Sub woofwer woes

[bobrobert]

I have a denon D-M38 music receiver with matching SC-M37 denon speakers. I tried connecting a Wharfedale 150 subwoofer to the receiver. I have checked that the cables between the speakers and the sub are correctly set. I used a chord crimson plus audio lead to connect the connector on the denon to the input on the subwoofer. Again checked that the settings are correct. However I can get little sound from the subwoofer even if the volume is turned up to the highest on the reciever and the sub. Without the sub everything is working correctly. Am I using the wrong lead to connect the denon and the sub? A Maplin employee said it may be impedance related. Also I have read on the internet that the wharfdale and the denon are compatible. The deno is 30 watt. I am a newbie.

 

[Timbot]

Is this for DVD / Blu-ray or for TV?

Have you set the speaker pattern to 5.1 (or 3/2/1 or however Denon put it in their menu)?

What is the crossover set at for the speakers? For the fronts to offload bass to the sub (unless there is a dedicated LFE track like you get on a DVD or Blu-ray) they need to be set to small in the speaker size option.

Hope this helps!

Timbot

 

[bobrobert]

Thanks for the reply. It is for playing music CD'S. Regarding speaker patterns, this is new to me and I will investigate. I have just tried the set up with different speakers and the same problem remains. I have to turn the volume a way up and the sound is masked by excessive humming even with the bass and treble turned off or down on the denon.

 

[Timbot]

Just looked up the D-M38. Given you some duff info above as I assumed it was an A/V receiver and it's very much not!

I don't see why it would be impedance related as it's an active sub so only a small signal is sent down the sub cable.

What is your crossover level set to? Try setting it as kigh as you can and see if that helps. Have you plugged the phono cable into the correct input on the sub? (Think it should be the left input).

Apart from that it should just work by the looks of things. Possibly a faulty cable / product?

 

[bobrobert]

I have looked closely at your suggestions. Tried another cable. I normally play the volume at about 14 on the denon but I have to put it to max 45 to get a reasonable sound. Twiddled with the settings on the back of the sub and with the volume turned up it booms "too much" Would a dedicated sub woofer cable help? Looking at different websites the advice seems split. I have tried the link cable on the left as the manual suggest and all others. Are all audio cables suitable for a link cable and would a RCA phono cable help? Lastly does the sub need running in for a while?TIA

 

[Timbot]

I don't think a dedicated subwoofer cable will make much difference IMHO.

I am a bit confused by the issues you are having. Are the stereo speakers quieter when the sub is plugged in or is it just that you feel the sub isn't contributing as much as you'd expect at your normal listening level and is as loud as you'd expect at max volume? i.e. the sub is what you'd expect when you're getting deafened by the normal speakers. A sub is correct when you can't hear it as a seperate entity. It should add, not detract. Or is it just not working correctly?

The sub will probably get a little better over time but placement can make a big difference to the "bloatedness". There is a guide in the video section of this website (it's about AV set ups but may give you a bit of a pointer...)

One other question... What music are you playing to test the sub? Have you tried some bass-heavy music? Could it just be that there isn't that much low frequency in the recording?

 

[Ragworm]

I see the Denon has a dedicated sub-woofer output. You're connecting this to one of the line level inputs with a phono cable - correct? Try setting the cross-over frequency to it's highest frequency. This will mean the sub cuts in earlier. Does that make any difference?

 

[Anonymous]

Previous posters have been correct in what they are saying. I have the same sub as you mention. The perfect sub settings and placement mean that you will not be able to specifically place the subs input to the music, it should merely add to the effect and seamlessly blend with the speakers. Place your hand under the sub but not on the actual cone, if you can feel air moving then the sub is working. It is worth noting that slot of people don't like the effect of a sub in a hifi setup and prefer it for home cinema. Look for a setting on the denon called 'crossover' or 'lfe' and set the frequency as high as possible. This means that the amp will send more of the music to the sub leaving your speakers for the other frequencies. On the back of the sub set the volume to midway and the crossover to 85 (the highest it will go). Plug your sub cable into one of the 'line level inputs' at the top left of the panel, not the speaker inputs in the bottom left. Put on some base heavy music and see what you get. If that doesn't work I suspect something is technically wrong.

 

[Anonymous]

A picture paints a thousand words... I'm trying to do this 100% on my iBore so it may not work and explains the poor quality. http://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=6068186711

 

[bobrobert]

I don't think a dedicated subwoofer cable will make much difference IMHO.

I am a bit confused by the issues you are having. Are the stereo speakers quieter when the sub is plugged in or is it just that you feel the sub isn't contributing as much as you'd expect at your normal listening level and is as loud as you'd expect at max volume? i.e. the sub is what you'd expect when you're getting deafened by the normal speakers. A sub is correct when you can't hear it as a seperate entity. It should add, not detract. Or is it just not working correctly?

The sub will probably get a little better over time but placement can make a big difference to the "bloatedness". There is a guide in the video section of this website (it's about AV set ups but may give you a bit of a pointer...)

One other question... What music are you playing to test the sub? Have you tried some bass-heavy music? Could it just be that there isn't that much low frequency in the recording?

Come to think about it I am possibly not getting any sound from the speakers but only from the sub? I will check again. I am using the subwoofer connection on the denon and have tried the crossover settings and all the obvious ones. I will try another cd. The one I tried was a Gene Pitney cd.

 

[bobrobert]

I don't think a dedicated subwoofer cable will make much difference IMHO.

I am a bit confused by the issues you are having. Are the stereo speakers quieter when the sub is plugged in or is it just that you feel the sub isn't contributing as much as you'd expect at your normal listening level and is as loud as you'd expect at max volume? i.e. the sub is what you'd expect when you're getting deafened by the normal speakers. A sub is correct when you can't hear it as a seperate entity. It should add, not detract. Or is it just not working correctly?

The sub will probably get a little better over time but placement can make a big difference to the "bloatedness". There is a guide in the video section of this website (it's about AV set ups but may give you a bit of a pointer...)

One other question... What music are you playing to test the sub? Have you tried some bass-heavy music? Could it just be that there isn't that much low frequency in the recording?

Come to think about it I am possibly not getting any sound from the speakers but only from the sub? I will check again. I am using the subwoofer connection on the denon and have tried the crossover settings and all the obvious ones. I will try another cd. The one I tried was a Gene Pitney cd.
I feel that the sub is overpowering the speakers and drowning them out despite audio level not being high. There aren't any settings on the Denon that I can change to influence the sub. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[kevinJ]

Have you checked the bass settings?
I noticed that in the Denon's manual, there is a "super dynamic bass" setting available, and I can imagine that would make the music very bass heavy.

If I dial in a sub, I always start with the sub's own volume setting at the 12 'o clock position (or halfway between min and max), and go from there.

If you can't get things sorted out, you can always reset the Denon's processor and see if that helps.

 

[bobrobert]

I am new to this. Tried the 12 'o clock setting but no joy. Regarding the Denon I tried the setting that doesn't use the Denon's treble or bass to no avail. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[bobrobert]

Problem solved! I realised that I wasn't getting any sound from my speakers. I had them wired into the back of the sub. Switched them back to the Denon and every thing is working. I am now getting a nice subtle bass sound that i had hoped for. I did say is was new to this. Thanks for the help.

 

[Timbot]

That'd do it...