Thread: Having problem with my system

Have you all used a reference for music quality? How do you know that the bass output from your speaker is clean? Do you have a song that you're familiar with and it hits spot on the way the recording engineer intended?

After looking at your "tune" it sounds like you've exaggerated the curve of your bass line from anything but accurate. Majority of music isn't recorded with huge bass lines. If it's not accurate then I question it's ability to be reproduced as "clean".

I'm not trying to be a jerk but people are always talking about how "good" their system sounds. If it sounds good to you...great, I have no qualms with your idea of "good". But when we start using descriptives such as "clean" I feel like ideas are getting blurred. Just because something is loud and punchy doesn't mean it's clean.

In my vehicle, the sub is very transparent. That's what I call clean. You don't realize it's contributing until you turn it off. It doesn't draw your music to the rear, it simply compliments the speakers in the front in such a way that THEY sound like they're producing the bass line. However, for those songs or genres that really do enhance the bass line, well...I guess you could say they "hit".

You can achieve good quality music when tuning properly.

Originally Posted by 2000GTGP

i listen to mostly rap/hip-hop which enhance the bass line. it sounds good/clean to me. the bass may be slightly overpowering the lyrics when i am using aux input simply because its boosted +18 but with plain cd's, bass and lyrics blend beautifully.

And as long as it sounds good that's the goal!!

The problem I have with those knobs that control "bass" output is that your bass line runs from 20hz as far as 250hz. Majority of those frequencies can be played by your 5-1/4" and 6-1/2" speakers until about 80hz. That's when you begin to transition play between speakers typically. Sometimes people will even x-over as high as 160hz or even 200hz.

Well...getting back to those "EQ knobs" for bass...they typically choose one frequency to extend and that is all. Typically it's somewhere around 40hz. Well unless it's a parametric EQ then it's only boosting that frequency and not the surrounding freq's. If it is a PEQ then you have to adjust your "Q" factor....

JL Audio - Car Audio Systems
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/tutorials/...ametric_EQ.pdf

The goal behind PEQ is to allow a smoother transition from the focal point to the nearby frequencies. Again...if you start thinking about a plotted line that represents the decibels of each frequency you're playing you'll realize that an 18db gain over your mid-range is exactly why the sub is over-powering your vocals. Vocals can be as low as 160hz too.

At that point, I just don't see how "clean" is achieved? It's kind of like somebody talking monotone then suddenly a specific vowel sound is 18db louder than the rest of the sentence. Research shows that ~10db gain is usually perceived as double the listening volume.



Here's one more for "sensitivity" in case somebody needs it...
JL Audio - Car Audio Systems