When You Get It Just Right!

[Messiah]

For a while now I have been unhappy with the sound from my sub. Whilst it has been okay I knew it could be better.

Yesterday I spent a while re-positioning the sub and adjusting the settings and 'hey presto' I got it just right

It certainly puts a smile on my face now that little niggle is out the way.

Back to re-discovering my collection......................

 

[MattSPL]

Good stuff, its always rewarding when you get a sub setup right. Its not easy and can sometimes take months of listening and tweaking until you get it right.

 

[matengawhat]

agree with that - when its just wrong it awful but when you find the sweet spot you suddenly realise what you've been missing and the impact that a full band width system can actually achieve

 

[Messiah]

Absolutely!

It's been bugging me for a while now as it was not
quite integrating well enough with the fronts. But I finally got round
to sorting it out and it is so much better.

Now to try some movies

(Apologies for how this has come out

)

 

[Anonymous]

I've burnt many, many hours on setting up my sub. I didn't get it right until I read a tip to stack lots of weight on it. This was specifically about the REL Quake but it might apply to other smaller units too. Tightens things up nicely.

The biggest problem I found was how I changed my mind on the sound I wanted to hear from day to day. The conclusion? I can change it! Only took me three years to feel comfortable with that idea.

 

[MattSPL]

How do you find the Rel B2, metengawhat? Have you had any other Rel sub's before to compare it to?

Cheers

Matt

 

[Anonymous]

No, only ever owned the Quake. It's nothing to get excited about but it's a good starting point. The R series is faster. Never heard the B series and I'll probably avoid them too as they're too big for my lounge!!

 

[matengawhat]

i think the biggest prob sometimes is the very different levels of bass that engineers decide to use - sometimes if its over the top already thats exagerated - however i think from listening to quite a lot of stuff on headphones recently has helped me to better understand music

what i do tend to find is that the sweet spot because of the sub is actually quite small - 1.5/2 meters either way and the sound drastically changes - not sure if that the sub or my room acoustics - still experimenting

 

[MattSPL]

I think id need 2 front firing sub's, 1 sat beside each speaker to be happy. Could always hear my Q201's location due to the front firing driver.

Id love a Studio III

Rel have some interesting new sub's due out soon. Some of which you can stack on each other, 3 high

 

[matengawhat]

the b2 was my first rel and its a beast - have had before a kef sub, epos m subwoofer, arcam logo all been very different - the rels been the best but would expect that as a lot more than any of the others

 

[MattSPL]

matengawhat:

i think the biggest prob sometimes is the very different levels of bass that engineers decide to use - sometimes if its over the top already thats exagerated - however i think from listening to quite a lot of stuff on headphones recently has helped me to better understand music

what i do tend to find is that the sweet spot because of the sub is actually quite small - 1.5/2 meters either way and the sound drastically changes - not sure if that the sub or my room acoustics - still experimenting

Rel's sub setup suggests that ported sub's are very sensitive to room placement, unlike sealed box sub's. This may be your problem.

Ive just recently gone to sealed box speakers with ATC scm19's, having always had ported or transmission design's. And now i have no peaks or dips in bass output caused by the room which i had with my previous PMC db1i's.

 

[MattSPL]

matengawhat:the b2 was my first rel and its a beast - have had before a kef sub, epos m subwoofer, arcam logo all been very different - the rels been the best but would expect that as a lot more than any of the others

The B series sub's certainly look impressive with massive build and monster drive units.

 

[matengawhat]

the epos was a sealed design and was the same - my lounge is an L shape but isn't equal my listening area is pretty much a 4.5 x 5.5m square but i then have a 3x3m square stuck on to the left of the main suare and the stereo is on the longest wall so where the corner of my kitchen comes into the room is a boom spot but think thats a bit to do with doorway ect

also my sub has been turned through 90 deg and fires down the longest wall instead of straight in to the listening room this will change when i swap room around again still experimenting awaiting new carpets and sofas

 

[MattSPL]

matengawhat:the epos was a sealed design and was the same - my lounge is an l shape but isn't equal my listening area is pretty much a 4.5 x 5.5m square but i then have a 3x3m square stuck on stereo is on the longest wall so where the corner of my kitchen comes into the room is a boom spot but think thats a bit to do with doorway ect

Ah right, sounds like you have a difficult room. Maybe consider some room treatment? One of the lads on here got some nice sound panels that look like pictures on the wall

 

[matengawhat]

not really possible as i have patio doors at both end of the room plus another window covered by blinds and curtains to stop reflections - then have a open staircase behind my listening position so sure thats a bit of a sound trap and causes a little echo still to sort that one

subs in bottom right hand corner - longest wall to left of screen and staircase directly befind facing screen

 

[MattSPL]

Nice setup