A term coined in 1989 by William R. Ames, which was used to describe a person who likes excessive amounts of bass sounds in their music.

proper name given to a unique sound system that resides in the eastern United States, the location of which is known as the Bass Pig's Lair. The system is the brainchild of Mark A. Weiss, an audio engineer with a passion for pipe organs and low frequencies. A listening experience with this system caused the author of the term to coin the phrase “bass pig,” literally.

The Bass Pig sound reproduction system is an integral component of a sophisticated audio recording studio, and functions as an extraordinarily lifelike monitoring and playback system for the studio's recording and mixing sessions. In addition, Bass Pig is an ongoing experimental project, the aim of which is to redefine the fidelity standards of studio monitoring and playback.

The Bass Pig’s Lair has an official seal, shown at right.<br /><br />

THE BASS PIG TECHNOLOGY

Bass Pig breaks new ground in the field of loudspeaker technology, especially with regard to low frequency reproduction.<br /><br />

[View of front main speakers in the Bass Pig system]<br /><br />

It uses extreme long-throw, rigid piston drivers for it’s sub-30Hz bass and infrasonic transducers, custom built for the application. The drivers employ Neodymium magnets in a unique B-hive pot core assembly that was computer-designed using finite element analysis and is part of an emerging technology for loudspeaker development, driven partly by the car audio "dB dragracing" industry as well as the professional sound reinforcement industry, with its need to deliver greater quantities of quality low-frequency reproduction, while keeping truckloading to a manageable size. The motor assembly provides a very strong magnetic field over several inches of travel, enabling a voice coil to have a predictable and flat transfer function over a wide range of travel. This additional travel is the key to using single drivers to substitute for greater numbers of multiple drivers in large venues.

The diaphragm assembly is a rigid structure consisting of two layers of fiberglass, reinforced with Kevlar fibers, sandwiching a honeycomb core, which is about 6mm thick. Moving mass is 300 grams for each of these 18.5” diameter drivers, which have a recommended amplifier power of 3200 watts and can displace 1225 cubic inches of air.

The mid bass drivers utilized in the Bass Pig system are Electro-Voice EVX-180B models. All bass and sub-bass drivers are in custom-designed vented enclosures, with subsonic tuning frequencies.

Midrange and high frequency information is handled by JBL components; a pair of E120 12” drivers in tuned enclosures which extend the low en d of their efficient range, and a pair of 2403 Elliptical compression tweeters, which were hand-picked for their transient accuracy and detail.<br /><br />

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[Image of Bass Pig's control, preamplifier and power amplifier racks]<br /><br />

The integrated system is controlled by a Behringer DCX2496 Loudspeaker Management System, which splits the preamplified signals into various frequency bands which are then routed to separate amplifiers which drive the loudspeakers in their respective frequency ranges. Mid and high frequencies are amplified by a pair of Hafler 500 MOSFET power amplifiers which are configured in bridge mono mode for approximately 1350 watts of power, each. Low frequencies are fed to two QSC Powerlight 6.0 PFC 6,000-watt professional audio amplifiers. One of the two QSC amplifiers drives six EVX-180Bs and the other QSC amplifier drives the four sub-bass custom woofers, supplied by Bassmaxx Technology.

Bass Pig utilizes a dedicated 240 volt ac power line and its own set of circuit breakers off of a 200-amp feed. The flourescent overhead lamps actually dim during strong bass material and will modulate in intensity with steady-state low frequency tones. This is largely due to the considerable current draw capacity of the QSC amplifiers, each of which can pull 93 amperes of electric current, when driven to full output.

The system has been in development since the mid 1970s, taking on much of its present footprint and configuration around 1984, when the studio space it occupies was enlarged and renovated. The latest modifications occurred in June of 2006, in which the Bassmaxxsubwoofers were introduced, along with the QSC amplifiers.

A legend in its own time, Bass Pig has its own domain name and web site on the internet, as well as a number of devoted followers, via various acoustical/visual stunts the system can perform with its tremendous subsonic acoustical output.
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