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

"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.

For an easy and decent "quality bass/slam" demo, head down to BEst Buy or equivalent with your Iphone or equivalent and give the fairly new Sennheiser Momentum circumaural headphones ($300) a listen. These deliver a decent example of what good detailed bass with slam should sound like, even off a decent quality standard issue portable audio device sans any special amplification.

Martykl, I agree, but please excuse me if I seem petty, but "slam" to me is also a reproduction of transient bass macro-dynamics. Yes, it is accurate; if it's on the recording, it should be able to be reproduced in your room.

.
I get plenty of slam in my system. But the funny thing is I don't ever recall hearing any slam at any of the live music that I've ever attended.