Do box speaker have artificial bass?

[Hari Iyer]

I come from a background where i have listened to many box speakers (vented, sealed, TL, Bandpass, subwoofers) and built them too. Offlate i am using an single driver full range OB speaker in my 2 channel setup. After listening them for around 6+ months, i now am getting a feeling that bo speakers bass is more artificial which dont represent the real time instrument - be it a drum or a string base guitar. IMO the box speakers ring a little more than the real instrument and the bass tend to linger down more than required giving a sense of artificial bass. This may be good for home theater but certainly not for 2 channel music.

I have had the opportunity to listen to solo tabala and mridangam been played live without any amplification or electronics and the bass in these instruments are quite tight with no lingering though there are seldom below 70Hz. But when these are listened in a box speaker it goes an octave down to around 40Hz giving the artificial lift. So i am at loss to know which one is correct? The artificial 40Hz which gives us a good feeling as it has a extra lower harmonic content or the accuracy of the OB speaker which plays as it is without the artificial harmonic content (read no boom)?

 

[Kannan]

The only problem with open baffle speakers is that they need space around them to breathe and are dysfunctional in smaller rooms as the entire room, especially the rear and side walls will behave as a box.
This will badly affect the frequency response, midrange purity and airiness which are the essential strengths of open baffle speakers.
Also they are best suited for 12 inch and above drivers.

There are also some highly reviewed combo designs like the Infinity IRV, RSii etc which employ open baffle design for mids and box design for the lows.

I have personally moved on from OB to enclosure speakers as the quality of smaller drivers have improved dramatically and perform very well in both sealed and ported enclosures.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Kannan, did you also had the opportunity to compare the bass of a box speaker with live instruments? What sounded real to your ears? I understand that having an extra lower octave always gives us some kick, but is that real?

 

[Kannan]

Kannan, did you also had the opportunity to compare the bass of a box speaker with live instruments? What sounded real to your ears? I understand that having an extra lower octave always gives us some kick, but is that real?

Overall I have come to like box speakers over open baffles. In live concerts too we mostly hear the sound only from ported or horn loaded speakers.

If you are talking about a pure non-amplified acoustic concert, yes I still prefer the box design when listening in my environment.

 

[tuff]

@Hari Iyer You built both open baffle and transmission line speakers...Which one do you prefer?

 

[spirovious]

I guess box is usually tuned below drivers actual lower frequency response.Upto certain volume level,speaker sounds good or natural.If driven hard,unnatural bass may be audible.

 

[Hari Iyer]

@Hari Iyer You built both open baffle and transmission line speakers...Which one do you prefer?

TL speakers are also good, largely depends on the drivers you select. I think this current Russian FR speaker will also be well suitable for a TQWT speakers too. The bass will again be an octave lower than what i am currently getting with the OB for sure.

 

[Hari Iyer]

I guess box is usually tuned below drivers actual lower frequency response.Upto certain volume level,speaker sounds good or natural.If driven hard,unnatural bass may be audible.

In my TL, i actually tune the box atleast 30% to 40% above the driver resonance. This gives me better bass control and lower distortion in the midrange with this arrangement.

 

[Hari Iyer]

If you are talking about a pure non-amplified acoustic concert, yes I still prefer the box design when listening in my environment.

Does this mean than sound with some colouration is more preferrable than the actual real time sound? I have read many articles that also says something similar. Unless the speakers are good in the low end with an extra thump, they are not considered to be good speakers. Do having a bit of thump in the bottom end is always good even at the expense of natural sounding bass.

When my elder brother visit home, he always have a complain that the OBs are a little low on bass. But careful listening will reveal that - thats how it should have been. So are our ears and brains programmed for listening more bass? Does it take more time to adjust to a speaker system that is more natural sounding?

 

[tuff]

@Hari Iyer I meant to ask the bass part. Wasn't the TL sounding a lot artificial than the Open baffle?

 

[Hari Iyer]

@Hari Iyer I meant to ask the bass part. Wasn't the TL sounding a lot artificial than the Open baffle?

Cant say, unless i put the same driver on both the OB and TL. It needs to be an apples to apples comparison to conclude (in the same room & setup).

 

[prem]

Hari, all studios world over use dynamic speakers and in some cases semi horn speakers for mastering. That should tell you something. Auditoriums again use dynamic speakers or in some cases horns. No one uses OB speakers. The bass sounds very diffuse and soft which is not how it is in real life. Which is why I prefer the bass driver to be in a bass reflex and the mids and highs in open baffle. That according to me is a good compromise

 

[Hari Iyer]

Ok Prem, but does the bass reflex enclosure give that extra boom/ ringing to the lows which was not present in the original sound. If you listen to a tabla they seldom go below 60Hz during a live listening without speakers. If the same is reproduced in a box speaker they sound to have some extra low end though it may sound very very nice and appealing. The OB speaker cannot produce the extra bass (atleast the one which I have). The question is which one is correct?

 

[prem]

No it doesn’t. Majority of the recordings you hear are amplified, equalised, etc and not unamplified

 

[jls001]

The question is which one is correct?

The one closest to the real instrument.

 

[Hari Iyer]

No it doesn’t. Majority of the recordings you hear are amplified, equalised, etc and not unamplified

Which bass reflex speakers are you referring to. Most basss reflex speakers are tuned to a single note frequency between 30Hz to 70Hz and the impedance at this frequency is the lowest giving them a one note bass (atleast in theory)

 

[firearm12]

Every speaker will have certain artificiality to the sound. When a real instrument plays, say a string on a guitar, whole of the string vibrates and produces sound 360 degrees around it. More than that the surface area of an device that moves the air is different according to instrument whereas when we play same thing on speaker, it's the same surface area that vibrates no matter which instrument is played. No speaker can ever emulate this. Our brains and ears are far advanced and they can instantly recognise if a real instrument plays or a speaker.

I have found real instruments are never short on treble though they are really short of bass as compared to if a speaker plays them.

 

[prem]

Hari, any good dynamic speaker plays bass correctly.

 

[coaltrain]

these instruments are quite tight with no lingering though there are seldom below 70Hz. But when these are listened in a box speaker it goes an octave down to around 40Hz giving the artificial lift.

If you're listening to a 'box speaker' that turns a 70Hz signal into 40Hz, you're listening to a pretty crappy speaker.

 

[Hari Iyer]

The one closest to the real instrument.

Though this answers my question partially, why do people in general get a kick when they hear an extra octave bass though its not there in the original score.