Basic PEQ question

1876 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Rlilly, Aug 1, 2015

shkumar4963

Discussion Starter · Mar 17, 2015

Can I use PEQ to lift bass response of a standmount speaker? If yes, what is the limit of this approach? How much increase at lower frequencies (in db) is accoetable? For a speaker with -6db point at 50 hz and -12 db at 32 hz, can I raise 12 db using PEQ for a flat frequency response till 32 hz. That would be sufficient for all kind of music except for home theater. one negative could be danger of burning the speaker by pumping so much energy in the speaker at that low frequency. How do I estimate what is the max energy I can put in the speaker safely? For average music listening levels ( about 86 to 90 db at 1 m), is there a danger for kef ls50.

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Phillips

· #2 · Mar 17, 2015

I would say NO, to much pressure on the drivers. The speaker has not been built for this.

Try room gain, placing them more towards the walls

You are better to buy a good sub to get the extra extension, and best sound. I personally like stand mounts with a really good sub.

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Tonto

· #3 · Mar 17, 2015

You don't usually treat nulls or dips. The are caused by room nodes & boosting the signal will not help. Peaks on the other hand can be addressed nicely. Agree that moving the speaker around to find the best FR is the best option with LF.

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Wayne A. Pflughaupt

· #4 · Mar 18, 2015

It’s never a good idea to pump that much low end into a speaker with tiny woofers, equalization isn’t going to overcome physical limitations. If you did you’d be restricted to running them at very low volumes, to keep from overdriving the woofer.

Regards,
Wayne

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shkumar4963

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 20, 2015

Thanks to everyone. Lots of good suggestions. To clarify, my intention was not to do this with my speakers but to better understand why or why not it could be done. At the first glance, the logic about 20 db dynamic range made sense to me but on further thinking it did not seem right. Assuming that the speakers are rated at 100wrms and are audiophile speakers, they must be capable of handling dynamic peaks of 20 db (if that is what we are assuming peaks to be) at 100 wrms power. That means while speakers can take only 100 watts rms power, the driver excursions or movements are capable of dynamic peaks of 20 db. In that case as long as the rms power stays within 100 watts, we need not worry about the 20 db dynamic peaks. Am i thinking about this incorrectly?

Also if RMS power is of concern then we just have to limit the overall volume to less than 91 db. so the question is what base boost (how many db at 50 hz and how many db at 32 hz] can be applied without damaging the speakers?

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Rlilly

· #6 · Aug 1, 2015

Generally, large adjustments in EQ are not a great idea. There are some exceptions, but hold that thought for a second.

Take for example, you'r speaker that is 12db down at 32hz. If your average power at listening level is 10 watts, with 12db of EQ boost at 32hz you would be doubling the power 4 times. So you would need 160 watts to get the same output.

So as you can see that you need a ton of power, not to mention that this may be well outside of the response of the driver, and will almost certainly exceed the maximum excursion of the driver.

Now there are applications with SEALED enclosure subs, where this type of boost is applied by design. A sealed enclosure drops off at 12db/octave below resonant frequency. So using a driver that has plenty of Xmax, and can handle a lot of power this type of boost CAN be used to get smooth and flat low end extension.

Generally when you EQ, rather than boosting what is "missing" its better to take out the peaks, and whats left shines through, and sounds more full and balanced.

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