Speaker Compression

[ktm111]

I don't know a whole lot about specs of speakers. I have been reading about compression on the internet and I think it is what I'm trying to accomplish. When I listen to music on my home theater system or n my car and turn it up loud the sound gets muffled and I don't get a tight sound from my speakers. This could be due to the quality of the speakers but I was wondering about the bass drum sound. Is there a way to get that clear bass thud like at a rock concert without the low end of the sound getting muffled and creating a rumble.

Thanks

[Nasir]

I am not sure what the frequency range is for a bass drum is, but it would be a start in finding that out. To be honest, bass can sound a lot different in the same room depending on where you sit ( try moving around and the difference will become obvious ). This is all due to placement issues: a new headache with a lot of articles available on speaker placements on the internet. Also see subwoofer placement, etc...

I am not sure if I understand the compression part, maybe you could explain that too....

Also, I hope the amp can deliver a decent current and has sufficient power, otherwise one will hear a lot of clipping or speaker distortion.....

[blackraven]

KTM, you can get that nice drum thud with good equipment. Cheap speakers and subs and well as cheap power amps will not get you there.

[dakatabg]

ktm111 what is the system you are using and the speakers?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I don't know a whole lot about specs of speakers. I have been reading about compression on the internet and I think it is what I'm trying to accomplish. When I listen to music on my home theater system or n my car and turn it up loud the sound gets muffled and I don't get a tight sound from my speakers. This could be due to the quality of the speakers but I was wondering about the bass drum sound. Is there a way to get that clear bass thud like at a rock concert without the low end of the sound getting muffled and creating a rumble.

Thanks

It sounds to me like you are over driving your amps or speakers. The only way to get a clear bass thud is with a powerful amplifier, and a good subwoofer. If you like to listen to your music loud (and I don't recommend this at all), you nned to make sure you have enough power to driver your speakers, you have speaker good enough to reproduce all frequencies, and a sub large enough for 50hz and below reproduction with low distortion.

If you are talking about a kick drum( which is often mistaken for a bass drum) its fundementals lies somewhere between 50-60hz. If you are speaking of a large bass drum used in classical concert music, the fundamentals there are 40hz and below.

Compressing the dynamic range is not a cure for this problem because it does not address the distortion component of this problem. When you turn it up even with compression engaged, it will still distort because you are only dealing with peaks, and not the overall output.

Another issue that you need to consider is your ears. When folks get a large build up of ear wax, they turn up the volume to compensate. This not only can create distortion from the equipment, but you hear distortion in your ears as well. A good ear cleaning can go a long way in improving what you hear.

These are just some suggestions.

[Luvin Da Blues]

.........
If you are talking about a kick drum( which is often mistaken for a bass drum) its fundementals lies somewhere between 50-60hz. If you are speaking of a large bass drum used in classical concert music, the fundamentals there are 40hz and below.

And the harmonics go even lower so you will have to reproduce these freqs also to make it sound live.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

And the harmonics go even lower so you will have to reproduce these freqs also to make it sound live.

Kick drums do not create much in the way of sub harmonics because of the size of the drum. However large drum used in classical music have sub harmonic of tremendous amplitude, and can really test a good subwoofer, and send a speaker over the edge.

[ren9328]

Before I got into high-end home audio I had a massive car system. Is you are gettting muffled sound, I believe that you are overdriving your amplifier(s).

I have Dynaudio Contour 1.3 SEs and I have heard what they can do. As well I have heard what they sound like when compromised by a substabdard amplifier. Do not ever look at the size of a speaker and decide what it can do!

[Mr Peabody]

I agree the problem is most likely pushing some or all of your system to it's limits. What you need to do is turn the gain down. In the car it's the gain control on the amp, in the HT set up it's the sub's volume control. Some here disagree, but I've always done this and have found SVS also follows this, the sub amp should only be at about 2 or 3, then set the internal volume of your receiver that controls the amp. A tool that can help you with home and car sub set up is a SPL meter. If you turn the sub up too high it doesn't have any reserve left for when it gets hit with a large demand. Another thing too is you may not have ample power to play your system as loud as you might like. A lower clean sound is better than a loud lump of distortion.

You are supposed to be able to depict the bass notes of a song out, kids today turn the gain up as loud as it goes and all you hear is a distorted boom that no longer resembles music or the original material played.

You can get a SPL, sound pressure level, meter at Radio Shack. You sit in your listening seat, if setting up the HT system bring up the menu and use the speaker level test tone, you want to use the meter and watch each tone setting them in the receiver so they are all the same on the meter. Many recommend turning up the level until the meter hits 70 to 80 dB. Just make your sub and all speakers hit the same. It's alright to maybe set the sub a bit higher so you can get good bass during normal listening. Depending on what set up you have in the car this could be difficult. Hopefully you have a sub level control on your head unit. If so, not perfect but get some hiss on the FM dial and use that as a test tone. Turn it up until a certain point, then dial in the sub to that point. Or, again, maybe a couple dB higher. If you go beyond that then you risk being back to where you are now. You'd be surprised how hard a sub can hit when it has power left in the amp. You do not want to use the "A weighted" setting on the SPL meter for this. A meter will run you $40.00 or $50.00.