What is Tight Bass?

@realworldaudio, I’ll mildly object to be called dumb, but perception of individuals kinda gets lost in the stew.....😏

As one who runs amt’s, it’s a snap to employ a sub for the bottom ’boom’, but hard to source a mid-bass>upper bass (or low mid) that can keep pace yet keep the ’slam’ at bay with more apropos levels...

Varies with the program played, but... smaller drivers with SS equipment seem to work best, as you note, in this range.
And one can tweak the ’slam’ to taste; eq in my religion is not a sin. :)

Regards, J

@realworldaudio ..Janos, no offense taken just a mild rebuke made over...

"...not because they are dumb and do not recognize slam, but because the slam is overdone."

One persons' slam can be another's' restraint in the world of wham, bam, and making the orchestra seats deaf for a week. ;) *L*

'Slam' may be mixed into the final cut sent to a cutter for an LP, or just turned loose into the CDs' or streams.  What one is faced with, tube or SS, is how one reacts and responds with their selection of speakers and the 'up stream' devices one owns or wants to the replicate that in their spaces....

'Flabby bass' may be the intent of the player involved, due to the type and style of the music played, which is something I try to keep in mind upon a listen.  Certain styles have an 'approach' that, unless you know the player(s) involved begs a mind-reading skill I gave up years ago....and I'm kidding here. *G*

"Bass is the hardest part of the audio spectrum to get right." per @artemus_5 ...

... and I'll agree with that comment, SS or tubes (the latter of which I grew up with....and grew away from...).  It's possible now to mimic 'tube w/SS' and the reverse, the sharp-eared can discern the difference...along with other discrepancies I can, can't, or ignore....

So much of what we desire in our 'personal audio experience' is tied up in what we expect to hear and/or want to, imho...  Tube vs. SS are basically responding much the same (since electron flow is roughly speed of light, +/-), it's the way a particular type of 'valve' (glowing elements in glass vs. hot silicone with 'amendments') effect what's flowing through them.

I prefer upping a processors' speed and peripheral's to rolling tubes....which is my excuse and I'll stick with it. ;) 

Yes, a different perspective.  (...joking now..)  I'm sure you've noticed there's a lot of that going on here...*L*

Viva the differences, frankly....but...when I have the opportunity to listen to someone else's system, or an item at a dealer...

A grain of salt may not be enough, and usually a variety of other spices may help.

Mid-lag is a concern of mine; 'slam' I determine with dB personally.
If it exists at high levels, it ought to be noticeable at low ones'.

..at least the RTA's will notice...;)

Again, no offense taken...*G*

(Don't own a gun, but have access to a Real fencing foil....*L*...other than this keyboard.... :)...)

...mmm....a kick drum goes *boom*....pretty much a one note pony...

It's all that goes on 'twixt it (as it existed and went 'boom' ) and your ears is what we BBQ here....*G*

Like yours blood rare or crisp? 😏👍

Deal, Janos...Many a slip 'twixt brain stem and fingertips.... :)  And clarity in forums is a moving target that's hard to maintain anyway. *S*  No harm, no issue, no problem....

'Linear response', over any frequency band imo, is really only possible with test tones or sweeps.  Music is generally multiple instruments with vocals or no in constant states of 'flux', so any linearity is the status of the speakers' ability to track a sine or square wave accurately enough so that complex waveforms as music are reproduced in an acceptable level of accuracy befitting the input....*whew*

How that integrates with a musical waveform 'accurately enough' is du jour....doing it better and above is the hard trick.

Cheery enough for now, J

@mijostyn , *L* It’s nice to right, even if the source is suspect...;) *L*

Square wave sweeps seem to be accomplished by that which is deemed ’dry’ or ’too crisp’, although I tend towards that over ’warm’. This seems to fuel the ’tube vs. ss’ debate, which we ought to sidestep at this junction.... That gets flogged on a regular basis ’elsewhere’ here @ AG, and needs no replay here...🤞.

I’ve the calibrated mic already, and a batch of the gratis programs available and downloaded already, so the means and method are in place. ;)

Being able to ’see’ what’s ’line input’ contrasted to ’room response’ is instructive, esp. in my diy Walsh endeavors....it’s silly to expect them to sink to 20 hz. without ’argument’, and they weren’t meant to, either...

And that’s why I hand it off to a sub....and concentrate on what’s above 100ish hz.

I’d be happy to run a tube amp in lieu of my ss amp to hear the contrast involved, but that’s not in my dance card currently (pun not intended...). I’ll have to wait for infamy to be able to do that under duress....and yes, I’m teasing. *G*

@realworldaudio, thanks for your kind comments, and I’ve been committed to this line of irrationality for over a decade now....;)

I’ve achieved a sort of ’presence’, I guess:

https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+walsh+speakers&oq=&aqs=chrome.1.69i59i450l8.781244161j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

...and I appear 6x in the ’images’ link, which I think for a diy foray gives me some sort of odd gravitas on the subject....and bearing in mind the vid is 7ish yrs. old and shot with a ’point & shoot’ and a lousy mono mic in it...

What you see & hear is not current, no....but the concept is still under ’revisions’...
My goal is to put the soloist within reach, in a psychoacoustic fashion.

It does require a surround arrangement, but trying to keep it inobtrusive and subtle in a physical presence in one’s space, with a nod towards room treatments that don’t suggest ’recording facility’ treatments in an extreme.

It works, but I fried one of four prototypes in the process. Been working on improvements in the meanwhile to prevent that from occurring again.... ;)

As an omni/dipole enthusiast, and the rise of 5.1 & 7.1 in HT in general, I feel that omnis’ need to be developed and become a real ’player’ beyond what is currently available....
And I’m committed to try in my limited means to give it a go..."...not that it is easy, but because it is hard." to quote JFK, once upon....

*L* Don Quixote had the same problem, but my windmills are smaller and I lack a Sancho as a wingman....;)

"To infinity and beyond!" *L* Not on my bucket list...infinity is a very long time, and I’d doubt sanity would last that long within me... But a good cheer for my team of one....;) Thanks....

Regards to you both, I remain a J in process...

@tablejockey ...great example...👍.  As for tighten'd up, I like some of riffs that play with the 'qualities' of a bass line's notes... house and edm, other oddities.

Room resonance is just your shower writ Large(r)...

Next abode, I'm pondering running a test on the empty space.
Know upfront what you're faced with.
Move the bulky things in, run it again.
See what happened, and keep that in mind.

Only get one shot @ this sort of thing; got means 'n method.

Thanks to all for triggering that thought....*S*