How much bass is too much? (And other...stuff)

[The Folk Prophet]

This isn't really about bass. Just about...stuff. And by "stuff" I mean stuff. Like...you know....things. But I digress...

I've gotten into sound lately. It's really weird for me. But here's the basic story: When I saw Top Gun Maverick in the theater I was impressed by the theater shaking when the jets roared. So then, recently, my daughter and I have gotten into watching movies together at night. And I thought it would be fun to get a subwoofer. And so I told her we needed to make the room shake (she's 8, btw). And she loved the idea. So we got the cheapest soundbar/woofer we could find from Walmart. And...yeah... it made the room shake...sometimes...sort of. But...you couldn't hear dialogue and you had to constantly turn the sound up and down while watching a show. But still...fun. We made the room kind of shake and she giggled. That was my goal.

But it got me into it. So.....

I purchased a better soundbar for upstairs. And then....hoo hoo hooo....I ordered a 12" subwoofer.

And HOLY COW!

Like...seriously....if I let it ride as it was when we first turned it on (about half way on the volume knob)...I feel confident it would literally damage the structure of the home over time. EVERYTHING shook. And it was AWESOME!  But...too much. But I got it dialed in I think. Now it only shakes the room on the really big sounds. Just right... maybe. And the dialogue is clear and I don't have to turn the sound up and down and up and down.

Though... I kind of want more boom/thump when it does kick in. Maybe a 14" woofer? Maybe a 2nd 12"? No....that's silly.

The whole thing is silly.

But my little girl giggles and exclaims how it made her "butt shake" every time. And it's silly but awesome and fun and makes us both smile.

I don't know how long it'll last as a fun thing. It might become fatiguing pretty quick. But for now...happy daddy.

And I turned on the first part of Raiders of the Lost Ark and...the sound!! So engaging and exciting. I love the movie without...but...it's like a new experience watching it again. I don't think I saw it in theaters when it came out in the 80s. So, always on TVs with TV speakers. Happy daddy.

Anyhow...feel free to share, as I said, not about bass, per se, but silly 'stuff' that makes/made you happy, and maybe you got sick of too...or whatever. What silly reasons have you acquired any given thing just to see your little one giggle or the like?

I thought it might make an interesting topic.

If anyone cares. I got the Klipsch Flexus 200 soundbar* (normally $500 but I got it for $300) and the Klipsch R-12SWi subwoofer for $219. So $500ish all in for the really shake the room and clear dialogue system. The Walmart one was $150ish (Hisense).

* I went with this Klipsch soundbar because it had a subwoofer out port so you could get any subwoofer for it, whereas most systems connect wirelessly only to their own subwoofers. And I can expand the system with surrounds speakers later if I want to. The sub that connects wirelessly to this bar is $300 and only a 10" (though I'm sure it still rattles the windows), but because of the sub out connection I could do a cheaper but bigger sub.

[NeuroTypical]

From what I can tell, folks develop their taste in music somewhere in their teens.  @LDSGator, for example, still will fight anyone who talks smack about Flava Flav.

For me however, I didn't find my music until my mid-40's.  But when I found it, I found myself reacting like a 14 yr old boy who needs his tunes to think.  And yes, it mostly involves a lot of bass. 

- I used to fall asleep to a playlist of dubstep and death metal. 
- I started to wear earplugs when driving so I could turn up the music so loud I could feel the vibrations from the door speaker in my legs.   Still do on occasion.

 

[LDSGator]

1 minute ago, NeuroTypical said:

s.  @LDSGator, for example, still will fight anyone who talks smack about Flava Flav

It’s the Grateful Dead you conformist! 

[LDSGator]

(For the record, since the only things that truly matter are baseball and music, I can’t stand the Grateful Dead) 

[Carborendum]

17 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

From what I can tell, folks develop their taste in music somewhere in their teens. 

I thought about this for a bit to see if this is true for me.  I realized, I'm not sure what that means.

