SVS PC13 ULTRA with Yamaha receiver possible issue...

[Oliverswing77]

Hi everyone,

I bought a PC13 Ultra and although I'm fairly impressed with the sub I feel that something might be wrong and that it might not be working at its full capabilities. It's connected to my Yamaha RX-A2010 and I must say that the YPAO calibration wasn't as simple as it was with my old receiver and subwoofer. Even though the gain was at the recommended level it took a few attempts for the receiver to detect the subwoofer. The first couple of times I got the 'W3 level error' and I had to setup the subwoofer manually on the receiver as it kept ignoring its existence even though the test tones were being played. But that was in fact another strange new thing to me... the first test tone (if you're familiar with Yamaha receivers you must know what I mean )was quite normal but on the second one I was expecting some deep scary bassy tones but instead what came out of the sub sounded more like metallic knocks, which I though it was strange but the sub was working so I thought it was a common thing on these subs.

Due to space restrictions the sub is placed against the side wall , 1/2 meter away from the corner with the front wall A few days later, after having played all sorts of content I'm slightly dubious about its perfect functioning for a couple of reasons. Firstly the space where its located is fairly small for such sub and I thought the room pressurization would be really mindblowing and although it's definitely enough, in a room of the size of mine (3.5m x 3m) it's not as extraordinary as I thought it would be. Also I have the gain at 3/4 and even at high volume the results are slightly underwhelming. I would say that the subwoofer sounds more impressive at moderate levels than it does with the volume cranked up.

Having said that, the sub is definitely great but I was expecting a bit more still and was wondering if its set up properly and I just have too high expectations or if I should be getting even greater performance out of it.

Thanks in advance :wave:

 

[Frank Harvey]

To pressurise a room properly, all doors and windows of the room need to be shut. If there are any open areas, this will affect the subs ability to do this. The PC13 Ultra shouldn't have a problem pressurising just about any room, especially yours given its size.

One thing you might be experiencing is clean bass. You say you have it turned up quite high and you're unimpressed. The SVS subs produce a very clean and I distorted bass that most people aren't used to, and when heard for the first time, it sounds like there is very little bass, but once you give yourself time to adjust to it, you realise the bass is there, and that it is more accurate. Most subs produce distortions of some type, and because of this they normally draw attention to themselves - clean sounding subs don't.

 

[Oliverswing77]

Hi :wave:

I didn't mean to suggest that I'm unimpressed as I'm actually loving my sub. I was just expecting a bit more due to the size of the room. I wasn't expecting to be able to have the gain at nearly max level without blowing off the roof or causing some sort of damage which I totally can in a room which has 3 cabinets with glass doors among other vibration prone objects. Maybe in my new place I'll be able to get the most out of it as placement won't be an issue. The only thing that remains a mistery to me is the 2nd test tone which sounded very different from my previous subwoofer which it might be normal but I never owned a sub like this before so don't really know.

Many thanks

 

[Frank Harvey]

Funny you should mention that. When I first set up the LS50's as a 5.1 system, it was surprising to hear how different the test tone sounded (we're probably more familiar with the test tone than any movie!). Hearing it through speakers you know are technically better makes you realise how many other speakers produce unwanted additions or are unable to do what they're really supposed to do.

I tend to find many Yamaha's tend to set the sub level a little light, so do feel free to add a few dB's to the sub channel if you want to - you can turn it up as much as you like to your preference, as long as it doesn't sound 'overdone'.

Are you using the supplied bungs? If so, how many?

 

[Oliverswing77]

Atm I'm using 1 bung with movies and all 3 with music. It sounds noticeably faster when sealed which is ideal for music listening.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

W

 

[Frank Harvey]

Try two bungs for movies...

 

[Gerrardasnails]

What speakers do you have? Regardless of their size, set the speakers to small in the Yamaha's settings. If you have floorstanders, set the crossover to 80 in the manual settings. For sat speakers try 120. I have the 3010 Yammy but a much lesser sub than yours. My sound is incredible. My sub level on the amp is +5 and in the sub the volume is at 12 o'clock.

 

[Oliverswing77]

Thanks for the input so far. Atm I have all my gear packed up and ready to be installed in my new place. I will definitely experiment with 2 bungs and will also record a video of the calibration process so I can clear my doubts on the test tone issue.

My speakers are the Focal 816W SE with matching centre and 806V at the back. Speakers crossovers and size are set just the way you're saying it.