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Audiophile Bass?

I was reading an article about spikes vs. rubber feet and the author mentioned what he called "audiophile bass". His assertion was that the bass that audiophiles pursue is not real life bass. One comment from the article (paraphrasing) states that when you listen to bass at a live performance it will not be the tight, clean bass that you will hear from most audiophile's systems when they are playing music. The discussion in the article was that in order to get audiophile bass you would need spikes to reduce the transfer into the floor (because of the very small contact points). The rubber feet will cause the bass to be less clean and tight. I tried this on my system and he was right, with the rubber feet the bass was definitely boomier. But I do prefer the spikes. I like to here the notes on a bass guitar, it's not enough that it is just bass. Have any of you had similar experiences?
baclagg

Showing 2 responses by tomcy6

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tomcy6
2,623 posts
 
Just about everything in live music is different from an audiophile home system. Can you imagine a jazz or rock group playing in your living room?

I think that what we strive for in our systems is a natural sound, especially with voices, but except in rare situations, it’s not going to sound like a live concert.

The sound quality of almost all amplified performances I have attended has been terrible. If my system sounded like that I’d sell it. There are other aspects of live performance that draws me to concerts.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,623 posts
 
I've read reviews that say they have tested them and they do indeed get into the mid to high 20Hz but there are no balls behind it. 

Maybe the effect your friends are looking for is when you have a small to medium room that you can close off completely, the bass can pressurize the room, meaning that you can feel the bass.  This is a really cool effect, but if your system is set up in a dwelling with an open floor plan, it's not going to happen.

You can get a subwoofer that will give you ballsier bass but that comes with more expense, equipment, setup and its own set of problems.  You just have to decide when you're happy with what you've got.  There is always more or something different out there.
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