| sansbury |
So I am working with a fresh BrianGT stereo gainclone and One Pi speakers. The mids are lush and detailed, and the highs are... sometimes a little too detailed, but overall good. However, I feel like I'm lacking punch at the bottom and I'm a little uncertain of where to look first.
My point of comparison here is my old Cambridge Soundworks PC system, which used a small sub and two 2" cubes. It had a separate sub volume control, and it's possible I was just overloading on bass, though I wouldn't subjectively consider myself a bass-freak.
1. The BrianGT PSU has 2x10k uF caps so I assume that's not it. I'm using his stock design and parts.
2. I'm using a 25-0-25 250VAC Avel toroid. Some threads I've read suggest that higher voltages into 8 ohm loads make them sound sharper.
3. My offset voltages (65 and 95 mV) seem to be considered high by some.
4. I'm feeding directly from a lower-quality source (laptop) without a preamp or buffer or anything.
5. I have not tried many room/placement variations.
6. The powered sub on my old system would go down to 45Hz, while the One Pis stop around 55.
7. When I crank the volume up you start to feel the bass more. Maybe tonight I can run it up high (city apartment, neighbors, etc) just to see if it exists at all, but maybe I'm just hearing the music the way it was recorded for the first time.
8. Maybe the speakers are a poor match? They sound great as they get into the mids. Do I stuff more polyfill in to mop up mids so the bass comes out more? Change the tuning?
I've considered re-purposing the old powered sub to reinforce this system at the low end only. I think it has a 6-1/2" driver with an 80W amp and the Cambridge stuff is actually pretty decent for what it is.
Anyway, I'm just curious where the more knowledgeable folks would start. Overall I'm pleased but I need more cowbell. |
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| owen |
It'll be your lappie output thats the weak link - a dedicated USB soundcard would be an upgrade - there are plenty around, M-audio have a good audio reputation, and would be a good place to start - the Transit is an oldie but well reputed device...
Owen |
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| impsick |
| im thinking your use to having that low-end bass. In a 3 speaker system, to me at least, the sub kinda stands out as its own thing. (if you know what i mean) Usually making up for the small mid/high range pair. But anyways you may just be use to that isolated bass. What kind of drivers is your GT-kit pushing? |
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| sansbury |
| quote: | Originally posted by impsick
im thinking your use to having that low-end bass. In a 3 speaker system, to me at least, the sub kinda stands out as its own thing. (if you know what i mean) Usually making up for the small mid/high range pair. But anyways you may just be use to that isolated bass. What kind of drivers is your GT-kit pushing? |
Eminence Alpha 8's with a 1" Vifa DX-25 tweeter in the One Pi studio series cabinets.
This is compared to a 2.1 system with 2" satellites so I imagine the relevant qualities are dramatically different.
It is interesting that on this new system I've noticed myself enjoying some music a lot less than on the old one because it seems like I'm noticing recording/mastering defects that were, presumably, hidden in the mushiness of the old system. There's a lot of "did I really just hear that?" moments. Likewise, other things sound much better. |
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| sansbury |
So, just to confirm some things a friend of mine who knows his audio very well stopped by the other night for a listen. Basically, his read was that my response was falling off a cliff below 1000Hz. He picked out a few other things, but that was the primary issue.
I think the first thing I need to do is find myself another amp to hook the speakers to, in order to rule the speakers in or out as the cause. |
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| impsick |
falling off at 1k? geees so whats it like listening to big 8" tweets? haha
may just be easier to hook some other speakers to the amp:D
anyways keep us posted im interested in your findings. |
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| dfdye |
More rail capacitance was the trick that I used to get better bass. There is quite a camp that will yell "sacrilege!" in response to any additional capacitance on the rails, but it is my experience that the gainclone caps are not sufficient for good bass, especially at moderate powers.
As a disclaimer, I like the Linkwitz variation of the LM3886 circuit better than the gainclone too, so there's that, plus I have a moderate system so I might just not be hearing what everyone else is hearing. . . .
Still, having built the gainclone, gainclone + extra rail caps (I can't remember the value I used off the top of my head), and the Linkwitz LM3886 (which I presently use), I can say that (IMO) the additional caps helped with bass.
David |
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| sansbury |
| My favorite cut of beef is sacred cow. That being said, my PSU is based on the carlosfm snubberized variant with 2x10,000uf caps, so am I really in the "low capacitance" camp with this? |
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| dfdye |
| quote: | Originally posted by sansbury
My favorite cut of beef is sacred cow. |
:)
I think that should be enough. |
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