Using a Subwoofer to Improve Midbass in Your Car Audio System
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 เม.ย. 2020
- In this video I discuss why I recommend using your subwoofer to improve midbass response.
This isn’t truly a shocking revelation; it just goes against intuition and against some beliefs that a subwoofer should not play too high in frequency because it can cause the bass to be localized behind you.
The reason why is due to one MAJOR issue in car audio: the “Nearside Null”. This is the large dip in response of the driver’s side midbass speaker that occurs typically in the 70-90hz region. This doesn't occur in every car; there are certainly exceptions to the more extreme car installs. But the majority experience this issue.
It is an acoustical null caused by the relationship of the listener’s location relative to the midbass location and generally caused by the width of the vehicle. If you play a track with bass guitar it’s very prevalent; you get a localization to the nearside midbass speaker when the midbass speaker is crossed lower than the frequency where the null occurs. Generally speaking, the lower your crossover point between midbass and subwoofer, the more noticeable this occurrence is. Unfortunately, this isn’t something you can simply “EQ out”, either. Throwing +6dB at this null may only result in 1dB of actual gain; that means you’re wasting a LOT of power and risking damage to your speaker for no acoustical gain. Some of you may even think to yourselves “seems like you’re not getting much by crossing the midbass low. Maybe there’s not as much benefit as I thought in doing that”. That’s a logical assumption and a lot of times that’s actually true. Crossing the midbass too low can actually result in more “bass behind you”! And you can also take some of the strain off your midbass by crossing them at or above the null. Ironically, we in car audio tend to cross midbass low to get the “up front” bass we so much desire. BUT, IN FACT, the majority of the time you have bass that pulls to the rear is BECAUSE of the midbass nulls. I know that sounds counter-intuitive. But it’s the truth. Standing waves are problematic and this is one symptom of them; whether in home or car audio.
Contrary to popular belief, raising the subwoofer crossover in to the region that this null occurs can actually HELP the sound to stay focused and achieve “up front” bass. If you can move your subwoofer to a location where it is null-free through a frequency above the Nearside Null then you can likely improve midbass without negatively impacting the “up front bass” effect that so many are after. And you can also take some of the strain off your midbass by crossing them at or above the null frequency. Not all have the luxury of space to move the subwoofer around much but experimentation is key here; you may be surprised at the difference subwoofer placement in the trunk can make. And one important conclusion here is that placing the rear mounted subwoofer on the opposite side of the listening position often results in better response!
And for those of you who are wondering, the install was done by Steve Cook and his team at Audio X in Florence, Alabama. You can find some information about them here: / audioxinc
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- Erin
The best mid bass I ever had was two pro audio JBL 12s directly behind me. Of course that’s not practical for most daily drivers. Great content Erin!
Home alone. Anyone else out there who did it with him?
can I run just mids in my honda accord interior and let my 12" sub pick up all the frequencies up to my mids????
Lol. Why didn't you show us the summed response of the near side midbass + sub?
I have the JBL spare wheel sub woofer and cannot play around with the placement. Is there any other way can I improve the mid bass?
Erin do you think there would be any real benefit to placing the door mid/midbass driver in a ported enclosure tuned to the center of the null?
Makes sense of why the woofer of my JL HO12w3 box has the sub more to the right edge of the box rather than centered.
Interesting results Erin - I wonder if that is why the factory sub in my Grand Cherokee is on the right side of the hatch.
Great explanation Erin!
By adding another set of midbass some were in the car to fill in the nulls, does it matter if the midbass matches the other set upfront?. For example, size, brand, power handling ect?.
Using real measurements to show the subwoofer and mid-bass null, and your various attempts to understand & reduce them was brilliant. Thank you so much for taking the effort.
Great video man. I've seen all your klipple stuff from awhile back on diyma. Thanks for sharing.
Ahhh perfect timing, I'm just about to add dual subs in place of my single stock sub and this info will no doubt help. Thanks!
Hi Erin and the rest of the community! I really enjoy following your adventures in the car audio world. Especially the posts about measuring techniqes.
@Erin's Audio Corner
Very educational. I'm going to have to go check out how moving the sub around in my truck affects the midbass null. Already in passenger side extended cab so it may be optimal placement already due to dumb luck.
Good video, thanks Erin.
Great video. Especially love the Duran Duran t-shirt 😁
Savage video. This is some next level advice
Thanks for the insight!