What makes a speaker amp deliver satisfying mids and bass?

[confucius_zero]

So I attempted to upgrade my Micca Origain to something more robust: like the Audioengine N22 and the Yamaha RS202, both Class AB. While the Audioengine did give some really strong room shaking low end kick back to my speakers (like my marantz 1070 did), the Yamaha just came and conquered by opening the soundstage, rendering a lot more nuances in all parts of the spectrum (bass, mids, highs), even my wife in the room watching me play with "toys" found the Yamaha to be pleasant sounding.

In the end, the culprit was my amp... but I still don't know why

 

[andreasmaaan]

My previous amp (the marantz, not the origain) could drive their bass to a shaking level. I would like to know why

Were the speakers set up in exactly the same position in the same room?

Room and placement are usually the most significant factors in bass performance.

 

[andymok]

This was discussed before. Flute was proposed, but it has a lot of harmonics.

The closest thing I've found, that at least marginally qualifies as a "real instrument", in creating a "pure sine", is a beer bottle with .4% THD (jugs can be used in Appalachian/Hillbilly Folk).

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hiit-yggdrasil-v2-dac.3607/page-34#post-94736

View attachment 19792

It is an Aerophone indeed haha.

food for thoughts, looking into technicalities.

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/synthesizing-pianos

 

[confucius_zero]

Were the speakers set up in exactly the same position in the same room?

Room and placement are usually the most significant factors in bass performance.

Yup same same. Like I mentionned, I just changed amps again and resolved the problem

 

[andreasmaaan]

Yup same same. Like I mentionned, I just changed amps again and resolved the problem

Very strange. I guess something is terribly wrong with the Origain.

 

[confucius_zero]

Very strange. I guess something is terribly wrong with the Origain.

Now I wonder why the Audioengine n22 provided too much low end vs the Yamaha rs202's more controlled yet strong low end (both at flat EQ)... it could have been power?

I'm sorry for the lack of science but it seems the n22 wanted to "lift a weight" too fast and the Yamaha was doing it with more range and duration of motion.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Now I wonder why the Audioengine n22 provided too much low end vs the Yamaha rs202's more controlled yet strong low end (both at flat EQ)... it could have been power?

I'm sorry for the lack of science but it seems the n22 wanted to "lift a weight" too fast and the Yamaha was doing it with more range and duration of motion.

Psychology or differences in distortion would be the most likely explanations. You can rule out the former by doing a controlled test (not easy ofc).

EDIT: and ofc another possibility is that the amplifiers have different gain settings, so that when you compare one to the other one is actually louder (and therefore likely to sound better).

 

[infinitesymphony]

This is where trustworthy measurements come into play. I'd love to see some RTA measurements using a fixed speaker and mic while changing out the amplifier. I'd risk a guess that not all manufacturers were aiming for flat frequency response or super low distortion in the first place.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Inadequacies of the power supply (assuming it isn't broken or stupid) shouldn't show up until the amplifier is operating near its limits - like at the knee on the graphs that show distortion vs power output.

Wouldn't some amplifier topologies reach their limits much sooner than others depending on the specs of the speaker? My understanding is that speaker impedance can vary broadly depending on frequency content, and speakers with lower sensitivity will be harder to drive. Maybe @confucius_zero is hitting the limits of his 30W @ 8 ohm class D amp.

 

[confucius_zero]

hitting the limits of his 30W @ 8 ohm class D amp

What about dynamic power? the Origain only describes RMS without dynamic but the audioengine class AB amp at 22W/8ohm "drove" the speakers with much stronger bass.

I'm sorry... I wish I could provide measurements but it's beyond my ability yet. These products (Origain, N22, RS202) are quite affordable for anyone to replicate