The Good, the bad, and the ugly side of bass
Who Needs Bass?
Bass in a car audio upgrade can be a contentious issue. Some people like lots, some like a little and others think they need none. Over the years, folk’s attitude to low bass has changed. A move away from dreadful kitchen radios and iPod docking stations of the 90s and the proliferation of good Bluetooth speakers prevalent in the average home has led to a change in perspective. Live and recorded music lovers have always looked towards bass content as a measure of quality, while many first-time adopters of upgraded systems in their cars want bass, bass, bass!
The Pitfalls
Good bass is musical. There is no point to a bass buzz that vibrates your internal organs but makes no sense in the context of the music you listen to. In this case, articulation is one of the essential attributes. Articulation is the ability of a bass system to differentiate between different notes being presented to it: This sounds obvious, but I have heard many bass-heavy systems in cars that just hum and throb. Often, the bass overwhelms all other parts of the music, and the result is just an unlistenable mess that makes no musical sense at all, however exciting it may seem. This is not unique to car audio however. In a pipe organ, sub bass begins at 60Hz and can reach all the way down to 20Hz. Articulation is equally tricky as instruments are usually situated in vast, high-ceilinged venues with loads of hard surfaces!
Good Bass
The popular new breed of subwoofer is supplied in a designed enclosure, often containing a standalone amplifier. The Audison Prima APBX 10 AS is a good example. This active subwoofer provides plenty of low bass for a powerful car audio upgrade. The benefit of a single subwoofer is that there are no phase conflicts. A single speaker makes the tones produced purer and offers the listener more integrity over a poorly set-up array.
The real beauty of the Audison subwoofer boxes is the seamless way they hook up with the front speaker system. The last thing you need in a car is to have the bass arriving from behind. Low bass is mostly unidirectional. However, give it too much power and harmonic overtones, and you may begin getting directional clues as to where the bass is coming from. Due to the box design and rigidity of the build, Audison boxes provide unidirectional bass. Audison bass boxes are often placed under a false floor in the spare wheel well of a car, and still, they sound like the bass is front-mounted. Follow this link to read about a good example of this: https://www.drivingsounds.co.uk/articles/archive/issue-9/mercedes-flies-to-the-moon
Where to find good bass solutions
In conclusion, I am as excited by bass and sub-bass as anyone else. You will often find me boosting bass when listening to specific recordings, especially in the car. However, I have developed a dislike for bad and ugly bass. There is no excuse for it these days, as both speaker and amplifier technology have moved on rapidly. The DSP revolution has also added significant new tools to the installer’s armoury.
If the bass in your car sounds wooly, or distorted, or directional, it may be time for you to visit a specialist installer and see what solution they can offer to you. You can find your nearest installer here: https://www.fourcaraudio.co.uk/find-a-retailer
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