Audiophiles please report!!

[<jaylee>]

At what freq. do bass notes and other notes begin to merge.

Here's the deal. All the systems I've had are lacking the midbass clarity and punchiness I desire. I want deep and punchy bass thru the spectrum.

Will using 1-12" cut at 80hz and 2-8" (all 3 in trunk) used as midbass from 80hz-140hz or so do the trick without sacrificing imaging.

To add the confusion, what freq. should my front mids (5-1/4") begin and cut off at? I don't want them to distort from too much low end but I also don't want to give up imaging.

I'm overwhelmed and baffled and may be overthinking the subject.

Can someone please clear this mess up for me???

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[mykeys 10+ year member]

For the first part on frequency seperation..I would actually cross over the 12s around 40-50hz then run the 8s 10hz above the 12s..because the crossover slope will mix the two so you won't be missing anything. anyway the 8s will from50-60hz to 150-200hz..I would mount these up front in the doors, in the dash, or floorboards wherever you can fit them and still maintain some form of imaging for a little up front bass. The 5 1/4s I would put into kick panels and again 10hz above the 8s because of crossover slope. 210 hz is plenty high for your 5 1/4s to run unless their freq. response only goes to 200hz then you are reaching its limits.. If you want to know question everything, I have and still do.. I enjoy it..I also enjoy sharing it when I can. You may try runnng this by Zane just to see if I missed anything or other opposing ideas.

Mike

 

[zane 10+ year member]

I would actually separate the frequencies a little farther than 10- simply to avoide cancelation and speaker distortion. Plus- there is always a slight overlay in sound where frequency can go up an down a little passed the cut off point. - Here in- nothing is perfect, not even the best crossover.

I personally like to keep the subs crossed over a little higher than 50 hz. Generally in SQ comps, I have found the best results between 60hz-72hz. Not much higher. I would try and start the 8's off arround 100-110 hz mabey a little higher- you allready have subs for the low end, let them handle the bass. The 8's would be for Midbass. The 5.25's I would begin at about 140-150hz, simply to avoid lower frequency distortion that the smaller speakers are not intended for.

It really does come down to personal preference a lot when tuning this way, everyone's ears are different- thus also is everyones interpritation of sound. There really is no wrong or right answer, there are simply tried and tested guidlines.

take it easy,

-zane

 

[<Tim>]

The reason that your mid bass is weak is because the lower frequenies are very over powering. What happens is low frequencies tend to resonant in the cabin of the car and create weird "air pockets" and other very complex waveforms.

But any way if you turn off your subs and set up the mid bass to a level thats seems good then you turn the subs back on and then the mid bass seems to disappear.

It is in the way the ear hears things. This type of problem can be fixed with proper tuning of crossovers and subs and speaker placement. But is mostly a trail and error thing. Adjust your system to the way you think it sounds best.