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10 big bass secrets
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<blockquote data-quote="dragon.breath" data-source="post: 8103434" data-attributes="member: 582656"><p><a href="http:////forums/usertag.php?do=list&amp;action=hash&amp;hash=2" target="_blank">#2</a> . USING DAMPING MATERIAL</p><p></p><p>(POLYESTER / WOOL / FIBERGLASS)</p><p></p><p>What is this polyester (or other) filling and what is it</p><p></p><p>supposed to do? Why have I seen it in Professionally</p><p></p><p>built enclosures? Can it really make my subwoofer</p><p></p><p>enclosure effectively bigger?</p><p></p><p>Polyester fill comes from the arts and crafts and pillow</p><p></p><p>manufacturing world. It is used to make stuffed dolls</p><p></p><p>and fake snow. It is claimed to effectively make a</p><p></p><p>speaker enclosure seem up to about 30% larger. It will</p><p></p><p>supposedly take a system with a high q (above .7) and</p><p></p><p>reduce it. This is exactly what would happen if you</p><p></p><p>made the enclosure bigger. So, add polyester fill and</p><p></p><p>reduce Q, and similarly, add enclosure volume and</p><p></p><p>reduce Q. Additionally, this fill can reduce in box</p><p></p><p>reflections and make your sub sytem sound cleaner.</p><p></p><p>Guess what people? As it turns out, what we once</p><p></p><p>thought was a great way to effectively increase box</p><p></p><p>size, is really A GREAT WAY TO EFFECTIVELY DECREASE</p><p></p><p>WOOFER SIZE!!! What this fill is actually doing is taking</p><p></p><p>our boomy box response and flattening it. Our low</p><p></p><p>bass output is already reduced because the box is too</p><p></p><p>small. We add some fill, and boom, now we've also</p><p></p><p>reduced our upper bass to make it flat. We have now</p><p></p><p>reduced our woofers total output potential by several</p><p></p><p>db's!!! The exact same effect as using a smaller</p><p></p><p>woofer!!!</p><p></p><p>Secret:</p><p></p><p>Don't add fill to your enclosure because its too small.</p><p></p><p>Save the expense of a bigger amplifier, fill, and the</p><p></p><p>price of that large woofer. Buy a woofer one size down</p><p></p><p>and give it the space it deserves. This will make for a</p><p></p><p>happy woofer, a less complicated build and be less</p><p></p><p>expensive. Additionally, if you are concerned about</p><p></p><p>reflections, do what I do. Grab yourself a new or used</p><p></p><p>piece of convoluted egg-crate style foam mattress pad.</p><p></p><p>Apply it on three inside walls with spray glue, so that</p><p></p><p>no two facing walls are uncovered. Throw a few staples</p><p></p><p>in the edges. This is the perfect way to add a little extra</p><p></p><p>accuracy to your subwoofer system.</p><p></p><p><a href="http:////forums/usertag.php?do=list&amp;action=hash&amp;hash=1" target="_blank">#1</a> . SYSTEM MAINTAINENCE / LISTENING</p><p></p><p>Your subwoofer system, if properly maintained, can</p><p></p><p>last many years. This chapter Shows you ways to keep</p><p></p><p>your system in tip-top shape.</p><p></p><p>Audio equipment always has a desired operating</p><p></p><p>temperature range. You can usually find specifics in</p><p></p><p>your products owners manual. Typically, a car amp will</p><p></p><p>work in temperatures below freezing, and up to 125</p><p></p><p>degrees plus. A car amplifier will have protection</p><p></p><p>against overheating by way of a thermally activated</p><p></p><p>internal switch attached to its aluminum case. An overdriven</p><p></p><p>or underfed amplifier will overheat easily. Keep</p><p></p><p>your amps cool and unobstructed.</p><p></p><p>Your woofers doubtfully have any such protection.</p><p></p><p>This means you might overheat your woofers and</p><p></p><p>cause them to fail without warning.</p><p></p><p>What causes woofers to fail? Well, not just heat, but</p><p></p><p>cold too. A subwoofer with a synthetic rubber surround</p><p></p><p>can fail in extreme cold. Below 32 degrees, the soft</p><p></p><p>rubber surround on your woofer will turn hard like</p><p></p><p>plastic, and when driven with enough power, will</p><p></p><p>crack into pieces. This is also true with foam</p><p></p><p>surrounds. Treated cloth surrounds, although rare in</p><p></p><p>car audio are less affected by temperatures.