bass boost=sub distortion?

[adammk5]

Can an increase on the bass boost knob increase clipping or distortion, for example my hifonics brutius amp if I turn the bass boost up 4 db will there be any noticable destortion(I'll be turning it up from the amp, not the knob)
I'm asking because waiting for my new car to put my setup in.

[Jbarbier]

yea, generally bass boost will eventually kill a woofer, its really just more distortion, subs sound better w/out bass boost, or with just a little, b/c there is a helluva lot cleaner signal wthout boost.

[flyasspimp]

but will it be a noticable increase in SPL? And would it be alright to put it to like +2 or 3 DB....and what if you had like some RE XXX's...could you put it higher b/c they are tougher maybe?

[Musto]

Bass boost increases clipping ...

Basically, when you set bass boost to +3 dB, it DOUBLES the power at frequency X (or tries to double it).

So, if your gains are set correctly, using bass boost will push your amplifier into clipping at the bass boost frequency.

+3 dB = 2x power
+6 dB = 4x power
+9 dB = 8x power
+12 dB = 16x power
+15 dB = 32x power
+18 dB = 64x power

So, if you set your bass boost to +4 dB at say 50 Hz, the amplifier would try to push out 2.52 times more power @ 50 Hz than if it were off (And, since you'd have your gains set properly, you'd definitely get clippage) ...

are we talkin about sub boost from head unit or amp? because i have my alpine 9815's bass on plus 10, it goes up to plus 20... is that bad? i know it dosent sound as good, but its deffinately 10000000times louder, still soundin decent

[EarDrummin.]

are we talkin about sub boost from head unit or amp? because i have my alpine 9815's bass on plus 10, it goes up to plus 20... is that bad? i know it dosent sound as good, but its deffinately 10000000times louder, still soundin decent

Uh.. I'd have to say that isn't bass boost. I'm kind of thinking it's a smaller version of an equalizer.. or something of the sort. I could be wrong. I could be really wrong. But what if I'm right? Hell, I don't know. I'm right, I think.

[n0ftInc]

Uh.. I'd have to say that isn't bass boost. I'm kind of thinking it's a smaller version of an equalizer.. or something of the sort. I could be wrong. I could be really wrong. But what if I'm right? Hell, I don't know. I'm right, I think.

Sounds like a perfect explination to me..

[joshpoints]

Sounds like a perfect explination to me..

I don't know about that info. If I turn my bass boost to 0 I get little bass from my k's. If I turn the boost up I get better sounding bass that actually seems to be more accurate. I'm pretty sure that if I raised my gain up (with the bass boost at 0) I wouldn't hear as much bass but I would hear distortion. I'll have to test it and let you know my results. By the way, would good guys have one of those machines that can test for a clipped signal so that you don't have to worry about it? I want to find a place that has one. I don't remember what it is called but someone was talking about it on here.

[joshpoints]

Bass boost increases clipping ...

Basically, when you set bass boost to +3 dB, it DOUBLES the power at frequency X (or tries to double it).

So, if your gains are set correctly, using bass boost will push your amplifier into clipping at the bass boost frequency.

+3 dB = 2x power
+6 dB = 4x power
+9 dB = 8x power
+12 dB = 16x power
+15 dB = 32x power
+18 dB = 64x power

So, if you set your bass boost to +4 dB at say 50 Hz, the amplifier would try to push out 2.52 times more power @ 50 Hz than if it were off (And, since you'd have your gains set properly, you'd definitely get clippage) ...

My bass boost doesn't have a frequency dial. Does that mean it has a built in preset frequency for it to kick in?

[joshpoints]

I don't know about that info. If I turn my bass boost to 0 I get little bass from my k's. If I turn the boost up I get better sounding bass that actually seems to be more accurate. I'm pretty sure that if I raised my gain up (with the bass boost at 0) I wouldn't hear as much bass but I would hear distortion. I'll have to test it and let you know my results. By the way, would good guys have one of those machines that can test for a clipped signal so that you don't have to worry about it? I want to find a place that has one. I don't remember what it is called but someone was talking about it on here.

Well I turned the bass boost to zero. I turned the gain up and the bass started to get somewhat loud, I heard distortion. My setup sounded better when I had the gain turned down and you the bass boost dial to get more bass out of the subs. I believe the bass boost dial is a good thing if you don't abuse it.

[Wonderbread]

bass boost on your amp IS a one band (usually fixed) equalizer... most of htem are at 40 or 45 hz I believe. You are just boosting those frequencies. by cranking it too high, you can cause clipping to occur, just like any EQ... set your gains and your HU's EQ properly, and don;t mess with the boost... IMO

[Musto]

bass boost on your amp IS a one band (usually fixed) equalizer... most of htem are at 40 or 45 hz I believe. You are just boosting those frequencies. by cranking it too high, you can cause clipping to occur, just like any EQ... set your gains and your HU's EQ properly, and don;t mess with the boost... IMO

werd holmes.

[BumpinDoug]

Ill tell it like it is from experience. My bass boost fried my 13W7. Eveidently it was turned up all the way since the time it was installed, and one and a half months later it blew out. Im doin all my installing on my own from now on....

[Bavarian3]

Also from Jmacs explanation it seems as if it would push the amp very hard as well since its trying to put out 2x the power and so forth

[Wonderbread]

eh, not quite, but sorta
it just boosts teh signal AFTEr the amplification (if I have this correct)...

[joshpoints]

Like I said, when I put my bass boost to 0 and turned my gain up to get more responsive and louder bass, it just got less accurate and increased the distortion. But when I turned on bass boost, can range from 0-18 db, I have it around 6db I believe and turn the gain down, the bass is louder more accurate and more responsive. I'll let you know if my subs last. Do any of you know if circuit city, good guys or best buy have those machines that can check for a clipped signal? SOmeone was talking about this a while ago on some thread, but I can remember what the tool is called.