Getting Good Bass for your Home Theater Setup

Home Theater Lobby
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I just asked my wife for experiment in my bedroom stereo setup. Not farther field living room setup. Not using subwoofer, but using that Ikea Seas speaker that can go down to almost 30Hz. Playing test tones using single channel she can detect which channel playing 36 and 40hz. I think anybody can detect with this particular setup. I can tell also but I know beforehand which channel is playing. I didn’t continue with higher freq. Playing both L and R the bass is greatly diffused.

In my living room I set my subwoofer crossover around 50Hz, which sounds more right for my liking. The lowest LPF in AVR is 80Hz (following THX) but I cut down some more from the sub plate amp.

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Makes perfect sense single sub easier to localise, and when it came to LR dual source it became difficult to identify.

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I actually set my LR to fullrange with double bass. If i just on one sub next to me actually can’t localize the sub when cross at 80hz. :grinning:

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You should try different way of tweaking… just like Wechnivag :grinning:

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I think there is nothing wrong how you tune your bass . End of the day you are the one who watch movies with your system and not others .

Personnal taste also quite important . Some like room shaking bass , some like couch /seat shaking feel , some like body impact .

Currently I belong to “body impact” group so I always try to tune it in a way that I can hear it , body feel it and front charging to face , body type . I sold all my tactile gadgets away in the past because after few years playing with its , I started to know what myself really wanted. My frequency response may be haywire but I know I am the one who always watching in my own room so doesnt matter .

I love to have those wind feel like car bass videos but understand my room unable to take it and not sure how to do it(unless using fan) so I stopped craving for it.

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Added Part 2 in the first post. :slight_smile:

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Oh that’s nice, was looking forward to part 2! Good discussions with grimani , lots good stuff

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Hi Jason,

Over the years, do you find that certain brands or types of subs do some things better than others? For example some have really strong low bass, but don’t have so much impact?

How do you set up to achieve the ‘body impact’? Is it the type or sub, or location in the room, near field, far field etc?

Thanks!

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Subs do make difference in my room. I did not own many subs but those i own/owned and tested, mk mx5000(very old model) has the best mid bass. But i need to place it nearfield inorder to make it work nicely. Svs is best at air feel which is why i am still using it till now.

It really depends on whether “heng” or “sway” . Coz spore hdb room size is limited and good subs always in bigger size so placement may be a issue even if u know where is the good placement. There r only certain locations which is good for mid n other places good for deep.

I am not sure if i have done it correctly coz i only chase for the feel i wanted. I used to plot graph in the old days but i realise good graph not equal to good bass feel to my taste. Moreover, coz our room so small, there is chances that u have resonance in some unwanted areas on certain frequencis. A dip is a dip. Even u force it, u still cannot get good feel.

I always wanted feel at my master seat only so i concentrated on it. Sometimes a peak can provide good feel on my body so i just leave it.

If u can have good mid punch when listening to 2 channels, chances is that u can have that too if placing mid bass subs behind the 2 speakers. Or like other mentioned, cross it lower n has the speakers work as mid bass subs. However, we do not know how our processor work sometimes(too many features) n cannot predict movies mixing so sometimes cannot feel too. Moreover, some movies bass response may damage the speakers. N you require more power to drive the 2 speakers.

I found out in my room, 5.1 movies can have the best punch compare to 7.1 or 7.1.4 since i only watched according to the movies mixing so i can feel the differences. Btw, i dont do upmix.

Crossing speakers at different freq can improve certain feel. Dont need die die all must cross at same freq, imho. But take note the higher u cross that speaker, the brighter it will sound. Btw, i dont do auto eq from day 1. Tested twice before n myself really don’t like it. I know it is good and if works for u, just do it, nothing wrong.

Some location for sub can do damages more than good. I have done all round subs before, 9 subs sorrounded me n cannot make it. Maybe i dont know how to integrate 9 subs together.

