Horn bass frequency range

Jaakko Vahtera

New member
Apr 28, 2022
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Finland
Hi,

I’m designin a kickbin and targeting 100-400Hz with a 15”. I’ve made initial models in Hornresp and it looks good to me. However looking at speakers from Daneley or Void etc., kicks seem to go 200Hz max. What is the pros of such narrow band, like 80-200Hz?
Better efficiency, better definition, more output?

Thanks!

V
 
There is nothing wrong with targeting 100 - 400Hz, but what is going to cover the lower and higher ranges? Those need to be covered for most full range music to sound good unless the systems is being used only for instruments or voice that does not go lower than 100 HZ. A lot of voice only systems (announce, paging, etc.) have limited low and high frequency responses because it's not needed for vocals only. I'm not sure which Danely or Void products you are looking at, but both companies make subwoofer systems that target that range (generally from 30 Hz to 100+ Hz). This is that range that gives a lot of music the "energy" we like to feel. Can you can explain exactly what you mean by "kick bin".
 
As I understand them, they’re the EDM thing where you want punch and the kick, which is usually electronic hits you and this apparently is good. They did the usual sub bass thing in their club systems and still found it lacking, so started designing systems that focus large amounts of energy at the crowd. Not remotely my thing, but I think these are in addition to ordinary wider band subs and the lower bass part of the spectrum. They’re very keen on bass. Many homebuilt systems, like on speakerplans.com
 
I second Rob here. Living in the EU, most dance systems have a two-band bass solution with subs covering frequencies up to 80-90Hz and "kick" bass bins covering the upper bass.

The main reason for the upper cutoff frequency of kicks being < 250Hz is the amount of ~120Hz energy required compared to anything above 200Hz. Crossing them too high tends to make them sound honky and makes midrange elements too loud. A lot of people also like the sound of bandpass horns like the ES18, HD15 etc for upper bass, but which sound awful at higher frequencies.

Please note that what I'm talking about here is sound systems designed for dub and electronic music (drum 'n bass, dubstep, techno, ....) where the SPL difference between sub and midrange/high frequencies is a lot higher than for live music.