"Slam"--what is it, is it really accurate?

"Slam" sells , meaning people tend to like it, and is a big part of many modern recordings these days, especially in pop and music realms involving synthesizers, etc.

It can occur naturally as anyone who has sat close and listened to a drum or any sort being played knows well.

Most forms of live music (save perhaps most forms of classical chamber music or perhaps acoustic folk) have a certain "slam" factor, that varies case by case. Proximity of listener to players usually is means more slam.

My opinion is that if the slam is in the recording, I want it to be delivered accurately along with the rest. Its a big part of being able to convince the listener that what is being heard is real and not just a recording, even though it is.

TO enable that, speakers must not be undersized for the target room, amp must be capable of driving speakers to the max, and a good quality source is needed.

THen the recording is enabled to do its thing, slam or otherwise.

YEah, I hate thumping bass with no texture or detail as much as the next audiophile worth their salt, but love it when done well.

Complete agreement with all Mapman's statements plus an aded emphasis on the importance of the listening room being part of the equation. I've gone through the evolution of DIY room treatments, discarding those and then adding GIK bass traps, and finally adding a Spatial Computer Black Hole pressure regulator in the search for accurate, well controlled bass. With each step, bass has become more accurate and the "slam" we're talking about has gotten more believable. Like Mapman, accurate, you-are-there bass reproduction is something I love.

I've been comparing headphones lately.

Good headphones, like many popular Sennheiser and Audio Technica models, deliver the slam well along with all the rest.

THose along the "Beats" track may deliver slam but not good sound all around.

Others, even some pricey popular ones, are simply junk and turn to jelly with any "slam" present in the recording. Bose headphones were the biggest offenders in this regard I have experienced recently.

"Slam" isn't exactly a well defined word, in
regards to audio. Similarly; some disagree when the term,
"tight" is used, in reference to accurate bass.
When you are referring to live music; one need not be very
close to a drum set, to feel the sensations with which the
kick, toms and snare(or timpani, in a classical setting) can
impact your senses. You can literally sense the tightness of
the skins, through your body. Ever been around any taiko
drummers or pipe organs? They'll fill a good sized venue
with tactile sensations, quite well. The bottom of a
Hammond
B3, produced though a pair of Leslie 122's, can push a bit
too. Regarding audio reproduction: Mapman's last four
paragraphs(1st post) echo my views.

Slam means macro dynamics in the bass registers - at least in my book.

Walk into your local music shop and ask a salesperson to knock out four Beats on a kick drum. That's a good starting point to shoot for and can certainly be achieved in a good system without goosing FR. Good quality subwoofers (if crossed in high enough) are usually a good example. You're looking for high clean output capability between 50ish and 70ish hertz in most cases. Since most speakers don't spec this capability, you're mostly on your own in determining a full range speaker's ability to deliver "slam".

If you define the term more broadly (eg to include reproduction of a pipe organ) then the bass output capabilities must obviously extend well below the 50ish hz cited above. In all cases, you should be aware that many recordings - by design - will not provide the dynamics to allow full reproduction of bass macro dynamics.