Another thing i noticed, i always need to give up something to have other things. Wanted bass to body, less shaking seat. Wanted seat shaking, less body impact. I chosen body in the end since more movies require it.

U might want to check if currently your 2 channels got good mid bass punch. If no even u shifted the speakers near or far from front wall, likely the front stage is no good for mid bass subs to put.

Bass feel is always a never ending topic as a bit make a lot of differences. N ppl may change the taste when time past(like me).

For multisubs user, likely need to watch movies at same volumn everytime since u calibrated and tuned at that volumn. Slight changes on volumn does affect the bass response n stage presentation.

Recently i been playing with different harddisks. In my room setup, m.2 ssd has the tightest mid bass and brightest picture. If u have a spare m.2 ssd, can try to compare. Even ssd is better than hdd already. But again, it still depends on your taste. Tightest mid bass may means brighter sound and speakers a bit visible when it sounds. Soundstage also feel smaller sometimes. This is only for those watching using harddisk to try out.

So in conclusion, time past and taste may change. Just do to what u feel shiok on most of the movie will do. Today u give up some punch for more airy and tactile feel, tomorrow u give up some tactile and airy to punch, cycle repeat and repeat. No ending…

I just play n enjoy what i have now. If u want to know if my current taste suit u, just drop me a message n we work up a time.

Oh ya, i dont believe in perfect bass n bass feel nowadays, only acceptable bass. I have sensed some issues in my setup but due to room limitation, just try to get used to it.

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Jason very good and detail write out… :muscle:

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Hi bro ken, waiting for u to setup in your new house.

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ok soon…now running in the speaker. :grinning:

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Personally I have a different approach to bass. I always take the calculated approach. Maybe because that’s how I am, all accountants are like that ! I always take the approach where I can measure and quantify results with listening test.

Whilst it’s true that one can Do anything they feel and whatever they want with their system, one of the main reasons we are here is not to do whatever we want to do, but to do what we could possibly do to yield the best results out of a given situation. In other words, to optimise the set up.

Gone were the days where people use to walk and crawl around and use feelings to determine the outcome of how we can place the subwoofers. Fast forward to today, we have the necessary tools to do it and see exactly what’s happening, not only in the amplitude domain, but timing, reflections etc etc.

Whilst I appreciate your humble views and I know you are very humble :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:, it’s not the same when it comes to a newbie coming here for advise.

Are we going to say, hey do whatever you want, it’s your system ! That’s not what I wanna hear if I’m a newbie. Back then once upon a time, I was that newbie. I came to the forum for advice. The only person who was there to help me, was Jag. No one else. And yes, he knows his stuff. Not based on feelings or some copy paste stuff from internet , but through the use of tools, he showed me many things that were possible.

For people who are more experienced, then yes , they could tell easily. And these experiences come at a cost, TIME. That equates to $$. Nothing wrong, but yea, we have the tools now, it’s accurate , let’s maximise it. We can know instantly the better approach.

Then of course there is also another camp, where they are easily satisfied. Having just enough SPLs and they are perfectly happy. Nothing wrong. But how about, taking it up one notch, having SPLs, that comes with quality. . So answers like, do whatever you want, it’s your system, isn’t going to be why I am here. I am here to understand how to achieve this quality.

That’s my personal point of view. No hard feelings ya, I like to state the facts

That is why I come to the forums

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Absolutely true. Agree 100000%. Don’t need to die die all cross at the same freq.

Absolutely true. Agree 100000%. There are always trade off’s. When doing optimization, we are juggling various aspects (room behavior, system behavior, sub/speaker placement limitations, furnishing, MLP, WAF limitation, budget limitations, etc…) to reach our own personal taste in bass and enveloping HT soundstage.

That’s why after a long journey of tweaks, I ended up with lower cross for LCR, higher cross for surrounds, mix of sub + bass shaker.

There are many ways to optimize, not one way, or only one preferred approach.

