I bought the speakers online, so I haven't had a chance to listen to the sound. The speakers have a frequency range of 25-22,000 Hz, which is why I was interested, but unfortunately, the bass sounds "boxy," while the midrange and highs are very good. Speakers are not new and actually a little old - HIFI SUMMIT SAX 888. I'm a bit of a novice and don't know much about technical matters. I'm curious if it's possible to improve somehow the bass sound? My other speakers had a softer, more pleasant bass, although the frequency range was "only" 40-20,000 Hz, and they had a slightly poorer upper range. The room, speaker setup, and amplifier are the same - "Yamaha." I like a deep, soft bass sound, so I changed the speakers, hoping that this frequency range 25-22000 do the job, but unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with them. Could you please advise me on how and if I can improve the bass sound?
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Speakers bass sound improvement
- Thread starter Jerzyc
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staticV3
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Hi @Jerzyc! Welcome to ASR.
The frequency range numbers are next to useless and you should never base a purchase on them.
The cheapest way to improve bass response would be to buy a measurement microphone like the UMIK-1 or Micbooster EM258, with which you can apply frequency response correction of the woofer and of room modes.
For this to work though, you need someplace to apply said corrections. For example a WiiM streamer, miniDSP unit, or Equalizer APO running on your PC.
If that is not an option, then things get complicated.
You could play around with speaker placement, but that will likely not achieve all that much.
As a last resort, you could modify the speakers themselves, but without experience in loudspeaker design and construction, there's a good chance you'll make things worse.
The frequency range numbers are next to useless and you should never base a purchase on them.
The cheapest way to improve bass response would be to buy a measurement microphone like the UMIK-1 or Micbooster EM258, with which you can apply frequency response correction of the woofer and of room modes.
For this to work though, you need someplace to apply said corrections. For example a WiiM streamer, miniDSP unit, or Equalizer APO running on your PC.
If that is not an option, then things get complicated.
You could play around with speaker placement, but that will likely not achieve all that much.
As a last resort, you could modify the speakers themselves, but without experience in loudspeaker design and construction, there's a good chance you'll make things worse.
- Thread Starter
- #3
Thank you for the quick reply. The speakers are in the same place as before. The amplifier is the same – quite good, only the speakers are different. I don't intend to do anything myself, but I just have a question: is it possible to improve the sound in any way? Perhaps by a technician. I don't really know much about these technical matters – only very superficially.
staticV3
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Yes, by applying frequency response correction.
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I heartily agree with you up to here. But EQ can't really address gross errors in speaker placement (and toe in). ONE simple way of finding decent placement is putting a speaker in the proposed listening spot and listening for bass balance and (more importantly) smoothness of scale in the area where you intend to place the speakers. Map out the good zones as well as the avoid-like-the-plague* zones. Put the speakers only in good zones and adjust toe in. Then start thinking about EQ.
* Avoid-like-the-plague zones = one note bass, boomy bass, no bass at all, flabby bass, etc.
Ricardojoa
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Maybe you can cover the ports and see how they sound
DVDdoug
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I was about to say the same thing... If they are ported try blocking the ports. That will usually make the bass weaker but it might reduce the boxy resonance. Or if you can get them apart you can try stuffing them with fiberglass insulation or similar.
How big are the woofers and how big are the boxes compared to the old ones. Size isn't everything but generally bigger things make lower frequencies.
Another thing to consider if the woofer can be removed is to replace it. You can look-up the Thiele-Small parameters for potential replacements and plug them into WinISD along with the box volume. That will allow you to model & predict performance and you can experiment (virtually) with a sealed box or various port dimensions.
You almost certainly won't find the parameters for the existing woofer. There is a gizmo for around $100 USD that could measure it and then you could better-optimize the cabinet for the woofer by adding-changing the port, etc.
How big are the woofers and how big are the boxes compared to the old ones. Size isn't everything but generally bigger things make lower frequencies.
Another thing to consider if the woofer can be removed is to replace it. You can look-up the Thiele-Small parameters for potential replacements and plug them into WinISD along with the box volume. That will allow you to model & predict performance and you can experiment (virtually) with a sealed box or various port dimensions.
You almost certainly won't find the parameters for the existing woofer. There is a gizmo for around $100 USD that could measure it and then you could better-optimize the cabinet for the woofer by adding-changing the port, etc.
- Thread Starter
- #11
Thanks for all the advice. I've adjusted the EQ on the amplifier several times, but it doesn't help with the bass. It's probably something to do with the speakers themselves. The previous speakers had a much more pleasant bass sound, although the upper and midrange were a bit weaker. All the settings were similar: placement, Yamaha amplifier, and EQ. If the speakers themselves can't be improved, I'll go back to the previous ones. Besides, I listen to music more often through headphones... luckily, I have really excellent on-ear headphones with perfect spatial sound in the range of 3-40000 Hz.
MaxwellsEq
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There does not seem to be much information about these 'HIFI SUMMIT SAX 888', and certainly I can't find any measurements. They appear to be from 1980 and the limited number of photos confirm a 1980s vibe.
I'm not sure you will be able to do much to improve them; perhaps cut your losses and buy something modern that measures well.
It seems like your previous speakers were better, what were they? We may know more about them.
- Thread Starter
- #13
You're right. These are "antique" speakers, from a German company that was quite well-known at the time, but it's really hard to find specific information. They have their advantages, but their one major drawback for me is that "boxy" bass sound. I think I'll go back to the previous ones. I'm quite old and have cancer, so there's no point in buying any expensive ones. I still have these excellent headphones that I can use to enjoy music. Thank you very much.
I vaguely recognized the brand... According to RMorg, this West German speaker manufacturer active in the 1970s was founded by Hans G. Hennel, son of HECO founder Gerhard Hennel. There was no in-house driver production, those were mostly sourced from the Far East instead. So we can assume the speakers being more on the budget end of the market (if the cone tweeter didn't give it away already). I wouldn't be surprised to find high woofer Qts and dubious bass reflex tuning in a fairly resonant unbraced enclosure.
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