When I heard music as a kindergartener, I immediately sensed if I like it or not just as surely as if I liked the flavor of certain foods.  I just liked it or not.  It had nothing to do with music education or understanding music theory, obviously.  It was just a personal taste.

As I became more exposed to more types of music, I didn't exactly evolve.  I simply increased my experience. 

A few years ago (in my old age) I'd come to like the Jolly Rogers.  And I'd never heard anything like it before.

 

Edited March 7 by Carborendum

[zil2]

1 hour ago, The Folk Prophet said:

And I thought it would be fun to get a subwoofer.

Life is better with a subwoofer.  (I will die on this hill! )

[zil2]

1 hour ago, The Folk Prophet said:

we needed to make the room shake

Ye-essss!

1 hour ago, The Folk Prophet said:

cheapest

Well what did you expect?

2 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

you couldn't hear dialogue

Yeah.  This is one reason I quit going to movies - they forget that some of us want to actually understand the dialogue.

2 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

EVERYTHING shook. And it was AWESOME!

  Alas, with the kitties, I can no longer turn the music up loud enough to make the couch vibrate (it was built by the Amish, out of oak, the rest of my house will be dust, and there in the middle of it will be my Amish-made couch, still solid as a rock!).

2 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

The whole thing is silly.

But my little girl giggles and exclaims how it made her "butt shake" every time. And it's silly but awesome and fun and makes us both smile.

2 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

the sound!!

A good set of speakers can change the world.   I was in the store back in the day when they had all these different speakers hooked up and you could switch which set was "playing" and change which music was playing.  Naturally I switched it to classical (if you want to know whether speakers are good, test them with classical music) and cranked up the volume (yes, people stared at me - I didn't care - they were expensive speakers!).  Klipsch won my money - holy wow, Batman!

FTR, I got my speakers probably 2 decades ago, they're still as good as can be, and no, it doesn't get old making the walls shake.

[The Folk Prophet]

51 minutes ago, zil2 said:

Life is better with a subwoofer.  (I will die on this hill! )

So is life even better better with...2 subwoofers?

42 minutes ago, zil2 said:

Well what did you expect?

Giggling.

Otherwise....I don't know. I'm new to this. Never cared about this before.

42 minutes ago, zil2 said:

A good set of speakers can change the world. .... Klipsch won my money

We got into Alexa devices (Echo) a bit back and making our home smart...but I wanted better sound for the music. Since then, we've moved to the Sonus Era 100s. I tried out the Echo Studio, but the Sonos Era 100 just sounded better. We don't listen to loud music. It's mostly background, but sometimes we turn it up a bit for cleaning time or something. The Era 100s are sufficient. We run 2 as a stereo pair and a solo in my office. I know it's not going to be as good as a good larger speaker (Klipsch The Sevens or Nines, for example...but ouch on cost), but it's sufficient for what we needed for now...and... I have to say, for the size the sound is shockingly good. Technology rocks... literally in this case.

But going fully Sonos was beyond the pale on cost. The sub is $700! The Arc 2 is a grand! Too much for me. (Maybe someday on the grand for a soundbar... the upcoming Klipsch Flexus 300 soundbar has me thinking...hmm... but....NO. I won't do it! Except....you know... but no! Except....).

Even adding the mini-sub to the Era 100s is $430. And that ain't gonna shake stuff like my 12" (though for music...I don't want that....but I digress again...). I might spring for the sub mini for the music someday. But for now the 2 Era 100s is working nicely. And they're Alexa devices so I can control my lights and etc still.

So Klipsch won my money on the soundbar (I know that doing a full theater system with separated speaker is technically "better" but I'm not really that picky....yet... what have I gotten myself into!?)

2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

From what I can tell, folks develop their taste in music somewhere in their teens.

...

For me however, I didn't find my music until my mid-40's. 

I developed some of my tastes in my teens. But Michael Jackson doesn't fulfill any longer. Though Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis still do. In my college days (I was older 20s at the time) I got into Metallica and Tori Amos* and a lot of the...I dunno "metal" of that time and the following decade. White Zombie (and later Rob Zombie), and so forth.

