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bass problem in a sailboat

Hi!

I have a sailboat with a nice marine-grade stereo, built by Poly-Planar. There are four speakers, powered by a 4 X 45 (180 watts total) head unit. The speakers each have a 5 1/4" "woofer". I generally like the sound. The not-so-low bass is great, but I'd like to boost the really low frequencies just a little. I listen to mostly classical music, and I miss a few very low notes that I hear clearly on my home system. I'm NOT talking about great volume. I just want to boost the very low bass a little. I did this once years ago in a Camaro by simply adding an equalizer to the factory system. I DON'T want to add an amplifier and subwoofer because I don't need the extra magnetic field nor the additional power drain. An equalizer also seems inappropriate because, in this case, it would be a "set it and forget it" thing that I would hide somewhere. Is there a simple way to boost just the very low notes a little with the existing speakers and head unit?

Regards,
Troy Scott
tscott1217d0eb
tscott1217d0eb OP
12 posts
 
Baffled,

I'll let you know!

Regards,
Troy
tscott1217d0eb OP
12 posts
 
Elevick,

I agree. Bass requires power. That's why I'm inclined to believe the RMS output of the PolyPlanar MRD-60 is closer to the 45 watts per channel that the 15 watts that has been suggested. It drove the first dual voice coil subwoofer quite well. I'm hoping this Infinity will be even better.

Regards,
Troy Scott
baffled
106 posts
 
tscott, don't be fooled by power specs. Poly-Planar advertizes UP TO 45 watts per channel. That's peak power on a clear day, downhill, with a good head wind. Constant power (RMS)is another story. Still, I am constantly amazed at what the average head unit amp is capable of. I am cautiously optimistic.
tscott1217d0eb OP
12 posts
 
Baffled,

I'm optimistic too. The speaker hasn't arrived yet, but I've made the preparations. The speaker should be sensitive enough to do enough with a little. Regardless how much power the head unit actually has, it would play the four bookshelf speakers and the dual voice coil subwoofer (without a low-pass filter!) louder than I would ever listen. I'm hoping that this new, 2" larger and probably much more efficient DVC subwoofer (this time WITH a low pass filter) will be even better. Thanks for your help! I'll let you know.

Regards,
Troy
tscott1217d0eb OP
12 posts
 
Gentlemen,

Last evening I finally had the opportunity to try a new tactic. I reinstalled the PolyPlanar powered subwoofer in the boat, except I added a 70hz 12db per octave crossover (to override the 200hz crossover built into the bass amplifier). WOW! What a difference! With only the 200 hz crossover, I had to turn the bass speaker down so low (to avoid upper bass boominess) that it didn't help the 25hz range at all. With the 70hz crossover, I was able to turn the bass amp volumn up to about 90%, enough to really help the very low pitches. Today I plan to try a 50hz crossover and possibly turn the bass volumn up to 100%. I'll let you know!

Regards,
Troy Scott
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