Bass traps?

[PatKlipsch1]

Ok, so a bass trap absorbes bass. What I'm trying to figure out is if it makes the bass louder.

 

[mike c]

it doesn't really make bass louder. but if the bass trap so happens to 'correct' some sort of null, it would seem that the bass is louder with the bass trap.

 

[3db]

it doesn't really make bass louder. but if the bass trap so happens to 'correct' some sort of null, it would seem that the bass is louder with the bass trap.

I'm confused There has to be bass for a bass trap to work and at a null point there is no bass.. so umm..how dioes that work?

 

[mike c]

the bass trap isn't exactly at a null. but it's somewhere in the room that absorbs some bass that prevents one of the two waves from bouncing back and causing a null.

-i'm stretching here, as i have not done any research on this matter. but that's AFAIK

 

[no. 5]

I'm confused There has to be bass for a bass trap to work and at a null point there is no bass.. so umm..how dioes that work?

If there is a null at the listening position that gets 'filled in' by the addition of the bass trap, the trap itself would ideally be at the pressure (or velocity, depending on the type of trap used) maximum of the offending mode. Like Mike C said.

 

[agarwalro]

Ok, so a bass trap absorbes bass. What I'm trying to figure out is if it makes the bass louder.

In a room with peaks and nulls due to standing waves, the user may be forced to keep the overall level low to compensate for the peaks. (without question, this will cause the nulls to be that much lower than reference, but it will help with some frequencies being overboosted and therefore making the response boomy for certain notes) With the addition of traps, the peaks can be brough under control, thereby allowing the user to raise the overall level. This has two effects, it allows harmonics of the peak frequency to be heard better and since the overall level has been increased, the nulls will be less when compared to the overall response. Therefore, the addition of bass traps in some situations may give the perception of increasing the bass.

 

[3db]

Thanks Mike and No. 5. I completed forgot about the reflected wave coming back.

 

[PeterWhite]

If bass traps were 100% effective, you would get no reflections, and therefore there would be no doubling of amplitude at some frequencies and some locations, and no canceling at some frequencies and locations.

The most obvious effect would be the reduction of boominess at those frequencies and locations where the amplitude had been doubled. The restoration of other frequencies would be less noticeable while listening to music, but it would still be a real improvement.

 

[lsiberian]

Ok, so a bass trap absorbes bass. What I'm trying to figure out is if it makes the bass louder.

I'm wondering if this is related to Jamie's fishing recommendation. I would think bass get louder when they are trapped.

 

[jostenmeat]

What agarwalro said. Once I significantly treated my space, I immediately found that I was increasing the volume, because, well, I could. It now takes a lot more for the room's problematic issues do rear its ugly head.

I've even read that bass traps can measurably change in temperature after a lot of sound absorbing.

Once you are given the freedom to crank the volume a bit more, it is then that one becomes all the more appreciative of having speakers and amps than can indeed crank. I mean, I know it's all relative, but that's my experience.