Help with boomy bass.

[CrankyElbow]

2 cubes at 32 hz should be fine for this subwoofer, unless you have flaws in the design or build. Are you sure you’re not actually lacking midbass? A 600 watts 12 paired with 15 watt 5.25 inch coaxials up front will likely sound boomy no matter what box your sub is in. Bass boosts an bad EQing can make it even worse. Unless your box is totally flawed in design or build, i would suspect you just don’t have a good enough front stage.

Great info here.
Front stage does *alot* to ensure the "boomy" (generally low-mid bass range, 80-200hz) tones are produced up front and by smaller/more responsive drivers. Being able to comfortably cross the subwoofer over at 60hz basically means it'll blend seamlessly with your front stage... but if you want lots of output up front into the 60hz range you are looking at 8" drivers - 6.5's may suffice, depends on what you are looking for.

You could try poly-filling the box, this can sometimes help dampen "boomy" internal resonance (think echoes in the box)... also if you are looking for more output and greater extension than a sealed box while retaining much of the "punchy" response of sealed - check out passive radiators. Earthquake makes an excellent passive radiator that will give you the ability to essentially build a small but low tuned ported box - something that becomes impossible with any decent amount of port area (more area = longer port... at some point you end up making a transmission line!). The small/low tuned enclosure resolves alot of issues. It would definitely make your setup more "musical" yet retain much of the output gained by going ported... after 20 years of building enclosures I've come to prefer the passive radiator over all other designs.

As long as you keep working toward your goal, you will achieve it.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

I reiterate my recommendations. That Skar "low budget" sub will peak low, be boomy and have tons of delay low tuned in the 30's especially in 2ft3 net. I modeled it up in several enclosures as I have exp with this exact sub and a little exp to draw on.
I advised a box that will not lose overall output, be punchy and peak where he probably wants it vs a sealed disaster that affects power handling and has a HUGE peak coinciding with cabin acoustics leaving him in cheap azz sub/poor enclosure limbo like seems to be the norm anymore. Hey... Lets recommend an upgrade or just flame the manufacturer once again instead of trying to work with his equipment. Could be Skar, signal... frontstage... jeez... ok. Read into the T/S parameters maybe model it and see for yourself. A 4th would be my choice. Low delay, peaking in the mid 40's, a sealed rolloff with a ratio chosen to blend and have musical lows.
I do sub enclosure designs, not chime in just to type.
He mentioned a Kicker prefab as a good target, I took that as no extreme lows, low delay and punchiness to be the target... a musical enclosure.
This forum has changed at times for the worse imo. The Thunderbowl has drawn new users and trolls with little direct exp in audio.
You seem to always seek drama and feel your on the high ground in any discussion, ok... throw out a sealed recommendation for that particular sub and own it.

Entering the debate while belittling the equipment as a way out is a troll post bud. Do you design?

Skar has a rep and history sure but a good designer can take some info (even inaccurate), fix it and completely turn it around. Exp counts bud.

Could be this or that... or something or not...

I gave solid info.

And a properly designed ported enclosure is more accurate and has an output benefit out the gate, in this case a higher order enclosure is in order.

I love giving advice.

In other words, you are speaking Formula 1 to a guy with a Sears go cart.
Thunderdome is Thunderdome. I wasn’t belittling the guy or his equipment, I was giving basic advice to someone with basic knowledge and a basic system.

I’m not an audio pro, but I know my way around speaker design and was doing it when personal computers didn’t even exist.

Giving pro advice to a novice is fun, but what are the odds he’s going to be able to follow it instead of getting discouraged and feel belittled?

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Start at the beginning OP. On that amp, flip the BASS EQ switch to 0db. On the LC2i make sure the dials on the top are adjusted using the songs you are having issues with until the bass sounds good to you. Continue on from there. Make sure your Head Unit's EQ is flat while making these adjustments. After the adjustments are made and IF it sounds good to you, go back and make fine adjustments in the head units EQ if needed.

 

[Mix Audio]

Please lurk more. This is the absolute opposite of true.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080416...ubwoofer-driver-guide/myths-about-subwoofers/

That was a lotta reading but quite interesting.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Tl/dr.

Well, I'm sure you know better than a guy with 7 loudspeaker related patents to his credit who has designed some of the most sought after drivers ever.

**** back off to the thunderdome, cretin, you have nothing to offer here.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

Well, I'm sure you know better than a guy with 7 loudspeaker related patents to his credit who has designed some of the most sought after drivers ever.

**** back off to the thunderdome, cretin, you have nothing to offer here.

With your expertise and patents under your belt, please explain my errors. Keep it simple.

Explain how a properly designed sealed box is going to be less accurate than ported.
Explain how an oversized ported box is going to be more accurate than a properly sized one.
Explain how your patents allow you to shirk physics and T/S parameters when designing a box.

This is not thunderdome. Post useful information that people can learn from. It’s why the OP posted a question: for help, and to learn.
And please list your patents. I am always interested in new things that changed very old technologies.

“Often times in car audio, ported boxes are not tuned low enough, or the volume is too large…” Interesting.

 

[YourNameHere 10+ year member]

@RobGMN GTFO, your an idiot that nobody likes.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

@RobGMN GTFO, your an idiot that nobody likes.

Leave it in Thunderdome. Your big contribution is telling someone a ring terminal on a wire will fix their system.

