Demo subwoofer did what I have never experienced at home?

[nugget2014]

When you say plug you mean mains plug?

In that placement it should be shaking the sofa but it can muffle the mid tones (35 and up) and make them sound weak and that is where a lot of impact is (i know this as i used a nearfiled placement once). you need to move it into more open space away from the sofa which could be acting like a big sponge at the moment, just to be sure! a few inches here and there make a big difference. Doing that might give you alot more volume. Not depth volume. Only you know what space you have so move it as close as you can to the fronts. You have a rectangle-ish room so should be some what good.

As for the plug just buy a bigger/longer exstension lead for now (a realed one) from a hardware store, should be able to get a cheap one for 5-10

see how you get on..

But remeber that subwoofer is never going to shift air the way a ported subwoofer is going to. Try all the steps and if you really still get no joy trade it in a get a ported subwoofer. The SVS pb1000 should be a direct swap with money you get from it and i have heard for the money its a stunner. You really dont have the room for a BK monolith its massive.

But try everything before you spend more money.

But i think you maybe expecting to much from it, as i have said before the store may have had it turned way up for maxium impact to help sell it. Its an old dirty trick. Also not all films shake the house and there are only a handfull of moments when you will feel in your chest bass the reviews that pass on films as saying "this sequence is deep" can be exagerated.

Take the Super 8 train seqence for example its loud for sure with massive crashing moments but the depth is really only at the begining of the seqence when the train is aproching and when exsplosions are going off 2-3 secounds of real deep stuff and i mean deep sub 20hz. The rest sounds like its more in the 25-30hz region for impact which your sub should able to do nicely.

Films are mixed to be balenced! for a good subwoofer thats been set up right you should never really be able to know it's on till you turn it off , it should never draw attention to its self. You should never be able to hear where the bass is coming from. Ill take that any day over chest crushing "Gary boy" bass as i call it.

I think you have a good balance from what i have been reading i just think you need to move it a round abit to find the happy in between part. Solid Bass with balance. I could be wrong and im happy to be proven wrong.

ellisdj has recently moved from a sub around the same size as yours to a massive SVS. from what i have read he a has only gained more DB's and a flatter response but no more real depth maybe a few hz but he was more worried about impact at 25-30hz he was well aware that his subs would never devel to the depths of SVS ported subs but he favours sealed units. Maybe he can give you some insights as well if he is reading.

But never the less set it manually first and the EQ if you wish. EQing could be doing more harm than good at the moment. Get to know the setup first and make sure you are getting a proper tone from it in the levels. a bitt ramably sorry.

i used to have it near the Middle of the room in front of the unit but didn't sound great. The first corner sounded better and the second sounds similar. My sub is ported but the port is located underneath (I know because I put some paper underneath and it blows the paper like a fan on full blast sort of. I'll see if I can reach the sub at front by plugging it into an extension and place the extension halfway behind the TV see what it sounds like then. Might give it a go in few days

 

[bigboss]

Can you confirm this nugget?

Make sure you've set your speakers to "small" on the AV receiver, so that the lower frequencies are sent to the subwoofer.

Your subwoofer will have no work to do if you set your speakers to "large".

 

[nugget2014]

Can you confirm this nugget?

Make sure you've set your speakers to "small" on the AV receiver, so that the lower frequencies are sent to the subwoofer.

Your subwoofer will have no work to do if you set your speakers to "large".

yeah they are set to small bigboss.

 

[nugget2014]

When you say plug you mean mains plug?

In that placement it should be shaking the sofa but it can muffle the mid tones (35 and up) and make them sound weak and that is where a lot of impact is (i know this as i used a nearfiled placement once). you need to move it into more open space away from the sofa which could be acting like a big sponge at the moment, just to be sure! a few inches here and there make a big difference. Doing that might give you alot more volume. Not depth volume. Only you know what space you have so move it as close as you can to the fronts. You have a rectangle-ish room so should be some what good.

