Possible ways to equalize my Hi-Fi?

[admin_exported]

Hello!

Long time since my last thread, I'm still happy with my system.

However, there has always been a problem with some bass notes blasting my face off!

This has come more to my attention since I bought the new album by Massive Attack - Heligoland. There is a track called 'Paradise Circus', I love this track. There are four bass notes in the bassline, and the second lowest note booms like crazy, all the other bass notes are clear and clean. It really is a major annoyance. My sub is set to gently support below 40Hz, and has nothing to do with this problem.

SO, how can I equalize my system? A software solution would be preferred to 'another box', though anything considered. I have done a fair bit of googling but haven't found anything of use.

Also my speakers are about 30cm away from the rear wall, I can't move them out any more.

Thanks.

 

[plastic penguin]

How far from the wall are the speakers?

Anytime I hear of boomy or bass-heavy sound it usually involves Nad. This is the reason why I didn't buy the 352, it was too overbearing. Fabulous amps but need careful set-up, as you probably know.

Otherwise, look at cables. I found they mad a fairly hefty difference to my system.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi PP, thanks for your response.

My speakers are 30cm away from the rear wall. It doesn't sound too bass heavy to me, it's just that spike in the bass frequency range that really interferes with the room.

I have tried different cables and hasn't made ANY difference. I am not a 'believer' in cables so much, (good quality is quality).

This problem needs proper equalization IMHO.

 

[millerman]

I cant offer any meaningful advice on the kit but are you sure its not your room?

I had a similar problem with my kit in that the bass was just bouncing round the room. I have a hard room in that it is a wooden suspended floor with little in the line of soft furnishings. I tried all sorts of things including rugs, curtains, speaker position etc.

I found the solution by placing blue tack underneath the granite mats my speakers stand on. i.e seperating the speakers from the floor. There is still some reverb but hardly noticable and I hear bass notes as they should be, clear and smooth.

regards

 

[Anonymous]

if this only happens with 1 track on 1 cd, don't be too concerned, however if this is common with several cd's:

dump the sub ... it may be controversial, but I don't believe in adding a sub to a normal hifi system

if you still have bass problems, reposition your speakers (know you said that you are limited with space) ... if not possible, get other speakers that will suit

 

[chebby]

What happens when you use the bass control on the C325BEE to ease it down a bit ?

 

[Anonymous]

OK.

Now all this advice, while appreciated, is useless to me.

How can I equalize my system properly?

Threre is a spike in the bass range, I need it gone.

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:
What happens when you use the bass control on the C325BEE to ease it down a bit ?

I get less bass overall, the problem persists.

 

[Anonymous]

People, my system doesn't need 'less bass', it needs equalizing.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Pmaninit:

People, my system doesn't need 'less bass', it needs equalizing.

Thanks

do yourself a favour .... move the speakers away further from the back wall (temporarily) ... listen to the track on the cd that gives the most problems, then post back here and tell us if you have an improvement?

 

[matengawhat]

ok if you turn the sub off does the issue go away - if so we know what we are dealing with sub or speakers

think it prob is the sub and they are very picky about placement so what i would say is play that track and move around the room and see if you can find a spot in the room where it disapears if so your sub is just in the wrong place

in my setup if i move 2m to the left of my listening spot i get a large bass boost and it swaps all of the other signals and sounds a mess - not an issue as thats not where i sit but it is there and if that was in my normal seated position I would need to move my sub/alter settings

 

[chebby]

Pmaninit:
People, my system doesn't need 'less bass', it needs equalizing.

Then get a graphic equaliser.

Just checked on the Canford website and DV247 and there are heaps of them from Behringer at £100 up to Klark Technik for over a grand.

ITunes (if you use that) has an equaliser.

 

[Craig M.]

i used to have the exact same problem with my dyn focus110's, sounded fine with everything except one song where a particular bass note would resonate and boom like crazy. it's likely caused by the specific interaction between your speakers and room and the only way forward is, imo, to change speakers. i managed to calm it down by careful speaker placement and toeing in to face me, but never got rid of it until i changed to sealed box speakers. probably your speakers port is chiming in at a frequency that is at odds with your room. you could try some sort of graphic equaliser but i feel this wouldn't be completely successful, or you could measure the room and try to get room treatment for your rooms resonant frequency, but this would involve a lot of expense/huge bass traps and still might not cure it.

 

[Anonymous]

Just listened to the track, doesn't sound like there's any sub-bass on it that could be setting stuff off. But I'm not listening on a big system.

Are any of the notes giving the effect more than others. The bass line runs F, Ab, C, Eb with the lowest note being the Ab. That means that they're all above 40Hz through to around 80Hz.

Problems in that area are usually room-related in my experience. It's possible that you're just hitting a room node and this is boosting at that particular frequency. If the bass level on the track is boosted on the recording, this is what's happening IMHO.

Do you have any other tracks that set it off? The bass on the rest of the album sounds around this general level.

The only way to effectively equalise is to put a parametric equalizer in to drop the levels of the problem region or to play with the positioning of the speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

1. The sub on or off makes no difference to anything above 40Hz. Yes the problem persists with the sub off.

2. I cannot move my speakers any further forward due to other furniture in the room, 30cm is the maximum.

3. Yes I use iTunes, though the equalizer is very basic and crude. I was hoping for a plugin for iTunes of a much more sophisticated equalizer.

