Did you ever buy too much bass?


I talk a lot about bass and integration of subwoofers in a system and I realized that I need to hear more about the experiences auidphiles have when they go buy speakers and put them in a room.  Did you look at specs?  Did you audition in the home?  Did you end up with too little or too much bass compared to what you were expecting??

erik_squires

IMO people us subs for the wrong reason. I do not want my sub to add mud to the mix. I like my bass tight fast and articulate. I also like my “powered” sub to add weight in the mid range of my mix so I set the crossover very high. Think about it even all good amps can’t always add that extra power when the mix is asking for it. This is when the amp in the sub can come to the rescue lending a helping hand where the main amp is asking for it. Play around with your sub this way. I am a rock guitar heavy listener. Love me a good Gibson with distorted hummbuckers. With my sub crossed high it adds weight or balls to the guitar like a punch to my gut. This is what I like about Rel as they have great a b amps. Would love for a manufacture to try a pure class a sub amp but with needing 250 to 500 watts you would need your own nuclear generator powering your home and heat sinks the size of my suv.

Many times setup is half the battle ,go to Cardas cables they have a classic speaker setup, and if speakers have too much bass ,if ported plug the port with foam or pull away from front wall boundaries. ,that removes Bass reinforcement.

Many times setup is half the battle ,go to Cardas cables they have a classic speaker setup, and if speakers have too much bass ,if ported plug the port with foam or pull away from front wall boundaries. ,that removes Bass reinforcement.

With subs the better JL audio with built in DSP - mikes is very good 

my brother has 2 fathom 12s  very nice subs 

I have the Svs 4000s and with the app and DSP Mike adjust to the room nicely 

a good tuned sub should disappear in the room ,

land to others Bass becomes directional when above 80 hz .

depending on the order of the speakers roll off normally under 10 db above the lowest bass of the main speaker , having 2 subs always better then 1 if of = quality to eliminate Bass nulls in the Room , and room the subs around if you-have the room ,wireless bass IHave not tried ,but others say it works ok.

You can't buy too much subwoofer, unless you get to the point that something physically does not fit into the space you have. You can turn down a large sub and make several types of adjustments depending on your system to make it transparent, but you can never turn up a sub that is too small and underpowered. My advice is always to buy the best and largest sub that you can afford, and then be happy for a very long time. There is no such thing as "pairing" or matching, or other old wives tales applicable here, it's about the bass. So many myths and half-truths out there about subs. A sub can both supplement and support the low end of almost any system out there, no matter how 'high end" or basic the system may be. I've had the pleasure of owning a large variety of subs since about 1986 with various systems. Everything from custom-built cabinets with separate amps, to multiple subs in my main room currently. Some that have been celebrated and some that get a lot of questionable reviews. Not once have I ever said the sub doesn't belong or that I spent too much money.  Always read the specs and performance details, as that is all that mostly matters. In-house demo would be great but is impractical or impossible for many people. The typical showroom is nothing like your house, so the specs tell you most of what you need to know, and after that it will be placement and adjustments for your space. You are not listening to a sub for the most part, and the adjustments and ability to blend into the system are what matters, which can be done with all of them. Just follow the advice to buy a highly rated, highly powered, and suitably large unit, or multiples.