But, as I said in another thread (about hats), I got into country a few months ago (having always hated it before). I listen to country music almost daily now while working. Shrug. I'm in my 50s now. (To be fair, I think medicine I started caused some hypomania in me, so I expect a new taste at this age is rare... except I think I might have some minor bi-polar going on so I'm getting into new stuff (like hat making) all the time in my 50s. Hmm.) My other favorite is folk music from the 60s, but I was raised on that so developed that taste in my pre-teen years.

2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

And yes, it mostly involves a lot of bass. 

- I used to fall asleep to a playlist of dubstep and death metal. 
- I started to wear earplugs when driving so I could turn up the music so loud I could feel the vibrations from the door speaker in my legs.   Still do on occasion.

I really dislike bassy music at this point (meaning the kind that thump thump thumps to the beat in an obnoxious way). But maybe my music taste will develop (in a state of hypo-mania likely) from my new interest in bassy movies. Gangsta rap...here I come!

 

Edited March 6 by The Folk Prophet

[zil2]

2 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

So is life even better better with...2 subwoofers?

I dunno - never tried it - I imagine you'd have to arrange things to ensure they don't cancel each other out and create a dead spot in the soundwaves.

Find yourself some good classical - Tchaikovsky with cannons and Saint-Saens with some timpani drums - oh, or those Japanese drummers... what are they called....

You'll be grinning the whole time!

[The Folk Prophet]

Oh..and @NeuroTypical there's another thing I got into at one point, which is Children of Bodom. I don't know how I got into that. But man alive I love them if I'm in the right mood. They're so...melodic in their instrumentation and the synth with the heavy guitars and drums just...I dunno, and countered by the non-melodic screaming... I can't explain it. Love it. But I don't indulge very often because there's a lot of f-bombs in it and I don't particularly feel like it's, you know...conducive to the Spirit.

Last week I had two hour-long drives to myself though and listened to Children of Bodom the entire time.

Another one I'm not fully into by any means, but love a few songs, is Meshuggah. My interest there is like...I dunno...not the music so much. It's fully the rhythms and poly-rhythms and just kind of overall technical craziness. But... also, I don't indulge in that much either. But I do like it.

But...other than turning on country while working, the think I listen to the most is The Tabernacle at Temple Square. Because the primary reason I ever go out is to go to my weekly temple shift, and I turn that on to prepare, and then it's just on in the truck and I just kind of leave it because I like it. And we turn it on all day on Sunday too instead of country.

One might call my music tastes.... eclectic.

[The Folk Prophet]

Just now, zil2 said:

I imagine you'd have to arrange things to ensure they don't cancel each other out and create a dead spot in the soundwaves.

The one I have has a phase reverse switch to solve that problem I think.

[Just_A_Guy]

And here I thought y’all were going to be talking about fishing . . .

[mikbone]

I agree.  A great sound system dramatically improves a good movie.

We have a sonos Arc setup, and any Atmos soundtrack is an experience.

My bedroom is better than a movie theater.

Great movies for the bass experience:

Dune

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

All Quiet on the Western Front

 

 

 

[The Folk Prophet]

On some other stuff:

I have too many hobbies. It's ridonkulous. I get into stuff.

Here's some of the stuff I've gotten into over the past:

• Motorcycles
• Digital photography/videography and camera gear
• Making (braiding) bullwhips
• Model Trains
• Playing plectrum banjo
• Leather carving (belts, bags, holsters)
• Bicycling
• Making hats and western wear
• Guns

And that doesn't include the primary hobby I have, which is writing musicals.

I know...you can't buy happiness. But you can buy pleasant distraction.

And goodness me...why are most of the hobbies I get into SO expensive!

