Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinistre1
Just got back from New Orleans and had the opportunity to listen to some live (way live, actually!!) Jazz. It started me wondering... What's the frequency range for the contrabass. I have an SVS PB12/ISD and I am wondering how much of this instruments' range is produced by the sub and how much by my mains? Mains are Pinnacle Pn8+. Sub is crossed over at 80hz. Receiver is the ubiquitous Pioneer 1014. I turned off my amp (front (L/R)speakers are powered by Adcom GFA 555) and listened to just the sub it seems like very little of the contrabass' FR is in the |
It depends a little on exactly what instrument you're refering to. Contrabass refers to an approximate note range rather than a particular instrument. I'm assuming we're talking about the contrabass of the violin family, an instrument very popular in jazz. Its more commonly called the double bass, or the string bass. The standard form of this instrument decends to about 40 Hz. (Modified versions, such as 5- or 6- string go a little lower, about 30 Hz). The range from 40-80 Hz represents the lowest octave of the instrument. I'm not that familiar with music written for the string bass, but for most instruments, most pieces don't spend a lot of time in the very bottom (or the very top) of the possible range - the middle is what gets used most. So there's probably not a lot of signal below (taking an educated guess) 60 Hz in any particular piece. Add the fact that crossovers aren't a brick wall and you get less than you might expect coming from the sub.
This is all assuming you're actually talking about the double bass/string bass (its pretty standard for jazz quartets). There are other possibilities, and for some you might expect more sub signal. The string octocontrabass, by naming convention, ought to go an octave lower that the string bass. The 23 Hz figure you mentioned seemed to come from the 7/8/9-string bass guitars, right? These are pretty different instruments - think the electric bass in a rock band, with extra strings to extend the low end. (I've never seen acoustic bass guitar with the extra strings - the body would have to be huge for appropriate resonance!)
Anyway, my point is, I wouldn't be too alarmed that you're not getting a whole lot through the sub - unless you have similar problems with test tones of known frequency.
