Folks,
If anyone here is still interested in my sailboat stereo project, here's the latest:
I bought the PolyPlanar model 250 amplified subwoofer (which includes a dual voice coil subwoofer) and added it to the system. When I adjusted the gain on the bass amplifier, it ended up very near the lowest level. The overall effect was a substantial improvement. The lowest notes were much better, but the upper bass still seemed boomy. Out of curiosity, I removed the bass amplifier from the system and connected the DVC subwoofer directly to the two front channels in place of the two bookshelf speakers that had been there. To my surprise, the subwoofer was actually LOUDER that the level I had set with the bass amplifier. Of course, without the bass amplifier there was no crossover for the woofer, so I had some out-of-place treble on the woofer. Another oddity: the sound from the subwoofer was not perceptively less when I added the two bookshelf speakers back to the front channels along with the subwoofer. However, to my ears the bass actually sounded better than the system sounded with the bass amplifier. Lesson learned: I think all I really need to do is add a very good DVC subwoofer to the set of four book shelf speakers. I've ordered an Infinity 12.1 dual voice coil subwoofer from Crutchfield, along with three different sets of low pass filters: 50hz, 70hz, and 100hz. I plan to try all three to see which works best.
Interestingly, almost everyone I've talked to about this problem has misunderstood. I'm after something subtle here, not a floating boom-box. We have an audiophile system at home, and I'm accustomed to hearing all the notes on my CDs. All I want to do is improve the system enough to hear everything clearly.
Regards,
Troy Scott