</p><p></p><p>Secret:</p><p></p><p>Turn the volume up gradually, over several minutes in</p><p></p><p>cold weather. All of your equipment will thank you and</p><p></p><p>your woofer surrounds will have time to heat and</p><p></p><p>soften by way of internal friction.</p><p></p><p>Check connections.</p><p></p><p>As you drive, any number of connections can vibrate</p><p></p><p>loose. It is a good idea to go over your system checking</p><p></p><p>for this every once in a while. A bad connection can</p><p></p><p>cause low voltage, amp failure, burnt and melted fuseholders</p><p></p><p>and more.</p><p></p><p>Check your battery.</p><p></p><p>A bad battery can cause fouled battery terminals. This</p><p></p><p>corrosion, if left to spread can get in between your</p><p></p><p>battery terminals and your battery posts causing a bad</p><p></p><p>connection. Keep these connections clean with a</p><p></p><p>solution of water mixed with baking soda and cover</p><p></p><p>connections with a corrosion preventing spray</p><p></p><p>available at your neighborhood auto parts store. If</p><p></p><p>corrosion is a persistent issue, replace your battery,</p><p></p><p>maybe even with a sealed, maintenance free model.</p><p></p><p>Check for corrosion on your amp terminals and wires.</p><p></p><p>If you find white/green dust on any of your</p><p></p><p>connections, you have corrosion. This corrosion can</p><p></p><p>creep its way through an entire length of power cable</p><p></p><p>reducing its effective ability to supply current. This is</p><p></p><p>usually caused by wet carpet, cheap cables or a bad</p><p></p><p>connection.</p><p></p><p>Treat your system right.</p><p></p><p>This is important advice. Heat kills subwoofers. Heat</p><p></p><p>rises with time. This means, you can play your system</p><p></p><p>quite loud for a short burst without harming it</p><p></p><p>electrically, but if you play your system for extended</p><p></p><p>periods of time, heat rises, and glue starts to burn and</p><p></p><p>melt. These adhesives hold your woofers parts</p><p></p><p>together, specifically the voice coil wire. If this long,</p><p></p><p>thin, spun coil of metal falls apart, your subwoofer has</p><p></p><p>failed. It is now blown. This means, take a break every</p><p></p><p>few minutes of loud playing. Give your system a</p><p></p><p>chance to cool down. Keep in mind, your subwoofer is</p><p></p><p>not only an electrical device but also a mechanical one.</p><p></p><p>This means overpowering can not only cause it to</p><p></p><p>blow, but also to rip apart at any number of places.</p><p></p><p>Most typically, the voice coil will smack the back plate</p><p></p><p>and destroy it. Also, the woofer cone may come</p><p></p><p>detached from the voice coil former and often times,</p><p></p><p>the spider will rip apart from the coil, cone apex. Be</p><p></p><p>aware of noises coming from your subwoofer system</p><p></p><p>other than bass!!!</p><p></p><p>This brings me to the best maintenance tip.</p><p></p><p>Effective listening.</p><p></p><p>This means listening to music and distortion. We all</p><p></p><p>know what music is, although your parents probably</p><p></p><p>would argue your views. But lets explore distortion,</p><p></p><p>what it is and how to hear it. This sounds a bit ludicrous</p><p></p><p>but the truth is, there are several types of distortion.</p><p></p><p>You may not even know your system is distorting</p><p></p><p>because of your limited understanding of the</p><p></p><p>definition of distortion. Distortion in music is defined</p><p></p><p>as sound reproduced with flaws. This could be a</p><p></p><p>tonality difference. This could be a change in</p><p></p><p>dynamics. This could also be a change in harmonics.</p><p></p><p>Distortion as you probably know it is the harmonic</p><p></p><p>type. This is a great sign of a subwoofer system under</p><p></p><p>stress but before this becomes apparent, there is</p><p></p><p>another clue. As mentioned before, a change in</p><p></p><p>dynamics is distortion. Listen at low volumes and</p><p></p><p>notice the volume difference between loud and soft</p><p></p><p>notes. When you push your system to its limits, this</p><p></p><p>ratio will change and soft bass will become similarly</p><p></p><p>loud as the loud notes. This is a sign of compression.