As for the plug just buy a bigger/longer exstension lead for now (a realed one) from a hardware store, should be able to get a cheap one for 5-10

see how you get on..

But remeber that subwoofer is never going to shift air the way a ported subwoofer is going to. Try all the steps and if you really still get no joy trade it in a get a ported subwoofer. The SVS pb1000 should be a direct swap with money you get from it and i have heard for the money its a stunner. You really dont have the room for a BK monolith its massive.

But try everything before you spend more money.

But i think you maybe expecting to much from it, as i have said before the store may have had it turned way up for maxium impact to help sell it. Its an old dirty trick. Also not all films shake the house and there are only a handfull of moments when you will feel in your chest bass the reviews that pass on films as saying "this sequence is deep" can be exagerated.

Take the Super 8 train seqence for example its loud for sure with massive crashing moments but the depth is really only at the begining of the seqence when the train is aproching and when exsplosions are going off 2-3 secounds of real deep stuff and i mean deep sub 20hz. The rest sounds like its more in the 25-30hz region for impact which your sub should able to do nicely.

Films are mixed to be balenced! for a good subwoofer thats been set up right you should never really be able to know it's on till you turn it off , it should never draw attention to its self. You should never be able to hear where the bass is coming from. Ill take that any day over chest crushing "Gary boy" bass as i call it.

I think you have a good balance from what i have been reading i just think you need to move it a round abit to find the happy in between part. Solid Bass with balance. I could be wrong and im happy to be proven wrong.

ellisdj has recently moved from a sub around the same size as yours to a massive SVS. from what i have read he a has only gained more DB's and a flatter response but no more real depth maybe a few hz but he was more worried about impact at 25-30hz he was well aware that his subs would never devel to the depths of SVS ported subs but he favours sealed units. Maybe he can give you some insights as well if he is reading.

But never the less set it manually first and the EQ if you wish. EQing could be doing more harm than good at the moment. Get to know the setup first and make sure you are getting a proper tone from it in the levels. a bitt ramably sorry.

when you say swap, do you mean sell it and buy a different sub with the money i get or swap the sub for a different sub? because i would love to know a website where you can swap subs (or speakers etc) just for curiousity! i would of bought the svs pb-2000 if i could find a second hand one same with the mono but i seen the dali ikon sub mk2 2nd hand for £399 including delivery from movie rooms website which is located in edinburgh i believe?

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Also when i say swap i mean trad in. But what im saying is you might get enough money to allow you pretty much do a direct swap at no extra coast to you. You may get £400 store credit to put towards a new one for example. I dont how you could

 

[Deleted member 116933]

try Nick @ homesound he might be able to sort you out. he might have a couple of ex-demo subs. it depends on what you want he stock SVS .im currently in the process of trading mine in and he gave a fare price for both my subs.

If not sell privetly get the money you want and put some money towards something you really want. But like i say there no gurantees that a new one will give you any gains. He will let you return free of charge if you dont like it and he even arranges pick up and delivery of the old and new one. He is based in edinburgh also. If that is where you live. I live in the south and i have no problems with him and im sure i annoy the monkeys out of him with all my questions.

 

[jordanfx]

i use to have a similar problem setting up my sub.not anymore now sounds awesome.i have the mj acoustics pro 50 mk3 along with monitor audio silver 6 fronts and centre with mission bi polar rears.spoke to mj acoustics for advice on setting up as i have tried every combination small large you name a setting i have tried it.but this setting is by far the best.all speakers set to large.reciever sub (yamaha 1065) crossover set to 80hz.sub set to 90hz.level on sub between 9 and 10 o clock.and eq turned off. this works for me.