It's interesting to me how some of these that I've gotten into I never expected to. Like...I got into braiding bullwhips because I (delusionally) thought I could make myself a high quality, what would be $1000+ Indiana Jones bullwhip for the cost of materials (a few hundred). 15 years later and I've spend WAY more than the $1000+ and still don't make them as well as the pros. (Though a lay person wouldn't know they're not as good. Here's a pic of 2 of them I've made:)
 

Anyhow...because they're "leather" people would often ask me back 15 years ago or so when I was getting into it if I did other "leather" work. And I'd say no way. No interest. Not my thing. I just wanted a bullwhip. It wasn't about the leather.

But.... then a few years back I get it into my head that I can make myself a high quality gun holster on the cheap too! (Same delusion as before.) And...voila...into leather work. Now I'm really into leather work. Silly me.

And bicycling. I have a bro-in-law who's always been into it and I'd always be like, "Bah...." about it. But then a few years back, the wife and I decided to get in shape and decided to get bikes...and then I got into it...like obsessively. I even got myself some of those biker shorts I swear I'd never be caught dead in!

And...western wear and country music? That's just weird.

Anyhow...mostly I'm just a big nerd and when I finally started making "grown-up" money, I realized, bit by bit, that I could....sort of...afford stuff. And so a lot of it is just child-hood fantasies being realized. Except I'm always trying to not just spend like crazy...so instead of buying the nice bullwhip or holster or cowboy hat or whatever...I decide I can be frugal and make my own. And then I get into the hobby because I'm a bit obsessive (the proper term, I believe, is hypo-mania ), and I end up enjoying the researching and crafting and hobby of it more than I enjoy the thing itself. Owning and cracking a bullwhip has brought much less pleasure and fun to me than making bullwhips has. Same with quick-drawing a six shooter (I wanted to get into cowboy quickdraw...they have real competitions and shoot wax bullets at metal plates and stuff....). I've much more fun getting into carving leather.

Anyhow.... currently I'm into the hat making (as per the other thread I started on that), but I decided to sell a bunch of stuff I've gotten over the years on Ebay. Stuff that didn't quite work out. One of the cameras I have. One of the very expensive model trains I had. Etc. One of the excuses I always make myself is that I can always sell things to get out from under it if I get into financial trouble. Which ends up being true with a lot of hobby stuff. Model trains...expensive ones...are limited runs often. And that means they hold value pretty well, especially buying popular ones. I got the VisionLine Big Boy back in 2014. Spend $2200 on it (on a sale). Should be able to sell it for $2000 on Ebay pretty easily over a decade later.

The problem was (if anyone cares) is the thing is too big and I had delusions (a common theme here) of having a cool train layout. But, I don't have the space! It's too big. The minimum curve of the thing is 6 feet. And that's for a simple circle, which isn't all that fun. I just don't have room to build a layout. Here's a pic, btw.

So selling it....which is good because it's ended up being nothing but a decorative item for ten years (I've literally only run it once), has gotten me into the idea of moving to HO scale (which is half the size of the larger 0 gauge that this one is). And HO is less expensive. The size is cool on the 0 gauge. I'm kind of a go-big-or-go-home thinker on these things. But, in practice, that doesn't work out a lot of times. So HO might be just the ticket.

So now I'm back into researching model trains again! Dang it! Haha. Except not dang it. I love the research almost more than the thing. If only I could stick to just researching and not actually buying I could have all the research fun without the money spent. But...it's the fantasizing about buying and building and all that that's half the fun, and so if it was just research.....  Well, you get my point I suppose. C'est la vie.

I've rambled on here a bit too much. But, you know... I did say the thread wasn't really meant to be about just soundbars and subwoofers.

Edited March 23 by The Folk Prophet

[Jedi_Nephite]

4 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

On some other stuff:

I have too many hobbies. It's ridonkulous. I get into stuff.

Here's some of the stuff I've gotten into over the past:

• Motorcycles
• Digital photography/videography and camera gear
• Making (braiding) bullwhips
• Model Trains
• Playing plectrum banjo
• Leather carving (belts, bags, holsters)
• Bicycling
• Making hats and western wear
• Guns

And that doesn't include the primary hobby I have, which is writing musicals.