</p><p></p><p>The same effect they use on studio vocals so you can</p><p></p><p>hear every detail. You too, are trying to hear every bass</p><p></p><p>detail but you are stressing your system pushing it to</p><p></p><p>failure. No amp likes to clip, and no woofer likes</p><p></p><p>compression. This compression causes a lot of heat.</p><p></p><p>Heat kills Speakers.</p><p></p><p>Tonality Distortion.</p><p></p><p>Your favorite CD was created with a specific tonality in</p><p></p><p>mind. This sound is the vision of the artists and</p><p></p><p>recording engineers. Your goal is to play back this</p><p></p><p>recording as they intended it to sound. This is part of</p><p></p><p>their artistry, just like the notes they strum on their</p><p></p><p>guitars. Of course you are free to adjust the tonality as</p><p></p><p>you wish with your EQ, but in reality this is distortion.</p><p></p><p>Although nearly impossible, especially in a car,</p><p></p><p>recreating the recording as it was intended to be heard</p><p></p><p>is a beautiful thing.</p><p></p><p>Harmonic distortion.</p><p></p><p>This is the best and the worst distortion at the same</p><p></p><p>time. Have you ever heard of Vacuum Tubes? These are</p><p></p><p>classic amplification devices that when over-driven,</p><p></p><p>add desirable harmonics to your sound.</p><p></p><p>On the contrary, not all harmonics are desirable. The</p><p></p><p>harmonics created by a clipping amplifier or woofer</p><p></p><p>cone break-up. This hard to listen to. The best way to</p><p></p><p>keep undesirable harmonics from your system, is to</p><p></p><p>overbuild your system, with great quality products.</p><p></p><p>You will hear this distortion as an addition to the</p><p></p><p>sound you already hearing. If your speakers start to</p><p></p><p>make ugly additions to your music, you are most likely</p><p></p><p>experiencing harmonic distortion and this is a good</p><p></p><p>sign to turn the volume down.</p><p></p><p>System detailing.</p><p></p><p>To keep your system beautiful and ready for showing,</p><p></p><p>you'll want to follow your manufacturers suggestions</p><p></p><p>for cleaning. Of course never use harsh or abrasive</p><p></p><p>cleaners. Because this is a book of "secrets", I'll give</p><p></p><p>you a personal secret I don't share.</p><p></p><p>I use furniture polish in the yellow spray can to make</p><p></p><p>my plastic cone and rubber surround woofers shine</p><p></p><p>beautifully. Its not as greasy and shiny as dash spray.</p><p></p><p>Looks perfect, is supposed to have anti-dust properties</p><p></p><p>plus it smells lemon fresh, my favorite flavor. Check</p><p></p><p>with your woofer manufacturer to see if this would</p><p></p><p>void your warranty. Never use paper towels on your</p><p></p><p>equipment because they leave paper behind especially</p><p></p><p>on rough woofer cones. Some rough paper woofer</p><p></p><p>cones are especially hard to clean. I've found what</p><p></p><p>works best is a small hand towel dusting.</p><p></p><p>Keep some cotton swabs and microfiber cloths handy</p><p></p><p>to detail your amps. I have never used more than a nice</p><p></p><p>cloth to clean my amps. If you do this often and treat</p><p></p><p>them right you will never have to use a cleaner.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dragon.breath, post: 8103434, member: 582656"] [URL="http:////forums/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=2"]#2[/URL] . USING DAMPING MATERIAL (POLYESTER / WOOL / FIBERGLASS) What is this polyester (or other) filling and what is it supposed to do? Why have I seen it in Professionally built enclosures? Can it really make my subwoofer enclosure effectively bigger? Polyester fill comes from the arts and crafts and pillow manufacturing world. It is used to make stuffed dolls and fake snow. It is claimed to effectively make a speaker enclosure seem up to about 30% larger. It will supposedly take a system with a high q (above .7) and reduce it. This is exactly what would happen if you made the enclosure bigger. So, add polyester fill and reduce Q, and similarly, add enclosure volume and reduce Q. Additionally, this