Von Schweikert Audio
World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film
The physics of bass response are the same for the listener or the speaker when interchanged. That means that you can place one speaker where you wish to sit, then play the repeating bass line, and then walk around on the other side of the room where you want to place the speakers. When you find a neutral zone, where the bass is not too loud nor too soft, that’s where you place that particular speaker. Next, do the other side in the same manner. Make sure you use a variety of recordings, since it is possible to optimize the placement accidentally for only one frequency range!
TOO MUCH BASS OVERALL: If you have optimized the placement, yet find that the bass is too powerful due to a very small room and/or mandatory corner placement due to the nature of the furniture arrangement, you can “tune” the bass balance. If the entire bass range is too loud, purchase Dacron Polyfill from the local five and dime store or sewing shop. It is synthetic cotton in appearance and is used for pillow stuffing. Simply place a handful of the Dacron in each vent tube; this will lower the efficiency of the vent tuning. If the bass is still too loud overall, place another handful in each vent. If the low frequency range has come into proper balance, stop there.
If you have lost the deepest octave, you can push the Dacron into the enclosure instead of leaving it in the vent tube proper.
BASS RESPONSE TUNING FOR TUBE AMPLIFIERS: Since tube amplifiers have “air and liquidity” in the mid and treble ranges, many audiophiles use them. However, the saturation, back EMF, and transient response delays of all output transformers will cause sluggish bass response which can be heard when using any speaker that has response below 50Hz. The deep bass can be tightened considerably by the addition of several handfuls of Dacron in each vent, which is then pushed into the enclosure with a broomstick. The stuffing can be done gradually, but if the bass become ‘too’ tight, it is a simple matter to remove the excess Dacron by reaching in and pulling some of the Dacron back out. (It takes a small hand to fit into the vent tube). It is entirely possible to tighten the
Try using solid core wire on the woofer modules when using tube amplifiers if you are trying to tighten up the bass, since stranded wire will emphasize the bass fullness you are trying to equalize. However, using silver cables will also tighten the bass.
The best possible bass response is obtained from high current
LACK OF APPARENT BASS: In some rooms, especially those with ‘soft’ walls such as wallboard over studs, and open floor plans, it is possible to ‘lose’ bass response. Also, when sitting in a ‘null’, it is possible to perceive, incorrectly, that there is a loss of bass
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