epicenter

not too much into the audio scene guys so excuse me, what is an epicenter, and what purpose does it serve in an audio system?commit your way to jehovah and he will act in your behalf. psalms 37:5

An epicenter is a bass frequency synthesizer used to artificially add low frequency information into a signal.  It is often used in cheap, sub-par systems to make them boom more loudly.  The epicenter represents the easiest tool ever created to blow your subwoofers with clipped amplifier output and to create super-loud ass-like noises with uber-high distortion.  Not recommended.Support the12volt.com

^^^^^ not often that I disagree but I kind of like Epicenters when used in moderation and used properly. Used improperly, 100% you are going to destroy your sub.Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

Yes, of course you're right Rob.  Perhaps I was being a bit harsh... if setup and used properly I suppose they could be a big help, sort of like an add-on "loudness" function.  It's just that I nave never seen one being used that way.  Support the12volt.com

I see a good deal of info about the epicenter, but I have yet see anyone clearly explain what it does. Most specifically  in older music the recording process involved eliminating the bottom harmonic to more easily accomidate the rest of the signal. What the epicenter does is look for harmonics [a bass note of 50hz will resonate at harmonics of 100hz, 200hz, 400hz, etc.] of notes that were present in the studio but removed in the recording process. The epicenter generates the 50hz signal when it finds the artifacts matching the higher harmonics.

It is the harmonic resonations that make it sound like bass notes come from tiny speakers like earbuds, there is no reason to waste amplifier power and bandwidth on lower frequencies that are not going to be reproduced by small speakers. When such music is played on a system with adequite low end representation, the results are falsely  thin and underpowered. The epicenter IS NOT a bass bost. It often has very minimal effect of modern music that does not use actual instraments. Most impresive results will be had with music. A hammer can be used to build or destroy, the epicenter is a tool that most people abuse and they end up using it to destroy instead of restore. Anyone who condems a tool because it does damage does not understand how to use the tool. They are why there is a market for safety scissors.