 

[nugget2014]

Moved the sub today and not as loud as it was in corner but heard a few notes I didn't hear before I think that weren't there tucked away next to sofas and maybe they were soaking up the midbass I don't know. Here's a picture of the setup now with sub in view. Will see how it plays for Godzilla now

http://i.imgur.com/hcv5NGZ.jpg

 

[nugget2014]

Some frequencies don't shake the room which was most noticeable for one or two songs such as iggy azalea-black widow. To get back some excitement I turned the sun up to +10db but still have it on 70% gain too. Loudest noise that I heard today was picked up at 90db on the sound level meter so it's not too loud I think. It's weird how my room doesn't shake now for music but I hear the fireplace and door resonate (I think?) and make noise did to repositioning of the sub. Will see how it works there

 

[his dudeness]

thats a better position for the sub it should sound a lot cleaner and tighter give it a bit of time to get used to it.

 

[nugget2014]

Are subs meant to sound a lot louder in the bass standing next to it I assume? Walk past it today and seemed a lot louder rather than sitting on sofa which is 12feet away

 

[naughty573]

Are subs meant to sound a lot louder in the bass standing next to it I assume? Walk past it today and seemed a lot louder rather than sitting on sofa which is 12feet away

This is all to do with room acoustics, there are spots in your room which will result in a null (possibly becase of standing waves) whereas at a different spot in your room the same frequency could be at a peak which is what room treatment ie bass traps and diffusers etc are all about.

What you really need to do is to actually play around with the position of the subwoofer and in fact just leaving it where it is and playing around with the settings is not going to help you much.

The best way to decide what the best position for your subwoofer is, is to actually place the subwoofer at your sitting position and while it is playing you need to move around the room and to see where it sounds the best to you. The theory is that when you reverse the position ie when you are seated and the subwoofer is at the spot you determine as best, then it should be sounding about right. Obviously though you might need to settle for the spot that is most practical for the location, since in the middle of the room is not really practical.

 

[ellisdj]

You need to ignore all the above and measure the response with REW. This is the only way to tell with bass - by ear does not work, even to the most trained ear

If you are running the sub as it is on that high levels and your not getting enough bass you are sitting in a big bass null. Your only option might be to move the seating position or place the sub in the rear corner of the room nearfield - so that you get the bass before the room murders it.

Or treat the corners and back wall with bass traps - this the best option of them all

Again start by measuring and that will show you what you need to do - home theatre shack forum are the best place for REW advice.

Sealed subs arere designed to go in the corners, taking them away will reduce the amount of deep bass they will produce. It may smooth the bass some but at a cost.

By the looks of your image you sit in the rear corner - this is your main problem as corners are where bass collects and thats where the biggest nulls and peaks are going to be

 

[nugget2014]

You need to ignore all the above and measure the response with REW. This is the only way to tell with bass - by ear does not work, even to the most trained ear

If you are running the sub as it is on that high levels and your not getting enough bass you are sitting in a big bass null. Your only option might be to move the seating position or place the sub in the rear corner of the room nearfield - so that you get the bass before the room murders it.

Or treat the corners and back wall with bass traps - this the best option of them all

Again start by measuring and that will show you what you need to do - home theatre shack forum are the best place for REW advice.

Sealed subs arere designed to go in the corners, taking them away will reduce the amount of deep bass they will produce. It may smooth the bass some but at a cost.

By the looks of your image you sit in the rear corner - this is your main problem as corners are where bass collects and thats where the biggest nulls and peaks are going to be

i've moved away from the corner and mainly sit in the middle now. the bass is good but i turned the sub down from +10db to +3db on the av settings and for music this makes a big difference bass is a lot less present but for movies it's no problem as i wouldnt mind turning up the master volume a bit.

if only there was a way to get best of both uses!

 

[ellisdj]

This should not be the case - if the bass is right its right for everything, seriously.

Good your making progress - if you dont sit in the corner now, try the sub back in corner, this will enhance the deeper bass.

If the bass gets boomy then its an idea to employ one of the several devices such as antimode etc if your receiver doesnt have comprehensive bass managament such as arc or audessey - this is not the best solution, but better than nothing

I find its easier to set the level from music I have found but the rest needs measuring 100% to know for sure. The ears are no god for measuring bass - think how small your ears are and how big bass waves are - up to metres long

I also feel your doing the wrong thing with the levels on your receiver.

