Over bass kills midrange and high frequencies

[CLEARCUT]

It is common that we expect more bass from our speaker system. I have across many systems in my home and more demo rooms and in audiophile homes too. I had been moved by their quality. High frequencies were superb and realistic. Voices of male and female and all midfrequencies were standing in three layers. I could identify each instruments.To tell more I could count some music instrument beating too. Two speakers got merged. Violin sound from both speakers disappeared the two speakers. But when I come to my home I was disappointed. I tried to found out solution for them. One of my coimbatore audiophile friend insisted me to select good speakers for the room size. At present my living room size is 12x15 acoustically proofed with living furniture itself. zip board and closed A/c room was apt for the hifi.

So I selected My dali mentor2 to my Belcanto pre one and Belcanto 200.2 power amplifier. Ayon cd1s was the source Kimber silver streak with wbt and palldium rca cable were used. Nordost bh speaker cable and kimber 8 tc were used. The speaker was placed on a normal wooden stand. Bass was rich highs and mids were good. But really I missed something. From my coimbatore friend I got a dedicated speaker stand which he was using for B&w 805s for a test. It was 4 leg piece with sand filled in every leg so it was very heavy. Really it took time for me to place the stand according to sweet spot and placing the speaker over it after placing felt beneath it.

After switching on the system wow I started feeling in a demo room. The music was in layers. In mid band I could find and identify many instruments being played. clapping sound also being heard which I heard never before. violin sound was surprising me. Voices of male and female singers were in different layers. Mid bass and flute sounds were played separately. There was huge surprise. But while coming to the bass I find little less that too very very minimal. But the clarity of the bass was there. That was more than enough. I started feeling as if I am in a recording studio.

What I come to say here is What ever may be the system matching is the must. Balanced sound is very must. Over Bass kills midfrequencies much and the quality of the high frequncies. If your audio room is large you can go for high tower with good sensitivity with high power amp but the bass should be up to their limit other wise it would kill over all hifidelity of your system. It is a beautiful lesson from my friend. which I would like to share. Thank u Bass treble

 

[arj]

very true and the converse is also true..if bass goes missing it also affect the quality of the midrange by making it leaner and also lacking depth !

 

[avidyarthy]

Quite correct .... bass (frequencies) has to start at or near-about the point where mid frequencies end. Higher than usual bass could mean eating into the mid levels, curtailing the mids quality.

Bass (for me ....) means, of a very subtle level and tight, quite the way it is generated in a 'live' environment (without any use/assistance of amplification). That means, one might have to settle for neutral speakers as well as that specific amplification too. All in all ... more to do with speaker-amplifier synergy here.

 

[CLEARCUT]

Thats true. Which I felt matching with my cyrus 8vs2.

 

[srinisundar]

Quite correct .... bass (frequencies) has to start at or near-about the point where mid frequencies end. Higher than usual bass could mean eating into the mid levels, curtailing the mids quality.

Bass (for me ....) means, of a very subtle level and tight, quite the way it is generated in a 'live' environment (without any use/assistance of amplification). That means, one might have to settle for neutral speakers as well as that specific amplification too. All in all ... more to do with speaker-amplifier synergy here.

All said true.. However no exception Krell 400xi is like that, but sometimes it feels like we are missing the body and sound thin

 

[avidyarthy]

NO SIRE SRINI ....... Krell + matched TL = tubey sound + 'just' the right SQ + 'just' the right bass .... depth, precision included + blah, blah.

It PAYS to get the synergy done from the onset! So, get your speakers 'made' as per the amplification available with you, instead of blind brand purchases of the entire system.

 

[Nikhil]

Clearcut I would love to see pictures of your gear if you care to share them on here!!

 

[magma]

incorrect bass kills everything

this is an age old problem seen very frequently in entry level and even mid fi gear
i Have seen it everywhere
no one can be blamed for this too.
Very rarely do you come across a speaker( no sub ) that will do all frequencies acceptably

whenever one of my clients try to extract more bass they more often than not kill the mids

this is why there is a whole fan following of panel speakers like the quad electrostats and maggies
many purists love only these speakers as they feel they are truest to the sound ( with the exception of the bass)
they may loose out in the kick but have everything else perfect according to them


i too have always been of this opinion
whenever i see speakers for myself i pretty much know what i want and what im sacrificing
bass is always the last criteria for me
Only a well done system with a subwoofer will get everything right
That too for me i like a sealed or passive radiater sub only
NO porting

entry level stuff does just this
enhances/bloats artificially the bass and the treble which kills everything else
but then the beginner in audio just needs to hear that
WOW what sparkle in the treble- what chest thumping bass - excellent speaker - he says

 

[avidyarthy]

^ Absolute blatant truth .....!

 

[sidvee]

Actually many times the room (acoustics & size) has to be blamed more than the speaker for bass humps/spikes - that cause anything from boominess to muddy bass. I have heard entry level speakers placed well away from room boundaries in treated rooms sounding very nice. Hence the oft repeated statement that one has to listen to the speakers in their own room to determine how well they will synergize with the room.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[tirthankar]

I have experienced first hand how the same with everything else remaining the same, can sound different in two rooms. When my speakers first arrived, I had temporarily placed them in a room while I got the actual room ready. In that room the sound was airy but a little light with an even low frequency response, quick and tight.

Now I have shifted rooms, the sound has become fuller and more focused with better balance between midrange and treble. But for some percussion heavy tracks there is a bass bloom which is masking the midrange.

I am working on getting the speaker position right before working on the room. But I learnt that rooms can MASSIVELY influence the music produced by a stereo.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Masking of frequencies are well know and needs to be handled quite well in the speaker design. Depends upon the cross-over slope, the enclosure design (time alignment), diffraction losses etc. As rightly pointed out the room is also a big culprit for the bass and mid-frequencies and hence needs to be accomodated. Too much corner placement of speakers can increase low frequencies by almost 6dB. Keeping the speakers away from the side and back wall will have a similar effect on the mid-range and high-frequencies due to room-reflections.

Typically a vented or sealed enclosure will have the boom bass property due to the inherent technology. This can cause a laid-back or suppressed mid-range as certain frequencies gets over-emphasised which were not present in the original music score.

 

[avidyarthy]

No other MURGAS for your :licklips::clapping: creation .... other than ME, of course! Or is everyone still after the blondes & brunettes?

 

[vishug]

its been good learning this article