fill can reduce in box reflections and make your sub sytem sound cleaner. Guess what people? As it turns out, what we once thought was a great way to effectively increase box size, is really A GREAT WAY TO EFFECTIVELY DECREASE WOOFER SIZE!!! What this fill is actually doing is taking our boomy box response and flattening it. Our low bass output is already reduced because the box is too small. We add some fill, and boom, now we've also reduced our upper bass to make it flat. We have now reduced our woofers total output potential by several db's!!! The exact same effect as using a smaller woofer!!! Secret: Don't add fill to your enclosure because its too small. Save the expense of a bigger amplifier, fill, and the price of that large woofer. Buy a woofer one size down and give it the space it deserves. This will make for a happy woofer, a less complicated build and be less expensive. Additionally, if you are concerned about reflections, do what I do. Grab yourself a new or used piece of convoluted egg-crate style foam mattress pad. Apply it on three inside walls with spray glue, so that no two facing walls are uncovered. Throw a few staples in the edges. This is the perfect way to add a little extra accuracy to your subwoofer system. [URL="http:////forums/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1"]#1[/URL] . SYSTEM MAINTAINENCE / LISTENING Your subwoofer system, if properly maintained, can last many years. This chapter Shows you ways to keep your system in tip-top shape. Audio equipment always has a desired operating temperature range. You can usually find specifics in your products owners manual. Typically, a car amp will work in temperatures below freezing, and up to 125 degrees plus. A car amplifier will have protection against overheating by way of a thermally activated internal switch attached to its aluminum case. An overdriven or underfed amplifier will overheat easily. Keep your amps cool and unobstructed. Your woofers doubtfully have any such protection. This means you might overheat your woofers and cause them to fail without warning. What causes woofers to fail? Well, not just heat, but cold too. A subwoofer with a synthetic rubber surround can fail in extreme cold. Below 32 degrees, the soft rubber surround on your woofer will turn hard like plastic, and when driven with enough power, will crack into pieces. This is also true with foam surrounds. Treated cloth surrounds, although rare in car audio are less affected by temperatures. Secret: Turn the volume up gradually, over several minutes in cold weather. All of your equipment will thank you and your woofer surrounds will have time to heat and soften by way of internal friction. Check connections. As you drive, any number of connections can vibrate loose. It is a good idea to go over your system checking for this every once in a while. A bad connection can cause low voltage, amp failure, burnt and melted fuseholders and more. Check your battery. A bad battery can cause fouled battery terminals. This corrosion, if left to spread can get in between your battery terminals and your battery posts causing a bad connection. Keep these connections clean with a solution of water mixed with baking soda and cover connections with a corrosion preventing spray available at your neighborhood auto parts store. If corrosion is a persistent issue, replace your battery, maybe even with a sealed, maintenance free model. Check for corrosion on your amp terminals and wires. If you find white/green dust on any of your connections, you have corrosion. This corrosion can creep its way through an entire length of power cable reducing its effective ability to supply current. This is usually caused by wet carpet, cheap cables or a bad connection. Treat your system right. This is important advice. Heat kills subwoofers. Heat rises with time. This means, you can play your system quite loud for a short burst without harming it electrically, but if you play your system for extended periods of time, heat rises, and glue starts to burn and melt. These adhesives hold your woofers parts together, specifically the voice coil wire. If this long, thin, spun coil of metal falls apart, your subwoofer has failed. It is now blown. This means, take a break every few minutes