Woofers getting workout, but no bass


I'm puzzled: I'm noticing just about every LP I've played in the past couple days has my 10" woofers moving like mad, but not in time with the music and regardless of whether there's any audible bass.

I can only conclude that I have subsonic frequencies occuring (my phono stage doesn't have a filter). What would cause this?

Relevant components:
Speakers: Wilson Sophia 2's
Turtable: TW Acustic Raven One
Phono stage: Tron Seven

Thanks in advance.
madfloyd

Showing 3 responses by actusreus

I'd suggest the KAB rumble filter. I had the same problem, and not only it most likely affects the sound adversely, but it might also with time damage the speakers' voice coils since the woofers expand uncontrollably.

At first I thought I noticed a slight difference in sound upon installation of the filter (slight lessening in bloom or thickness perhaps), but now I think the sound is tighter and more detailed. All in all, when you weigh the pros and cons, I'd go with the filter before doing anything else as you have not much to lose but you could possibly benefit significantly. You have a world-class set up; I think you can spend another $160 to possibly get the best out of it.
Yes - a rumble filter I recommended in the last post before you revived the thread. At this level of playback and setup, if you're still experiencing woofer pumping, I'm not sure what else you can explore to address it. Perhaps moving your turntable from between the speakers if the room allows it, but I'd suggest trying the KAB, which I found very transparent and incredibly effective.
Audiotomb
I think doing a capacitor change in the phono stage to roll off the lowest freq would accomplish what the KAB would do without all the extra hardware and interconnects.

Why did manufactures get away from subsonic filters?

purity of corrupted sound

If a capacitor change fixes your rumble problem, that's great. I doubt it will as this problem seems to be inherent in analog playback. I've seen six-figure setups where the woofers were going crazy, regardless of the tonearm/cart matching or superb isolation. My setup matches perfectly on paper, but I still had woofer pumping notwithstanding until I got the KAB. Until I see a full range analog setup with no woofer pumping, I will remain skeptical about the claims it's all about tonearm/cart matching or resonance control.

Also, I don't think manufacturers "[got] away from subsonic filters." To the best of my knowledge, it has never been a regular feature in preamps. Some incorporated it in their designs, some didn't. Same holds true today. Mega-buck phono preamps, such as Boulder phono preamps, still feature it. One could argue the fact that manufacturers offered it to begin with indicates that they recognized it as a common issue that needs to be addressed.

Finally, your "purity of corrupted(?)sound" remark ignores the fact that if your woofers are fluttering, you're not getting "pure" sound whatever that means. The speakers are going crazy trying to reproduce subsonic frequencies and your amps' power is being wasted feeding these frequencies into the speakers. This, combined with possible damage to the voice coils, is enough for me to justify using a good quality subsonic filter.