I know...you can't buy happiness. But you can buy pleasant distraction.

And goodness me...why are most of the hobbies I get into SO expensive!

It's interesting to me how some of these that I've gotten into I never expected to. Like...I got into braiding bullwhips because I (delusionally) thought I could make myself a high quality, what would be $1000+ Indiana Jones bullwhip for the cost of materials (a few hundred). 15 years later and I've spend WAY more than the $1000+ and still don't make them as well as the pros. (Though a lay person wouldn't know they're not as good. Here's a pic of 2 of them I've made:)
 

Anyhow...because they're "leather" people would often ask me back 15 years ago or so when I was getting into it if I did other "leather" work. And I'd say no way. No interest. Not my thing. I just wanted a bullwhip. It wasn't about the leather.

But.... then a few years back I get it into my head that I can make myself a high quality gun holster on the cheap too! (Same delusion as before.) And...voila...into leather work. Now I'm really into leather work. Silly me.

And bicycling. I have a bro-in-law who's always been into it and I'd always be like, "Bah...." about it. But then a few years back, the wife and I decided to get in shape and decided to get bikes...and then I got into it...like obsessively. I even got myself some of those biker shorts I swear I'd never be caught dead in!

And...western wear and country music? That's just weird.

Anyhow...mostly I'm just a big nerd and when I finally started making "grown-up" money, I realized, bit by bit, that I could....sort of...afford stuff. And so a lot of it is just child-hood fantasies being realized. Except I'm always trying to not just spend like crazy...so instead of buying the nice bullwhip or holster or cowboy hat or whatever...I decide I can be frugal and make my own. And then I get into the hobby because I'm a bit obsessive (the proper term, I believe, is hypo-mania ), and I end up enjoying the researching and crafting and hobby of it more than I enjoy the thing itself. Owning and cracking a bullwhip has brought much less pleasure and fun to me than making bullwhips has. Same with quick-drawing a six shooter (I wanted to get into cowboy quickdraw...they have real competitions and shoot wax bullets at metal plates and stuff....). I've much more fun getting into carving leather.

Anyhow.... currently I'm into the hat making (as per the other thread I started on that), but I decided to sell a bunch of stuff I've gotten over the years on Ebay. Stuff that didn't quite work out. One of the cameras I have. One of the very expensive model trains I had. Etc. One of the excuses I always make myself is that I can always sell things to get out from under it if I get into financial trouble. Which ends up being true with a lot of hobby stuff. Model trains...expensive ones...are limited runs often. And that means they hold value pretty well, especially buying popular ones. I got the VisionLine Big Boy back in 2014. Spend $2200 on it (on a sale). Should be able to sell it for $2000 on Ebay pretty easily over a decade later.

The problem was (if anyone cares) is the thing is too big and I had delusions (a common theme here) of having a cool train layout. But, I don't have the space! It's too big. The minimum curve of the thing is 6 feet. And that's for a simple circle, which isn't all that fun. I just don't have room to build a layout. Here's a pic, btw.

So selling it....which is good because it's ended up being nothing but a decorative item for ten years (I've literally only run it once), has gotten me into the idea of moving to HO scale (which is half the size of the larger 0 gauge that this one is). And HO is less expensive. The size is cool on the 0 gauge. I'm kind of a go-big-or-go-home thinker on these things. But, in practice, that doesn't work out a lot of times. So HO might be just the ticket.

So now I'm back into researching model trains again! Dang it! Haha. Except not dang it. I love the research almost more than the thing. If only I could stick to just researching and not actually buying I could have all the research fun without the money spent. But...it's the fantasizing about buying and building and all that that's half the fun, and so if it was just research.....  Well, you get my point I suppose. C'est la vie.

I've rambled on here a bit too much. But, you know... I did say the thread wasn't really meant to be about just soundbars and subwoofers.

If you want an expensive hobby, try getting into ham radio.  That can drain your bank account very quickly.