A very interesting insight and learning for me. on multi-sub and volume. Thank you for sharing.

Great conclusion. Very thoughtful sharing, I must say.

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Dear bro Ronildoq and boxerfan88 , I appreciate both your advice and response to my post . Hopefully I am not opening another can of worms.

I am always at a neutral position. We blame the games but not the players . Hopefully both camps can share their experiences and let newbies decide which approach is better to them . They can start with new tech first since current equipments all built in auto eq and etc . And there is ton of infos from internet as well and ppl like bro Ronildoq can go on site tuning and advise . Only if happens that the newbies still feel something missing , then consider trying old camp’s approach . Nothing wrong .

Peace , bros and happy sharing .

**Probably I can share some more findings in my setup (dont shoot me :frowning: , please ) . I found out before and after warm up equipments , diffferent timing in the day , different temperature in my room, different sitting head level , head on or over the couch , single seat or 3 seater sofa ,different mood of me that day can affect the feel and staging.

And one good way to cheat the feel is we can hug a pillow or whatever soft . In some cases , the pillow or whatever soft things we hug will absorb the bass energy .

If cannot feel leg hairs moving , try wearing long pants(soft type) or legs cover with blanket . Sometimes you have it but too clean to feel** (peace)

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From my personal perspective, you are not opening another can of worms. Your sharing is about your personal journey and taste in bass, which is great for any forum, especially newbies. Even I learn from your post about multi-sub and volume level at which they are matched & played back. What I totally respect you for, is that your post does not attacking somebody else’s approach, just your views.

Similarly, my sharing is always about my journey, facts, and reasons why I have taken my approach. I have participated in various HT forums without getting personal. If someone pointed out I have made factual errors, I stand readily to correct. However, if my approach/opinion is attacked unjustly, trust me, I will rebut very very robustly, and at extremes will elicit counter attacks.

I don’t fully agree, we do not blame the game nor the players. I have shared my experiences at various points in different forums, and leave it to the newbies or oldies decide for themselves which approach they want to take. However, I will rebut robustly if an approach is unjustly attacked.

Peace to you too, bro.

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Hi boxerfan88, understand thanks.

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In my experience, the type of sofa affects the tactile feel of the bass, especially with a near field sub. In my previous setup, I had a pair of near field subs placed behind my leather sofa, and the effect was veryvery tactile. I think it is because the leather is less perme able to the pressure impulse wavefront and ‘catches’ the energy more. This energy is then felt by the person sitting on the sofa.

For a fabric sofa, probably it will be less tactile than a leather sofa, all other things being equal.

Bro Jason, absolutely appreciate your sharing and would love to visit your setup one of these days.

Thanks!

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lol… bro dont worry, i am not here to shoot you or anybody down. rather to have a constructive discussion, on why i think the full range method , isnt really the best method one should take.

Let me break it down in details on why i think so. But this is personally my view, no ill feelings or plans to attack anyone

For someone or anyone who feels you want to take this route, yes by all means, or if you feel you prefer to take the full range path, by all means as well.

Let me break down the details further…

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Hi Wechnivag , I have tested different seats before and found out the most comfortable seat(thick foams) will absorb the bass energy so less chances(less but not no) for front impact feel .

Minidsp 2x4hd is a useful tools . It can set steep roll off on the freq which is good for mulitisubs users . The roll off from processor or sub itself are not good enough . Usually if we set at 80 hz , the subs still can still roll down till 120hz and it can cancel the bass >90hz when run with speakers. In my past experience , I am guessing 63hz to 125hz is the region for slam and punch . My room suffered from 50 to 56hz dip so I not sure . This is why sometimes setting crossover at 110hz and higher has better feel. However , the higher crossover we set , the sounds from speakers will be thinner and brighter .

For surround and ceiling speakers , I like to set it higher like boxerfan88 coz I wanted the front to do bass mid bass job . Also I prefer the soundstage presentation more.