Why do so many people have problems with bass?


I mean such obsession with bass. Does not your systems play bass?  Is it the quality of the bass?

Maybe my system does a really good job and I don't perceive any problems, or maybe I don't know I have a problem.

What is so challenging for systems to produce quality bass?

Is it that they don't hear enough thud?? What hertz range we talking about? It's a pretty wide range.

jumia

As an old bass player I can say the old days before bass was mixed with the rest of the instruments through a PA, it was extremely difficult getting good bass filling a room.  You were looking for tonal accuracy…most electric bass goes down to 40hz. Other posters have noted this.

There are very fee instances, live or recorded where 20hz comes into play.

Unless you are listening to classical organ pieces you really need well articulated (visceral, punchy are apt terms). You can get this from smaller speakers…sitting in near field is important.

Good floor standers work well if you find the sweet spot. (That sweet spot has more to do with your listening distance from the speakers than even your room).

unless you are attempting to recreate a Greatful Dead concert or hold a rave in your living room bass isn’t about shaking the furniture. (Home theater is another story).

I have Revel M20’s on stands and they are plenty punchy and articulate bass well via 6.5” speakers. (I have a relatively small room and sit near field. I am planning on adding a pair of small REL subs.

Back to live playing, back in the day, to get really low frequency bass you needed bass reflex cabinets. The old Acoustic 360’s were interesting. Horn folded 18” Downward facing speaker. Standing in front of it at volume on 10 you couldn’t hear much but twenty five to fifty feet away in the audience you could hear room shaking sound.

Ultimately Ampeg came along with the SVT..8 ten inch speakers facing forward offering bass volume near and far away. Also important on stage or in your living room is having lots of clean power with plenty of headroom. 

Go for clean, articulate accurate bass. I sometimes think home theater itis infects our desire to rattle the walls.

 

There's a handful of really great answers here.  Well done people!  You get a cookie

Try this and get back to me....

 

See what rattles v. 'plays'....

I can deal with it....so should you. ;)

@dekay ...fishy, at best...

@engineears would you like my address? LOL.We can’t ignore physics.

I heard those say no music below 40 Hz. I didn’t believe it. Rather than buy a bunch of stuff I don’t know how to use, I thought I would download a cell phone app, spectroid, I believe. I thought I have good low bass. I do. 30 Hz tone plays well. Then on to music. The best I can get is 35 Hz. There just isn’t much going on below 40 Hz. I am not sure if the free phone ap is right but it shows test tones accurately. Then I found if I turned up the bass crossover gain, the room did not overload with bass. And no booming upstairs.

Speakers made and marketed "flat to 20 hz" sounds like a good idea until you see the size and cost that results.

This one of the most interesting threads on this subject.

the number one reason for problem bass that i see in people’s systems is caused by non ideal speaker and listener positions.

speakers and ears too close to walls or large surfaces.

speakers too close to each other.

stand mount speakers on poor quality stands, shelves, and too high from the floor.

getting the best bass requires positioning flexibility.