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The pursuit of bass...

Most people would probably say that the most important thing for a speaker to get right is the midrange and I'd have to go along with this myself. If the midrange is too shouty or too recessed or just tonally inaccurate, the other qualities of the speakers are pretty much pointless regardless of how great those qualities might be.

However, with that said, I do not think that the midrange is the most challenging part of a speaker to get right. In my opinion, that award goes to the bass frequencies. Sometimes I listen to a speaker and it is indeed the midrange or treble that is holding back the sound quality, but far more often, for me, it's the low frequencies. I find that I’m more forgiving of midrange flaws. Midrange flaws don’t impact my musical enjoyment as much as bass flaws.

Now, of course, the bass is also the most vulnerable to room acoustics which just exacerbates the problem. But, mostly I blame the speakers themselves. Many fine speaker manufacturers simply ignore the problem by rolling off the bass early. I won't name any specific brands to avoid a flame war, but this is very common. Often I will see specs for frequency response that indicates -6db at 50hz. This is typically very unsatisfying bass. Also, many speakers are not balanced properly across the frequency spectrum so that while they might dig down to 35hz or 40hz, they don't sound like it because the bass is always underwhelming compared to the volume level of the midrange and high frequencies.

The speakers that do attempt to reproduce good solid 40hz bass, often still sound quite bad when reproducing those frequencies. And I'm not talking about pipe organ bass here, I'm talking about the 35hz to 55hz range. Unfortunately, really good minimontors that are amazing with 60hz up, really are missing out on a lot of the presence and atmosphere created by those low frequencies. Emotionally connecting to the music and suspending disbelief is easier with quality bass reproduction. For some reason many audiophiles are willing to live without it. I can understand this since pursing quality bass can be a frustrating endeavor. Also there is cost to consider. Good bass typically comes from bigger speakers and is therefore considerably more costly. But even the best mini-monitors usually commit the sin of omission in the low frequencies.
jaxwired
Post removed 
rtn1
535 posts
 
I used to think that bass was most difficult to achieve. Now I appreciate that every frequency is difficult to achieve.

I have heard large and very expensive speakers go boom-boom, but most do not provide that sense of mass, scale, and weight. Even fewer have proper integration with the midrange and tweeter to give the lower frequencies a sense of direction and the proper speed within a given recording venue.

The midrange is also very difficult to achieve. The goal of transparent, open, clear, deep, and beautiful midrange has proven the most elusive to put together within a single system. Some speakers do a couple of these, but it is unusual to hear all.

The treble, likewise, can be elusive. I am speaking about sparkle, shimmer, detail, openness, bite, and beauty. Plus, this has to be perfectly balanced as not to go too far into hyperdetail, harshness, and glare. It is a very, very fine line.

When you have it dialed in, the reaction is both visceral and emotional. Does the hair stand-up on the back of your neck, do you get a lump in your throat, does your heart flutter and melt, do your eyes tear-up?
xti16
1,525 posts
 
I agree with Rtn1. I have the Dyn C1's and a Rel B3 sub. Once dialed in they sound like much bigger speakers.
xti16
1,525 posts
 
Just looked at your system. Very nice (I have a Bryston B100) which should be the next thing I replace. Add a Rel sub AND replace the stock 30' cable. The cable will make a huge difference and make the sub blend in with the Dyns. I replaced mine with a nordost baseline and finally got the bass that sounds more natural (kind of like the C4's).
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I agree that bass is challenging to get right, and integrate well. I've certainly heard speakers that integrate the full range from top to bottom very well indeed, so it is not by any means impossible. I do agree that the room will play a very significant roll in how successful it all comes off to the ears. Where subwoofers are concerned, multiples definitely help. Taking the bass demands off of the midrange drivers also helps midrange.
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