[Traveler]

There was a time when I desired a decent sound system in my home.  Because I am an engineer – I did my research.   There are two general types of speakers, acoustic suspension (sealed) speakers and ported (open or reflex) speakers.   Generally speaking, ported speakers are better at making noise and acoustic speakers are best at reproducing specific sounds.   I designed my home stereo sound system with an array of various acoustic speakers at the front for sound stability and accuracy with two matching ported rear speakers and a 16-inch subwoofer for maximum depth.    I had to have a custom amplifier to distribute the proper frequencies to the proper speakers.   I really loved my system.  I could listen to a full choir and orchestra, close my eyes and pick out individual instruments and voices and where they were located.

The good old days of accurate sound systems are long gone and shattered by digital sound systems that chop off a great deal of the overtones kept and maintained by analog systems.

There is something else everyone should know about the music (sounds) they listen to, especially those that are digital.  Very low sounds (around the 10 hertz) cannot be heard by humans but can cause significant damage to the human ear.  This can cause many to increase the bass volume for their own enjoyment that is painful to others that maintain accurate hearing abilities.   One may think that listening to their music their way is their right.  This is hardly the case.  Noise pollution has a way of reaching beyond the creator of it into the space of those not impressed by the waisted energy – to the point of even causing injury.   I believe scripture says it best that the miserable like to pass their misery on to others – and I would add – weather the others desire it or not.

 

The Traveler

[Traveler]

2 hours ago, Jedi_Nephite said:

If you want an expensive hobby, try getting into ham radio.  That can drain your bank account very quickly.

Family is the most expensive hobby I have encountered.

 

The Traveler

[The Folk Prophet]

6 hours ago, Traveler said:

shattered by digital sound systems that chop off a great deal of the overtones kept and maintained by analog systems.

This is like a 1990s understanding of digital music, and inaccurate. Digital music has come a long, long, LONG way, my friend, and by any objective measurement is better.

To be fair...streaming sort of reintroduced a lot of the issues that early CDs and low quality mp3s had. But even that's not really an issue any more. Not with the speed of most connections now.

You're living in the past buddy.

[Traveler]

33 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

This is like a 1990s understanding of digital music, and inaccurate. Digital music has come a long, long, LONG way, my friend, and by any objective measurement is better.

To be fair...streaming sort of reintroduced a lot of the issues that early CDs and low quality mp3s had. But even that's not really an issue any more. Not with the speed of most connections now.

You're living in the past buddy.

There is a good possibility you are correct.  I am quite old, but I still believe that I hear the difference between recordings and live performances.  Even from our old grand piano or my martin concert classic guitar.  Last year my audiologist said I have about a 5% hearing loss but have developed a great deal of wax buildup – that requires biweekly cleaning.

 

The Traveler

[The Folk Prophet]

48 minutes ago, Traveler said:

There is a good possibility you are correct.

I am correct. I know of what I speak in this regard. Digital recordings are objectively superior. Subjectively... well, that's subjective. 

50 minutes ago, Traveler said:

I still believe that I hear the difference between recordings and live performances

Yes. Of course. There's also a difference between one live performance and another. And one recording and another. 

[Traveler]

14 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

I am correct. I know of what I speak in this regard. Digital recordings are objectively superior. Subjectively... well, that's subjective. 

Yes. Of course. There's also a difference between one live performance and another. And one recording and another. 

I have experienced that being close to speakers at a concert (Kurt Bestor, Piano Guys) is not good and will contribute to hearing loss. I felt somewhat the same seeing “Wicked” in a theater.  Having spent a great deal of time in industrial settings – I am aware of laws that require hearing protection for sound volumes.  Sounds below 70 dB are considered safe;  85 dB and above are considered unsafe (usually with extended periods).  I am not an expert at dB levels but it seems to me that many enjoy entertainment with dB levels over 100 dB.

I realize this is a free country and I do not like government incursions into private lives – but I also realize that children (under the age of 25) lack the cognitive executive brain functions to respond properly to adults pushing limits.  I am open to suggestions but there ought to be consequences.

 

The Traveler