of loud playing. Give your system a chance to cool down. Keep in mind, your subwoofer is not only an electrical device but also a mechanical one. This means overpowering can not only cause it to blow, but also to rip apart at any number of places. Most typically, the voice coil will smack the back plate and destroy it. Also, the woofer cone may come detached from the voice coil former and often times, the spider will rip apart from the coil, cone apex. Be aware of noises coming from your subwoofer system other than bass!!! This brings me to the best maintenance tip. Effective listening. This means listening to music and distortion. We all know what music is, although your parents probably would argue your views. But lets explore distortion, what it is and how to hear it. This sounds a bit ludicrous but the truth is, there are several types of distortion. You may not even know your system is distorting because of your limited understanding of the definition of distortion. Distortion in music is defined as sound reproduced with flaws. This could be a tonality difference. This could be a change in dynamics. This could also be a change in harmonics. Distortion as you probably know it is the harmonic type. This is a great sign of a subwoofer system under stress but before this becomes apparent, there is another clue. As mentioned before, a change in dynamics is distortion. Listen at low volumes and notice the volume difference between loud and soft notes. When you push your system to its limits, this ratio will change and soft bass will become similarly loud as the loud notes. This is a sign of compression. The same effect they use on studio vocals so you can hear every detail. You too, are trying to hear every bass detail but you are stressing your system pushing it to failure. No amp likes to clip, and no woofer likes compression. This compression causes a lot of heat. Heat kills Speakers. Tonality Distortion. Your favorite CD was created with a specific tonality in mind. This sound is the vision of the artists and recording engineers. Your goal is to play back this recording as they intended it to sound. This is part of their artistry, just like the notes they strum on their guitars. Of course you are free to adjust the tonality as you wish with your EQ, but in reality this is distortion. Although nearly impossible, especially in a car, recreating the recording as it was intended to be heard is a beautiful thing. Harmonic distortion. This is the best and the worst distortion at the same time. Have you ever heard of Vacuum Tubes? These are classic amplification devices that when over-driven, add desirable harmonics to your sound. On the contrary, not all harmonics are desirable. The harmonics created by a clipping amplifier or woofer cone break-up. This hard to listen to. The best way to keep undesirable harmonics from your system, is to overbuild your system, with great quality products. You will hear this distortion as an addition to the sound you already hearing. If your speakers start to make ugly additions to your music, you are most likely experiencing harmonic distortion and this is a good sign to turn the volume down. System detailing. To keep your system beautiful and ready for showing, you'll want to follow your manufacturers suggestions for cleaning. Of course never use harsh or abrasive cleaners. Because this is a book of "secrets", I'll give you a personal secret I don't share. I use furniture polish in the yellow spray can to make my plastic cone and rubber surround woofers shine beautifully. Its not as greasy and shiny as dash spray. Looks perfect, is supposed to have anti-dust properties plus it smells lemon fresh, my favorite flavor. Check with your woofer manufacturer to see if this would void your warranty. Never use paper towels on your equipment because they leave paper behind especially on rough woofer cones. Some rough paper woofer cones are especially hard to clean. I've found what works best is a small hand towel dusting. Keep some cotton swabs and microfiber cloths handy to detail your amps. I have never used more than a nice cloth to clean my amps. If you do this often and treat them right you will never have to use a cleaner. [/QUOTE]
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