Is there such a thing as too much bass???

[LandingSpot]

In the days of twin 18" subwoofers (which can be used in multiples for one system, is there such a thing as too much bass provided that the full range speakers can keep up with the subs? Do you like flapping clothes and feeling the LFE as much as/more than hearing it?

Is it acceptable any more in Home Cinemas (at all price points) not to have at least one subwoofer?

[The Don of Croy]

You'd best ask your neighbours. If they're not deaf already.

[Funk]

In the same way you can have too much treble you can also have too much bass. Everything should be in balance imo.

[z4chris99]

watching a movie the other day got a knock on the door to both upstairs and downstairs being a bit pissed off with the bass....

[Mark.]

I used to think not love bass, but recently have tweaked treble up too just to make it sound richer. In the car though I had to turn the sub-woofer down as it was actually too much.

[skinny]

it's too much when you are being rattled off the sofa
luckily i live in a link detached house so a bit of window rattling during a movie goes unnoticed by neighbors. that said, it can be a bit inappropriate in music.

[OldSkoolRS]

Personally I like the sound to be balanced, so if there's a loud sound effect then it's in proportion to the sounds from ALL the speakers. I used to listen at about -10db below reference, when I first moved into a detached house, but these days tend to listen -15 to -20 db below. It's still loud enough that my living room door (at the other end of the room from the sub) rattles if I haven't quiet clicked it fully shut.

Having set the speaker levels using an SPL meter, sometimes the sub doesn't seem to be doing much...until an explosion or similar occurs. Really this is the correct setting, but some do like to run their subs a few dbs 'hot'. If you have to listen at lower levels, then it's more like a 'loudness' setting anyway, so I have another memory preset on my processor for typical day to day listening at lower levels (-30db) with the sub and surrounds increased by 3db. I have to remember to change the preset when I watch a film on my projector as that tends to be at higher volume and the 'low level' preset sounds too much.

[rumple]

Yes, too much and your sound will be wooley and without detail, also you need a tight bass as well, balanced ,clear and detailed is the way forward.

[OldSkoolRS]

rumple said:

Yes, too much and your sound will be wooley and without detail, also you need a tight bass as well, balanced ,clear and detailed is the way forward.

Hence why my sub (BK Monolith) is EQ'd by an Antimode 8033. The bass is much clearer and tighter with it connected up. I didn't want to buy a new processor to get multichannel EQ as the newer version of my Arcam would be silly money, so I figured a freestanding sub EQ would make the most difference while keeping my lovely Arcam.