Use "Bass Boost" or not? (1 Viewer)

[Jim Mcc]

I have a JVC Dolby Digital 6.1 receiver with a bass boost switch, and I'm wondering if I should have it on or off.
I'm using five(6.5") bookshelf speakers, center channel speaker with 4" woofers, and a 100 watt, 8" Sony sub. I have all 6 speakers set to "Small", and sub. set to 80hz.(I think). Do you think I should set "bass boost" to on or off?
This is just for home theater, by the way. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Rob Silver]

That all depends on your taste and your equipment. If you feel your speakers put out enough thump w/o the bass boost, then leave it off. If you like more thump, then turn it on. Personally, I like to leave EQ and everything else at default when I listen to music and watch movies. But that's just me.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Thanks Rob, but I thought if I set speakers to "small", the bass bypasses those speakers and goes to subwoofer? Is that correct?

 

[Lewis Besze]

Depends what frequency the boost is centered at,the same goes for the crossover setting[if it's variable]of the bass managment.
All in all I wouldn't use it unless you listen at low volume.

 

[MikeEckman]

There are a lot of people who like to strictly adhere to reference level audio calibrations. Me, personally, prefer to do whatever sounds better to me.

Do an A/B comparison with it on and off and see which way you like best. Just make sure that you're not overdriving your speakers with the additional bass.

 

[Brian L]

Exactly....it might be very effective as a sort of loudness compensation at low volumes.

BGL

 

[Rich Malloy]

Listen to it, but I doubt it'd do you any good (except in the highly unlikely event that it happens to compensate nearly perfectly for a specific deficiency somewhere).

Usually, these "bass boost" features are just EQ alterations that amplify the frequencies in a certain range. In this case, it's most likely the upper bass, and this will give you the perception of "punchier" bass. But what you really want is a "flat" (that is, "even") response across all frequencies. If you just happen to have a dip in those frequencies that are boosted (generally due to room acoustics or poor sub/speaker integration), then it'll sound like an improvement. However, it is very, very unlikely that this button will re-EQ your system to compensate for just those frequency responses that might happen to be lacking.