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I can't play loud music outside where I live and I usually hang out in my Garage which is detached from the house. Soundproofing is not an option because of the way the Garage is built and it is a small 1-car garage [L16'xW10'x8'].

I wasted money purchasing a 5-set Kenwood wall speakers, no bass at all so I am thinking that maybe I need the same type of setup Recording Studios have? I don't have much money to spend on speakers so I am looking for the cheapest wall speakers that will give me some Bass, quality is not much of an issue here, I just need something that will give me the bass punch like what you get in a car off the Radio. For this reason, I am thinking of having at least 4 [maybe 5?] small monitors placed at an angle at the 4 corners of the garage so no matter where you stand there will be a speaker close to you at ear height, this way I won't have to use much volume?

One type of speaker I am thinking of is that Optimus Pro77

http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-OF-OPTIMUS-PRO-X77-BOOKSHELF-SPEAKERS-NO-RES_W0QQitemZ120032867139QQihZ002QQcategoryZ14991QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Would 4 or 5 of these provide enough Bass for me or what would you guys recommend?

Comments

mikehende Sun, 09/17/2006 - 12:05

I tried that with 3 different subs [12" and 10 and 8], problem was that no matter how small the sub, the Garage acted like a speaker enclosure I guess becuase outside of the Garage you would hear a lot of bass which gave me the idea to to simply get better speakers for the walls which have decent bass, right now I am trying to decide between these models but don't know which may be best?

http://www.peavey.com/products/brows...1/Monitors.cfm

http://www.peavey.com/search.cfm?c=0&term=impulse+652

http://www.avdeals.com/cerwinvega/ve5m.htm

BTW, yes, I would like to fill the room with Bass but consider that my intention is to get at least 4 for all corners, this means that the furthest distance the bass will have to travel to meet anyone's ear is 7-8', also note that I don't want to "feel" the bass, only "hear" it and I would like to hear the bass with a tight punch like when listening to Radio in a car.

anonymous Sun, 09/17/2006 - 14:33

honestly it sounds to me like you're having some resonance and bass issues rather than not enough "bass". You might want to take this question to the acoustics forum - for much less than you would spend on a high end home audio system you can treat your room with acoustic panels and basstraps to make the room tighten up and get rid of that resonance and "speaker enclosure" feeling.

Even the cheapest home audio "kit" systems will have plenty of bass - they usually exagerrate the low end. So I doubt that with a 12" sub you are not getting enough. If you head the route of recording studio monitors you will probably be dissapointed as they offer more flat frequency response without the exagerrated highs and lows that most home audio systems provide.

mikehende Sun, 09/17/2006 - 15:26

PCM wrote: So I doubt that with a 12" sub you are not getting enough.

No, this is not the case, the subs are providing "too much" bass because I think the entire garage is acting like a speaker enclosure therefore you hear a lot of the bass "outside" of the garage which is NOT what I want, in fact, it's the exact opposite, I want to hear the bass more inside the garage than outside so I won't have the neighbors on my back.

anonymous Sun, 09/17/2006 - 21:28

Unfortunately, deep bass is not as "directional" as higher frequencies, and isn't very well contained by most types of wall construction. This means that if you are hearing bass, so are your neighbors. It doesn't really matter what direction you point your speakers, or where in the room you put them. Any way you slice it, you are going to have to find some balance between the amount of bass you are willing to give up, and how much external leakage your neighbors can tolerate.

You might try getting a subwoofer, but then using an equalizer to remove to very deepest tones. (<50 Hz). Much of the sensation you like from the bass probably comes in at about 70 or 80 Hz, and you might find that giving up the lowest tones doesn't bother you, and helps reduce the leakage.

Another option would be to cover any windows in the garage with plywood, and adding some mass and bracing to the walls, but it will be time-consuming and expensive to make very much improvement.

mikehende Mon, 09/18/2006 - 05:26

anxious wrote: Unfortunately
You might try getting a subwoofer, but then using an equalizer to remove to very deepest tones. (<50 Hz). Much of the sensation you like from the bass probably comes in at about 70 or 80 Hz, and you might find that giving up the lowest tones doesn't bother you, and helps reduce the leakage.

This makes sense, I could use a power bass instead of a deep bass and see how it would sound from the outside, will give it a shot, thanks.

anonymous Mon, 09/18/2006 - 08:10

mikehende wrote: [quote=PCM] So I doubt that with a 12" sub you are not getting enough.

No, this is not the case, the subs are providing "too much" bass because I think the entire garage is acting like a speaker enclosure therefore you hear a lot of the bass "outside" of the garage which is NOT what I want, in fact, it's the exact opposite, I want to hear the bass more inside the garage than outside so I won't have the neighbors on my back.

Mike, no offense but you seem a bit confused- in your initial post you are saying you're not getting enough bass and you can't soundproof, but then you go on to say you don't want the neighbors to hear what you're playing and that there's too much bass.

Here's a quick explanation of some acoustics:

Soundproofing and acoustic treatment are two entirely different things. If you don't want your neighbors to hear the bass, you have a very time consuming and expensive project on your hands. Soundproofing involves intensive and EXPENSIVE construction. Soundproofing will not necessarily improve the sound of your speakers inside of the room (although as a by product some of the materials and construction may help). This is what acoustic treatment does. Acoustic treatment and bass traps will remove standing waves and will make the bass tighter and punchier and the overall imaging of the music much much better. The room acting as a "speaker encolusre" is most likely a standing wave that's making the space resonate and vibrate. So treatment would take care of this effect INSIDE of the space. You're neighbors will still hear it though.

So you have to figure out what exactly it is you're trying to achieve - a better listening experience, or to avoid pissing off your neighbors. If it's both, start saving LOTS of money. If you want to just make the bass "tighter" as you mention and a better lsitening experience, you can treat the room with insulation and basstrapping for relatively little money.