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“Real” bass vs. “Boom” — how do you know which?

Hi,

I'm working on positioning a new pair of Ohm Walsh 100's in my listening room. I think I'm getting close to an optimal positioning with regard to soundstaging and imaging, but I'm less sure when it comes to tonal balance.

How can you tell if the bass you're hearing is “real bass” vs. ”boom“ from room interactions?

Oddly shaped room, around 12' x 15', wood floors, speakers placed asymmetrically (out of necessity) along long wall: both speakers are 20 inches from rear wall. Right speaker is 16 inches from right wall, left speaker is around 5 feet from left wall. Two pieces of soft furniture: day bed (listening position) opposite speakers, and lounge chair to left of left speaker. Windows on three of four walls, with soft blinds on them, although I've generally been more pleased with the sound with the shades up.

Thanks in advance!!
rebbi

Showing 8 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
Reb,

Wood floors can be tricky with the ports on the 100s located on the bottom. I've had Walsh 2s (older driver, same size) in rooms very similar in size and layout to yours in prior residences.

Try loosely plugging the ports on the bottom by rolling up a thin sheet of foam if you have it or even a pair of old socks (no-body will see them down there). This can help lighten things up a bit with the room acoustics if needed. You might try it with only the right speaker that is closer to the wall as well in that proximity to the wall could cause a relative boost on that side.

Also play with toe-out to point the tweet more towards your listening position perhaps to tilt up the timbre overall if needed. Try a little more toeout on the right speak that is close to the wall as well (similar to the big f-5 Ohms in the pic in my system).
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
Headphones as a reference is a great idea!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
Yeah, its all "real", the question is how much is the right amount?

"Beyond the Missouri Sky" by Haden and MEthany is another recording that represents a special challenge. If the bass playing on this one comes in clear and defined throughout (no "one note" stuff), you are probably in the right ballpark.

BTW this recording NEVER sounded completely satisfying on my system with any speaks until the recent move to the Arc SP16 TUBE PRE-AMP. Now: Bingo!!! So there is more to really good bass than just speakers and room acoustics for sure!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
Hey Rebbe,

Lots of good thing recommended here to try.

Bottom line is you need a frame of reference for what good bass is. Listening live (to a well produced performance) and listening on good headphones if you have them, where room acoustics are taken out of the equation, are two good ones.

Once you have the frame of reference, then you can try the various tweaks as needed to attempt to match it. Tehre is no way to take the acoustics of your room out of the equation though. In the the end you have to tweak your system to your room to simulate what you hear elsewhere.

Believ me, once you get all this worked out with those 100's, you'll know it and be a happy dweller in bass heaven!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
"As you might know the same speakers driven by a different amp can affect the bass like you wouldn't believe."

Yes indeed. for the larger OHMs in particular, that increasingly means a higher current, higher efficiency amp that mostly doubles rated power output from 8 to 4 and even 2 ohms.

So in summary, here is the recipe for the larger OHMs in order of importance IMHO:

1) speaks fit/tuned to room
2) high current amp
3) good quality source and pre-amp
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
What happens if the measurements look good but things still don't sound right? No two people hear exactly the same, do they?

Also, I know you can measure frequency response, but how do you measure imaging accuracy and soundstage?

You can baseline accurately on measurements certainly, but you still might have to tweak from there to get things to sound best to you. Measurements are still a partial solution at best.

Plus, you have to know what you are doing to some extent in order to get the right measurements and know how to interpret them. This is not a trivial thing for many who are not technically oriented and just want to enjoy the music.

In that case, if you have the money, it might be worth it to pay someone to do it for you.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
I like the Vibrapod idea if needed as a last resort in your case Rebbi in that you have wood floors and I am assuming not a solid concrete foundation.

With my 100s, in the 12X12 room located in teh basement with concrete foundation and thin carpet and padding, with speaks a good 3 feet out from rear wall, bass is full, defined and tight.

Same speakers in 12X12 room on ground level, a typical wood foundation with tile floors and speaks only 12 inches or so from rear wall due to WAF, bass is a good bit fatter and needs to be tamed.

This is the case in that room with both my OHM 100s and tiny but fairly wide range Dynaudio monitors, so I partially plug the ports with a pair of old socks with both when in that room
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,686 posts
 
" the room, as we all know, is the most expensive part of any audio system"

Also not everybody has dedicated listening rooms that can be tweaked to the max so sometimes there are real limits with what can be done to the room in actual practice.
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