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The bass is the place...

Seems like that most speaker manufacturer’s are able to deliver a speaker that can, and mostly does, a reasonable job in the highs and the mids, BUT the bass is where so many fall down! This is also what most manufacturers ask big money for...the more bass capability the higher the asking price. So, we are left with, at least IMHO, most speakers that really cannot produce accurate and extended bass with any real precision. Your thoughts? Why is the bass the place?
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mapman's avatar
mapman
22,456 posts
 
As frequency decreases the work that must be done to maintain flat response increases exponentially. Bigger rooms magnify the task even more. It’s basic physics.

In many cases it is the amp that is not up to the task of driving the speakers properly especially in the bass where it must work much harder, without clipping ie distortion. That’s why powered subs and affordable and very compact and efficient high power Class D amps are both the bees knees these days, especially as more people have space and budget considerations and demand smaller more manageable products including speakers.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,932 posts
 

And, our hearing sensitivity significantly drops off at lower frequencies. To sound as "loud" as higher ones, bass must be played at higher SPL than almost all woofers and subs are capable of producing (the lone exception being the Eminent Technology TWR-17 Rotary Woofer).

I have long found reproduced music to lack the weight and visceral physicality of live. At live shows, we feel the music, not just hear it. It's a full body experience, not merely an aural one. Of course, we have to temper our expectations, as recreating a symphony orchestra in one's living room is "sort of" impractical.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,456 posts
 
Yup the extra work needed to produce bass coupled with how our ears work makes for a double whammy.  

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Not that there's anything wrong with the technical discussion, Fletcher-Munson, power, any of that, but curious to know which of you guys has actual experience with a DBA? 

I mean actual, you know, experience?
hleeid
219 posts
 
I am loving my brief but actual experience!
Works incredibly well in a 10' x 14' office room!
Tried 1, then 2 subs. Couldn't get the muddiness out of the sound until subs 1 through 4 rang through clear as a bell!
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