4. Cool, I will check out the qraphic equalizers. Failing a proper software alternative, I would hope for an automated system such as the BK Electronics equalizer for sub woofers which equalizes automatically for your room, (but for a hi-fi).

5. Attenuators will make things quieter, not solve the bass 'spike'.

Thanks

 

[batonwielder]

Pmaninit:
People, my system doesn't need 'less bass', it needs equalizing.

Thanks

So you know what to do, then.

 

[Anonymous]

Pmaninit:
1. The sub on or off makes no difference to anything above 40Hz. Yes the problem persists with the sub off.

2. I cannot move my speakers any further forward due to other furniture in the room, 30cm is the maximum.

3. Yes I use iTunes, though the equalizer is very basic and crude. I was hoping for a plugin for iTunes of a much more sophisticated equalizer.

4. Cool, I will check out the qraphic equalizers. Failing a proper software alternative, I would hope for an automated system such as the BK Electronics equalizer for sub woofers which equalizes automatically for your room, (but for a hi-fi).

5. Attenuators will make things quieter, not solve the bass 'spike'.

Thanks

The other thing to do is walk around the room while the track is playing. If the bass level rises and falls, then it's the room. A slight adjustment in your seating position may solve it, if it's possible.

You could just happen to be sitting in a position that is right in the node, which will make the problem worse.

 

[Anonymous]

Gary Mardell:Just listened to the track, doesn't sound like there's any sub-bass on it that could be setting stuff off. But I'm not listening on a big system.Are any of the notes giving the effect more than others. The bass line runs F, Ab, C, Eb with the lowest note being the Ab. That means that they're all above 40Hz through to around 80Hz.Problems in that area are usually room-related in my experience. It's possible that you're just hitting a room node and this is boosting at that particular frequency. If the bass level on the track is boosted on the recording, this is what's happening IMHO.Do you have any other tracks that set it off? The bass on the rest of the album sounds around this general level.The only way to effectively equalise is to put a parametric equalizer in to drop the levels of the problem region or to play with the positioning of the speakers.

Hi Gary, I don't know the note, but it is the second lowest bass note. Frequencies in very close proximity to this are the problem, in all songs.

I chose to mention this track as it is very apparent, and has a simple bass line so that people here can know what frequency I am talking about, to help with advice.

Also, what is a parametric equalizer?

Thanks

 

[True Blue]

Its all to do with room acoustics, nodes, antinodes, acoustic resonance and harmonics.

Since you seem to want to keep your equipment and the room it is in. You need to alter the position of the speaker so that the bass note you are talking about does not resonate with the room acoustics therefore increasing its amplitude.

If you can try bunging the ports on the speakers. Moving the speakers or decoupling them from the sub floor using a granite slab, speaker spike cups and spikes.

Or move

 

[Anonymous]

move the furniture temporaily ... move the speakers and see if there is a difference ... without doing that, we cannot determine the exact problem!

30cm away from the back wall sounds way too close to me ... and sounds like your listening room is 'cluttered' ... if you cannot move the speakers a bit more forward due to furniture being way too close to the speakers, I think your room is the problem and not your hifi

 

[Anonymous]

The boom may be at the frequency of the port tuning, a common culprit for lumpiness with ported designs. Try bunging them with foam inserts or socks to see what effect it has. You could try part bunging, initially by varying how hard you stuff the port with a sock. This will help you to understand where the problem lies. If this is where the root cause lies then you need to experiment with bunging to see if you can get the sound right.

 

[matengawhat]

common house hold drinking straws are a good way to experiment with bass port tuning

 

[Anonymous]

OK, so you're getting the effect on all songs. Then it's the room.

I'm not sure if I can find a calculator on my PC, but I'm sure there'll be one online somewhere.

It's the C, so around 70Hz, give or take.

A parametric equaliser allows you to choose a frequency point around which you cut, or boost. Cutting is the best thing to do. It will also allow you to choose the width of frequencies across whihc you apply the cut, and finally, by how much you cut it.

Try the walking around trick. There might be a simpler solution than getting into room correction.

EDIT: Ohh, just found a calculator. What's the Height, Width, and Depth of your room?

 

[Anonymous]

Gary Mardell:OK, so you're getting the effect on all songs. Then it's the room. I'm not sure if I can find a calculator on my PC, but I'm sure there'll be one online somewhere. It's the C, so around 70Hz, give or take. A parametric equaliser allows you to choose a frequency point around which you cut, or boost. Cutting is the best thing to do. It will also allow you to choose the width of frequencies across whihc you apply the cut, and finally, by how much you cut it. Try the walking around trick. There might be a simpler solution than getting into room correction. EDIT: Ohh, just found a calculator. What's the Height, Width, and Depth of your room?

speaker placement calculator ... to be used a guideline

 

[Anonymous]

I'm quite surprised.

Are there no proper systems for properly equalizing a high fidelity playback system?

Obviously many of our listening rooms are less than perfect acoustically. So do people just resort to buying bass shy components? Crazyness.

I have experimented with bunging the speaker ports a lot. I had them bunged for a few months, just to get rid of that spike, but what it actually did was reduce most all bass frequencies. Then one day I took them out and realized what I had done. That is, miss out on good clean bass for ages, just because of the spike in the bass, and as I am happy with everything about the sound apart from that notes interaction with the room, I want to solve it.

There must be something, apart from buy a graphic equalizer that I'll have to find space for, configure myself, and potentially ruin the sound anyway.