Me vs. JL Audio - An open discussion.


An audiophile ( dpac996 ) in another thread:


https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/eh-hem-subwoofers-what-do-ya-know


found a very interesting, and IMNSHO, very messy, post from JL Audio:

https://jlaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205061040-Adding-a-Home-Audio-Subwoofer


It has some great points, some confusing points, and some word salad. Kind of like a recent Star Wars movie.


Mind you, I think JL Audio has among the very best room correction software out there. I find myself agreeing very much with the choices the software makes, but still, this article has some great things in it I want to bring out, which I'll do in my replies.
erik_squires
I actually agree that room correction, measurements can only take you so far.... but man, if you don't get that starting point right, you haven't even gotten to the right country.

Getting the crossover/phase matching right is super hard to do by ear.

Figuring out the room modes that need to be quashed is also super hard. That's what the tools do really well.
That basic starting point is super difficult to do and get right.
Once you have that, sure, tilt the bass response, and adjust the level to please yourself.

And, expensive as they are, the tilt and level setting in addition to the subwoofer integration is something the JL Audio room correction gets very very right.
Erik, I suspect that you & I aren't on 'opposite sides of the country' as much as one may assume...;)

As for the 'start point'...one begins with The 1st Assumption.  Set up, check, run the experiment... ("Well, that sounds like...*expletive*" *sigh*)

This goes on until one arrives @ The 'Best' Compromise.  What one has within what space it's in.....sounding less like *expletive*, more like "I can live with This....for Now."

Room modes....*L*  One can run about with calibrated mikes until a spectator thinks you're into an insane calisthenic routine.  All the while, attempting to discern IF this will make or break what you're trying to accomplish....

...and this with 'white' and/or 'pink'.  Play 3 different genres of music...

If one is lucky, One will sound 'acceptable'....the others, *Ehh*

Notice I've not addressed 'nuance'....nor 'detail, timbre, 'port *whoosh*', or any of the other bugs that bugger the other mortals that inhabit AG.

Crossover type/slope/points?  Start with 'spec', consider what's being crossed why/how/where..."Assumption 47B", if you will. *L*

Now...consider that I'm a fan of dipoles...and omnis.

In a concrete and steel space that would likely have most packing things up and listening to a 'boom box' when not having a pair of ear plugs with the BT'd player keeping their relative sanity intact.

And this given space is Temporary.  It's gone on longer that I would like, but building up our business has kinda taken precedence over any other concerns....  One has to pay the bills, and theoretically 'grow' same.

That's finally paying off; enough that I can spend a certain amount of time attempting to explain myself...where/what/how in This Regard, audio and the pursuit of....

Anyway...*kicks soapbox aside"...Merry Xmas, huh? *G*  And Happy Pre-New Year to you and your family.  

Fair warning, tho'....'20 is going to be an extremely busy year for yours truly.  I shan't be able to enjoy your company or that of others here...or much of any other forums I've tried to haunt.

Consider it a blessing, I suppose...*shrug*G*

Regards, J 
@spinaker01  

There's perhaps 1~2% of 'what there is to know about me'.

Google might fill in another percent or 3.

The rest involves Time, and certain amount of patience...

Cut me some 'slack'....and you'll get 50% more from me.

My 'standard issue' for 'places like This'. ;)
Next, the subs. I disagree, heartily here, that ported subs are lesser than sealed. Like everything else, the deeper you go, the harder a speaker is to integrate. If we’ve done all our work correctly, sealed the mains, integrated well, a ported sub may be great. Most of the issues raised here are bogey men
I added a third sub to my system two weeks ago. The first two subs are sealed the new one has a passive radiator which is worse than a ported sub.

The issue that I started to notice because of the passive radiator was that the kick drum beats were lasting too long. At first it was kind of cool to hear those big fat beats but it didn't take too long to figure out that they shouldn't be like that. The effect on the bass instruments is a little more subtle since they naturally have longer sustain before they start to decay.

I think this is what the JL Audio author was talking about when he was saying that a ported sub did not work well in a two channel music system.

I ended up placing a pillow under the passive radiator (down firing) and  that helped immensely. The kick drum still had a big rich tone but a much more natural (a bad word since most kick drums are modified to limit sustain) duration. Big impact, rapid decay, while the other bass instruments became a little more detailed