How does Bass Boost compare to Bass Level?

[mgcauctions09 10+ year member]

I set the gain as high as I could without seeing clipping with bass boost off. I was at 44.83 volts. I then raised the bass boost until I saw clipping and was able to get boost up to almost 3/4 before I saw anymore clipping. I backed it down to 1/2 for headroom to be safe. I did it on a variety of tones from 30hz -50hz with similar results.

 

[mgcauctions09 10+ year member]

Set gain, then set bass boost to your liking. I wouldn't go past half.

 

[bobmG8 10+ year member]

Forget the bass boost, if you are looking for crisp tight bass in your sound system adjust the gain and leave the bass boost at 0. The bass boost on most amps creates a muffled boomyness sound with little sound definition.

 

[Wingsfreak9 10+ year member]

Forget the bass boost, if you are looking for crisp tight bass in your sound system adjust the gain and leave the bass boost at 0. The bass boost on most amps creates a muffled boomyness sound with little sound definition.

^^this

 

[mgcauctions09 10+ year member]

It helped in my application. Not only does the bass sound deeper but I also gained .6 decibles with boost at half. Again, every setup is different.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

If your amp has the headroom to dial up the bass boost, it has the headroom to dial up the gain.

 

[mgcauctions09 10+ year member]

Apparently not, maxed out gain until clipping then I maxed out bass boost until clipping and rechecked the gain and still wasn't clipping.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Then you were doing something wrong. What you're suggesting is contrary to the basic function of an amp and physically impossible. How were you checking for clipping? What were you using for a signal?

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Then you were doing something wrong. What you're suggesting is contrary to the basic function of an amp and physically impossible. How were you checking for clipping? What were you using for a signal?

I suspect he is confusing 'bass boost' with a 'bass level' controller.

If you were to turn the boost down you could actually increase the gain on the amp without clipping it and get more output across the amp's entire frequency range.

The above statement is the fundamental key to understanding bass boost, its fatal flaw, and how its different than a bass level controller (gain attenuator).

 

[mgcauctions09 10+ year member]

Sounds better with bass booston in my application. Not clipping so I'll keep bass boost at half. I love it.