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Total bass suck out at 40hz

So I'm a little slow, but it occured to me today to see if there were test tones recordings on Tidal of Qobuz. Yes there are. I have a radio shack SPL meter so I went to work playing them to see what I had in my room. I was shocked to find a total lack of audible bass at 40hz. At first I thought they must have made an error in the recording. Then I went to a different set of test tones and wow same thing. I never dreamed something like that would take place. I have read a lot of discussions about bass peaks and nulls and always thought it would just be slightly less in volume at the null, not completely gone. So Am I imagining this and if not what do I do to remedy it. I am apparently missing a lot of music and never knew it. I am currently listening to my freshly refinished Yamaha NS 1000m speakers(just put them in the system Wednesday after work) with a Modwright KWI 200 integrated amp and a Lumin streamer/dac. I also have stereo Rythmik  F12 subs. Thanks, Allen.
mizike

Showing 3 responses by mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,224 posts
 
Mizike, is there anything below 40 Hz? If not then that is just were your speakers run out of gas. Very few speakers make it below that. If you want to go lower you will have to cross over to subs.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,224 posts
 
Mizike, leave everything as it is for now. Have you measured at different points in the room? It sounds like you are measuring in a null. Putting subs next to your sofa might be great for Movies but really bad for Hi Fi.
Subs in corners is alway a good idea as long as you can match them in time and phase with the satellites which without digital bass management you can not. So, with a point source system the best way to set up two subs is against the wall between the satellites on a radius from your listening position. This means that all speaker are the exact same distance from the listening position. Assuming none of your equipment inverts phase you should be pretty close. You will still have node issues in the room. The easiest way to deal with this is by moving your listening position forwards or backwards to a position were the bass sounds best.
without room control that will be the best you can do unless you are ready to add two more subs. I would keep them on the same radius but against the side walls. Hope this helps  🥴
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,224 posts
 
Three cheers for rvnye2! Isn't that something? People just do not realize what happens to an anechoically flat loudspeaker when you put it in a room. Millercarbon would vomit if he could see how his system measured. Actually everyone would. +- 10 dB peaks and valleys is par for the course. That is twice or half as loud! Whatever you think the degradation in your signal might be converting it to 24/192 digital the improvement made by digitally equalizing and timing your system drastically out weights it. You see this comment time and time again in reviews of the best room control units over the years. It reminds me of when cycling was moving from manual to syncro shifting back in the late 80s. "Real cyclists don't need syncro!"

When I figure out how to photograph my computer I will display measurements of ESLs in a 16 X 30 X 8 foot room along with pictures of the system.
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