Large speakers plus EQ, what have you done?


Hi Everyone,

I’m hoping to collect experiences from those who have:

1. Large (floor standers) with genuinely deep bass

2. Have EQ’d the speakers, at least through the bass section.

There are many ways to get excellent bass, but please keep OTHER methods off this discussion.  If you use a subwoofer, or bass array, or whatever, this discussion is not about that. I know I’ve recommended some of those ideas myself. I just genuinely want to know who has tried this particular combination and what their experience has been.

This is also not a discussion about what I’m going to buy. Just curious who has done this and how far they feel it got them in terms of integrating the speakers with the room.

Were you satisfied?  Did you end up giving up and doing something else?

 

Thanks!

 

Erik

erik_squires

I also have the NS-5000 with a CODA #16 amp and is a really great coherent sound. I do not want to eq anything on this system or add any subs. I have used convolution filters with other systems that were in smaller rooms with different speakers,

I will be buying an open baffle speaker in 2026 that uses multiple 16-inch woofers, and the bass on that speaker is setup using some sort of analog eq. I think there will be 5 Eq settings on the bass. That speaker sounded so good that I am going to get it and flip back and forth with the NS5000. 

Another way I have eq'ed bass is using the services of Mitch Barnett of Accurate Sound CA. His solution works with digital streaming servers such as ROON. I used that with my old Thiel CS3.7 which were in a too small room. I got some genius level convolution filters made by Mitch for that room, speakers, and listening position.

 

I just purchased a White Instruments Model 4856 graphic equalizer. I only set it up Wednesday so I can't say much about my satisfaction with it. I'll be playing with it for a few days. 

I can tell you it's extremely quiet. I tried a Schiit Lokius and found it produced both hiss and hum, so I returned it. The White added no detectable noise. 

White Instruments was in high end studios for decades. I think they are still in business. 

@erik_squires 

A little follow-up. A few months ago I tried using a HPF and sub to deal with my low end issues. That was pretty successful below 80hz, but I still had other things I wasn't satisfied with. I bought the White EQ to work on those. But I eventually realized I could take a different approach and use the EQ to deal with all the frequency issues. Today I worked on that and essentially eliminated the need for the sub, although I'm still working on integrating it below 40hz. 

My speakers are stand mounted but do have a pair of 12" woofers that put out plenty of bass. I resisted using an equalizer because of potential phase issues so went with the HPF and EQ on just the low end. But the White Instruments unit has excellent phase coherence and I'm not hearing any smearing or imaging issues. I'll continue to tweak, cause that's what I do, but I'm pretty happy with what I'm hearing. 

@mashif - Thanks for  the follow up.  Just because I focused on large speakers with EQ doesn't mean I wanted to discourage anyone from also using room treatments.

Effectively dampening the mid-treble energy in a room can bring out the bass.

@erik_squires 

I have 13 bass traps and several diffusion panels in a 10x13 room. Using EQ is a last resort for me. I've been working on my room acoustics for 2 years, trying all manner of controlling low end, but there's not much I can do below 100hz. The HPF and sub was one approach, the EQ another. 

But there were some modes that really hurt the vocal sound and the eq fixed that. I don't consider it a permanent solution but it gives me a reference to compare other speakers. Before this, other speakers sounded so dramatically different, there was no realistic comparison.