Low bass has long wavelengths and can move thru walls or car doors. If an audiophile wants deep bass, a large room is required to let the wave develop and keep in the same room. The interior of a car is tiny and most bass is lost to the outside. You hear the bass louder than the occupants of the car, that is why they turn it up even more..
Annoying sounds from cars at stop light
What causes the stereo in the car next to you at the stop light so loud and annoying with over the top bass and how can the driver stand it?
Showing 11 responses by dill
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The noise that we hear is not from the front of the driver." It doesn't matter, low bass is low & slow and radiates 360 degrees., needs time to fully develop. Try an experiment, turn your home rig up loud with good bass material. Leave the room and go to an adjoining room, close all doors and listen for the bass. 40Hz (low open E string on a Fender bass) wavelength is about 28ft. Check out this converter: http://www.mcsquared.com/wavelength.htm |
My guess is that it is the vehicle that is vibrating due the large about of air being displaced by the subs. I have seen closed doors pulsating in and out with the beat of the music. It pretty much, eventually, turns ones car into a rattle bucket over time. Maybe they play it loud to cover up all the rattles, squeaks and other noises. |
kalali asked: "
dill, are you saying you need to be 28 feet away in order to “fully” hear a 40Hz tone?" Yes and no, you can divide those wavelengths into halves, quarters, etc. for excellent results in designing a listening space. A 40Hz tone would sound very good in a 14ft. long room, but the best in a larger room. A 20Hz tone is 58ft. long so one could get very good results with a 24ft. room. All this is really not a big deal for home use, I just wanted to use this as an example on why we hear more bass from the car near us, than they do inside the car. A vehicle is the worst place to to have a sound system, sound quality wise. |
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You are correct about very low bass notes having very long waves. Not sure those 6" speakers in the door or even a 12" sub in the trunk are pumping out 30Hz bass loud enough that I can hear it from my car in open air." Chances are you are not hearing the speakers in the door as much as the subs located somewhere else in the vehicle. Since low bass is non-directional, placement is not crucial. The sub or subs might have dedicated high power amps too. Some systems I have seen have their own battery & capacitor circuit, separate from the vehicles. |
aboogaard said: "And if it takes 28 feet for the sound to "develop", why can I here that 22Hz note in my 19x15 livingroom so well?" Actually I said "fully develop". Very satisfying results can be had with 1/2 or 1/4 wave. For example 12ft. for a 40Hz note will sound fine, I doubt one could really tell the difference, however if one reduces it to a 1/4 wave 7ft., it might not be as authentic sounding. Your 22Hz tone (if authentic), in your room, would be somewhere between 1/4 & 1/2 wave. You would need plenty of power to get 22Hz for full wave. There is not much musical content below 26Hz unless artificially generated. http://www.guitarbuilding.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Instrument-Sound-EQ-Chart.pdf |