Levels should never be plus as thats double amplifying the signal - all your levels should be 0db or lower then boost either the overall volume or the sub level to compensate.

You should never have a + db as that is amplifying the signal - this cannot be a good thing.

 

[nugget2014]

This should not be the case - if the bass is right its right for everything, seriously.

Good your making progress - if you dont sit in the corner now, try the sub back in corner, this will enhance the deeper bass.

If the bass gets boomy then its an idea to employ one of the several devices such as antimode etc if your receiver doesnt have comprehensive bass managament such as arc or audessey - this is not the best solution, but better than nothing

I find its easier to set the level from music I have found but the rest needs measuring 100% to know for sure. The ears are no god for measuring bass - think how small your ears are and how big bass waves are - up to metres long

I also feel your doing the wrong thing with the levels on your receiver.

Levels should never be plus as thats double amplifying the signal - all your levels should be 0db or lower then boost either the overall volume or the sub level to compensate.

You should never have a + db as that is amplifying the signal - this cannot be a good thing.

having sub in corner shaked the room more and good for films but for music i think better at the front of the room, seemed better for music after 5 min testing

 

[nugget2014]

This should not be the case - if the bass is right its right for everything, seriously.

Good your making progress - if you dont sit in the corner now, try the sub back in corner, this will enhance the deeper bass.

If the bass gets boomy then its an idea to employ one of the several devices such as antimode etc if your receiver doesnt have comprehensive bass managament such as arc or audessey - this is not the best solution, but better than nothing

I find its easier to set the level from music I have found but the rest needs measuring 100% to know for sure. The ears are no god for measuring bass - think how small your ears are and how big bass waves are - up to metres long

I also feel your doing the wrong thing with the levels on your receiver.

Levels should never be plus as thats double amplifying the signal - all your levels should be 0db or lower then boost either the overall volume or the sub level to compensate.

You should never have a + db as that is amplifying the signal - this cannot be a good thing.

having sub in corner shaked the room more and good for films but for music i think better at the front of the room, seemed better for music after 5 min testing

so you are saying i should hass bass eq of "front's" set to +0db, instead of my +10db? and just instead turn the sub up to +10db? i like more bass with music and i need both set to +10db for the amount i like, but back to +3db on the sub for movies..

 

[ellisdj]

Yes you want all your speaker / sub levels 0db or less never a + db.

The corner will be better if the sub is setup well - but leave it where you like it

 

[nugget2014]

Yes you want all your speaker / sub levels 0db or less never a + db.

The corner will be better if the sub is setup well - but leave it where you like it

whats wrong with +db? something about double amplifying a signal, what effect does doing that have, or having +db on sub etc? i havent found any faults so far with it

 

[bigboss]

“0 dB” is a kind of “maximum loudness” setting beyond which you could drive the amplifier / subwoofer into audible distortion or “clipping”.[/b]

 

[nugget2014]

“0 dB” is a kind of “maximum loudness” setting beyond which you could drive the amplifier / subwoofer into audible distortion or “clipping”.

ahh i understand now. although i dont think it matters that much because i dont have content on that loud anyway. most of the time music is around 70db and movies 80-90db only once or twice have had movies at 100db or around that

 

[nugget2014]

Today I have explored new territory with my sub, I pushed it further and didn't even know it could play so loud! Played at 20-25 volume on my av receiver with sub 30db hot and 70% gain. Moved some serious amount of air. Before I said I could have two. I think that would destroy my flat! Sub is by far the best purchase I have ever made. Neighbour is out till 5 and dog barking so abused it

90db from listening position and 104db of bass with spl meter right in front of cone.. Am I near reference yet? although my meter is near dead it has no battery so maybe it isn't picking up the levels right. It feels like 110db