Ironic that you call me an idiot when you can’t even spell, however.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Explain how a properly designed sealed box is going to be less accurate than ported.

I posted a large FAQ writeup from a very well respected loudspeaker engineer that you were too lazy/illiterate/important to read which explains why your terms from the start are inaccurate and explains why these things you are trying to descibe happen. Take it or leave it, it wasn't posted for the benefit of people who are too dull witted to get through it and learn something.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

Leave it in Thunderdome. Your big contribution is telling someone a ring terminal on a wire will fix their system.

I posted a large FAQ writeup from a very well respected loudspeaker engineer that you were too lazy/illiterate/important to read which explains why your terms from the start are inaccurate and explains why these things you are trying to descibe happen. Take it or leave it, it wasn't posted for the benefit of people who are too dull witted to get through it and learn something.

A quote from that writeup supports what I said in my post. I included it for you. If you think what you shared includes false information, it is odd that you shared it.

Nothing in there says an incorrectly sized box will perform better.
Nothing in there says a ported box is more accurate than sealed.
Nothing in there says it is easier for a novice to get good performance from a tuned ported box than a sealed one.

I’m still genuinely interested in your speaker patents, assuming you are Thilo. If not, I will send him an email directly.

In the meantime, Eminince says this:
A sealed cabinet is considered a punchier, more accurate sound. Sealed cabinets are much easier to design and build than ported enclosures and are typically smaller in size. There is also much more room for error in design and construction because a small change to the internal volume doesn’t affect the lowest audible frequency significantly
There are some disadvantages to ported enclosures. Transient response is poor compared to a sealed enclosure. The result is decreased accuracy.

MTX says this:
Sealed enclosures reproduce the low frequencies more accurately than ported enclosures because the air inside the box acts like a shock absorber, allowing the subwoofer to move back and forth in more control. The sound waves are reproduced more accurately than with a ported enclosure but the subwoofers may require slightly more power

TruAudio says this:
Sealed enclosures are typically smaller and easier to build because there is no port to tune and the choice in woofer box really does matter to the sound. They also reproduce the low frequencies more accurately than ported enclosures do because the air inside of the box acts as a shock absorber, allowing the subwoofer to move back and forth with more control.

SVS says this: Sealed cabinet subwoofers are generally more accurate in frequency response and better at rendering instrumentals in a convincing way. These characteristics make the sealed subwoofer a natural choice for critical music applications and are typically described by enthusiasts as sounding tighter and more articulate or musical, with less perceived overhang.

But maybe Peerless has an entirely different take on the subject...

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

a punchier, more accurate

Thilo's writeup explains how these terms are not appropriate.

Sealed enclosures reproduce the low frequencies more accurately than ported enclosures because the air inside the box acts like a shock absorber, allowing the subwoofer to move back and forth in more control.

Written for the consumption of people who have no idea what any of that means.
Why do you suppose Tru copies half of the MTX writeup word for word?

The takeaway is that "accurate" and "boomy" are just words that are very subjective being used to try to describe Q alignment and possibly distortion or other non linearities. It goes on to explain that contrary to what these other mopes imply (that more air pressure in the box makes things """more accurate""") higher internal pressure in the box DECREASES damping and creates MORE ringing.

So yes, proper box size/tuning to fit the woofer in question is important, sealed is much more forgiving if you're off, and you are still a fool who should stick to shitposting in the Thunderdome.

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

Thilo's writeup explains how these terms are not appropriate.

Written for the consumption of people who have no idea what any of that means.
Why do you suppose Tru copies half of the MTX writeup word for word?

The takeaway is that "accurate" and "boomy" are just words that are very subjective being used to try to describe Q alignment and possibly distortion or other non linearities. It goes on to explain that contrary to what these other mopes imply (that more air pressure in the box makes things """more accurate""") higher internal pressure in the box DECREASES damping and creates MORE ringing.

So yes, proper box size/tuning to fit the woofer in question is important, sealed is much more forgiving if you're off, and you are still a fool who should stick to shitposting in the Thunderdome.

When I get a reply from Thilo, I will share here.

"Boomy" is a subjective term, yet he uses it to effect in his writeup. Perhaps he realized that the people reading his words knew what the word was describing? Like saying a speaker is "nasally" or "chesty" or "sizzly"?

"This peak is ill desired and is accountable to the proclaimed “boomy” sounding subwoofers which tend to lack clarity, good transit response and dynamics"

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

...and you are still a fool who should stick to shitposting in the Thunderdome.

Noooo man, no one wants him there either! Can he have his own section?

 

[YourNameHere 10+ year member]

Noooo man, no one wants him there either! Can he have his own section?

I just use the ignore button on him, works great. If we all just agree to not respond and ignore him he will leave eventually...unfortunately people like him come along about every 6 months or so.....they join, ask a car audio 101 question because they are confused and then the next week they are suddenly experts on everything

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

I just use the ignore button on him, works great. If we all just agree to not respond and ignore him he will leave eventually...unfortunately people like him come along about every 6 months or so.....they join, ask a car audio 101 question because they are confused and then the next week they are suddenly experts on everything

I asked a car Audio 501 question that none of the experts here could answer.
While checking to see if anyone ever answered, I saw a new post that was interesting, and am not afraid of debate.

You are an expert. Maybe answer my question.
Oh yeah, you are a snowflake who blocked me because I'm not the type who offers participation trophies to idiots.