Frequency Question

[Jonahdude 10+ year member]

I'm thinking about getting some 8" MTX Terminators, but the spec sheet says they can only play from 41hz-3khz. What happens when a song has a bass note lower than that? Would I be better off getting something that can play deeper?

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[brandontw 10+ year member]

yes they will self destcruct if the note is to low, it nice to have something that plays at least down to 30, just in case your listening to sine waves without a subsonic filter, or lil jon.

 

[Jonahdude 10+ year member]

So if I have a subsonic filter set at 41hz, a bass note lower than that won't play at all? So if I was listening to Lil' Jon, the bass line would basically be nonexistant? Is that how it works?

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

yup, unless the subsonic filter on yo amp is busted, but that would ****, and not all lil jon plays a 33 Hz. bass line, but its nice to hear it.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smokin.gif.f1dc8d2acb1809e863ebd6a47eaa0d45.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

So if I have a subsonic filter set at 41hz, a bass note lower than that won't play at all?

No, the subsonic filter attenuates the frequencies below it at a certain rate (expressed as decibels per octave, or db/oct).......it doesn't stop the frequencies like a brick wall. So, if you have subsonic filter set at 41hz and a slope of 12db/oct, at ~20hz the signal will be attenuated 12 decibels.

Also, you may be able to get them to play lower than 41hz. A single one of those subs would probably play down lower than that, but with very little output. But pack a bunch of them together and it may not be too bad. I dunno too much about those speakers to get to much more specific than that though.............

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

hmmm its a good thing we got someone whos not a complete idiot on here then thanks for correcting me:nono: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tomatoface.gif.6507032fedd1868ec0a6a447bb29a18a.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsdown.gif.d22f25895e9b40f2300c953691dacfa2.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif im stupid, i knew that to, but i just forgot. sorry

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

Published frequency response is pretty useless. We know nothing of how those specs were measured. Is it +/- 10dBs or +/- 3 dBs? In what application?

Basically, if you put one in a sealed box to specs, it wont play below 40hz with any authority, nothing wrong with trying to play lower, but it simply does not have enough displacement (ie it cant move enough air) to play low. If you ported a few and tuned low, they could easily play below 40hz with *some* authority

 

[Jonahdude 10+ year member]

So porting the boxes and tuning them low will allow them to play lower than a sealed box? Or will it just increase output at lower frequencies? Also, what frequency do most bass lines hit at (rough estimate)? I listen to alot of techno and rock, and sometimes rap if I just want to feel some boom. Give me an example of a song that plays below 40hz.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

So porting the boxes and tuning them low will allow them to play lower than a sealed box? Or will it just increase output at lower frequencies?

Well, sealed actually plays lower than ported, but the trade-off is output. Ported will have more output than sealed (down to the ported's tuning frequency). But, don't think that you can just pick up any sub and throw it in a ported box tuned to a nice low frequency..........some subs don't like to be in ported boxes, and some subs don't like to be ported very low.

Also, what frequency do most bass lines hit at (rough estimate)? I listen to alot of techno and rock, and sometimes rap if I just want to feel some boom. Give me an example of a song that plays below 40hz.

Most songs will say in the 40s or high 30s (other than test tones and those "test how low you can go" songs on bass CDs). One of Lil John's songs ("Get Low" I believe) is one of the lowest hitting rap songs with a low of 33hz.......but a majority of songs (most genres) will stay in the 40s or high very 30s.

 

[Jonahdude 10+ year member]

Alrighty, so I really don't need to worry about it not hitting low enough? Test tones aren't a big deal for me.