarm, when sealed, goes down to 18Hz. With the ports open even lower, but it gets kind of boomy. The sound is powerful but not so clear and natural as from dipole bass. I would say if classics, pop and jazz are your thing, go for dipoles. If you are a basshead or need to shake your home theater, distrubuted sealed boxes will deliver.
PS. I should add that if you can hear sounds under 20Hz, you are likely to be an elephant. The human experience under 20Hz is rather vibration permeating various body parts. If you play test sounds under 20Hz and insist you hear them, then something is wrong with your subs. They play harmonics where they shouldn’t be. This test actually shows faults in the construction. Try these tests:
The Ultimate Bass Test | Ultra Low Frequency Range Test
pirad
59 posts
 
@noble100 
Thank you.
I started the audio journey as a hobby several years ago. I bought licenses from Linkwitz to build his LX521 and from another source to build the distributed bass. Then I moved to my own designs. It is still a hobby, but my systems play at some interesting places.  I don't think I'll be quitting my daytime job yet ;)
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