Shouldn't the Bass be felt? Duh


I am always a little surprised and disappointed when I hear a system that is missing the proper level of bass. What is wrong with these people? Why is a good bass so often overlooked? I grew up in the 60's and went to many good concerts,,, Hendrix twice, Creedence,Airplane etc.
The bass was always strong, and powerful and it didnt screw up your ears. The best past was the physical feeling of that low growl vibrating the rib cage...ahhhhh.
I am in the process of re-establishing my 2 channel system and that is really one of the goals...lots of strong, clean tight bass. To me it really makes the difference in having a satisfying realistic musical experience. I still wonder why a lot of people don't seem to get that?
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1. It is really hard to do good bass without compromising other things... ie changing the toe-in to get good non-lumpy bass and then having imaging and soundstaging suffer.
2. Once I feel like you have good bass, it varies so much from recording to recording that it seems like I am constantly fiddlng with things depending on the recording.. what makes double bass sound defined and good may not make kick-drum sound all that wonderful. Of all things I am constantly messing with, below 60 is is the one, sadly. I think lots of people just give up for the sake of all the information above.
I own Zuaudio's Definition 1.5. I have had many speakers in the past 30 years, but the Definitions are the first speaker that I have owned that do deep, visceral, palpable, air-moving bass and give up very little in the midrange. Very little!! Of course a total of (12) 10 inch woofers helps moves the air a tad. warren :)
It takes a good room to get bass just right. It's not easy. To some people like me, it's not a vital part of the music I listen to. I bought my speakers becuase of the midrange which is more important to me.
I am in the process of re-establishing my 2 channel system and that is really one of the goals...lots of strong, clean tight bass...low growl vibrating the rib cage

What you seek is expensive. It will also be big and ugly rather than a gorgeous piece of fashionable furntiure. Furthermoree, most people wish to remain friendly with neighbours! These are the reasons it is not widely available from your local Hi-Fi dealer.

Bose acoustimass is an early example of how low cost bass from a 4th order compound band pass design has become acceptable to many consumers and proved that aesthetic considerations dominate consumer choices (not vibrating rib cages).

Today, given the lack of marketed designs to the contrary, many feel that ported designs offer a correct and accurate bass sound...acoustimass may be at one extreme but you get the idea. (Acoustimass are great value for what they do and hence their success)

What you seek requires stupendous levels of undistorted energy around 20 Hz...unfortunately it is expensive to create serious amounts of ultra LF without filling the 60 to 120 Hz region with ugly harmonics; excessive harmonics quickly result in an overly dominating bass to the ears (you can barely hear 20Hz but you can readily hear 120 Hz, indeed your ears are some 38 decibels more sensitive at 80 Hz than at 20 Hz).

This is why rock concerts/night clubs are often the place to feel the music...they can afford the professional loud speaker systems that you crave....systems that produce 20 Hz without tons of unwanted harmonics in the mid bass.

My advice....either;

1) find an old second hand large studio main monitor (Tannoy, Altec, Genelec, Westlake, PMC, ATC, Meyer etc.)...you can probably get something for $5k second hand that you will also be able to feel in the rib cage (shipping could be a major hurdle).

2) look for several high quality subs to couple with smaller two channel speakers (you probably need at least a couple of 15" woofers driven by 1000 watts each for vibrating the rib cage...again this is not cheap and achieving synergy may not necessarily be easy)

Good luck.