New receiver...new problem

[jrcorwin]

Well, I upgraded my receiver and a problem cropped up that I wasn't having before.

What I had: Pioneer VSX-918V-K
What I have now: Denon AVR-591

What's the issue? My subwoofer probably. It's an old piece of junk, a JBL SUB-160 from a HTIB. While I am in the process of upgrading the subwoofer, I still want to try and diagnose this problem. I lack the technical knowledge and the proper audioholic vocabulary to properly describe the problem, but I'll do my best.

The sub may be bottoming out. At least that's my uneducated guess. When a soundtrack reaches way down deep (the first "emergence" scene in War of the Worlds on blu-ray for example) it keeps up at first and then will start to thump/flutter/distort. That's the only way I can think of to describe it. It also did this during The Dark Knight...at the end of the first scene when the bank manager asks the Joker what he believes in and the Joker responds. Right after or as he says the word, "stranger" the bass dips down and the subwoofer falters.

Why am I posting this in the "Amps, Pre-Pros, & Receivers section", rather than the "Subwoofer" section? Well, that is because I didn't have this problem when I was using the Pioneer receiver. I'm not sure if the Denon is just more powerful and my subwoofer can't keep up or if it is a setting from the running of Audyssey that needs to be changed. The only thing I did to the subwoofer when switching from the Pioneer to the Denon, was turn the volume knob (the only control on the back of this JBL sub) to the halfway point. This is what is recommended prior to running Audyssey. Before, I believe it was only turned up about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way.

So, what should I assume?

1. The subwoofer just can't keep up and reached it's limit?
2. Something within the Denon menus needs to be changed?
3. The volume knob on the subwoofer needs to be adjusted and possibly re-run Audyssey?
4. ...or something else entirely?

I would appreciate any and all advice. Just remember...yes, I know my subwoofer is piece of junk. I will be replacing it in the near future. I just figure that, at the very least, I'll learn something in the process of sorting this issue out. Thank you.

 

[highfigh]

Well, I upgraded my receiver and a problem cropped up that I wasn't having before.

What I had: Pioneer VSX-918V-K
What I have now: Denon AVR-591

What's the issue? My subwoofer probably. It's an old piece of junk, a JBL SUB-160 from a HTIB. While I am in the process of upgrading the subwoofer, I still want to try and diagnose this problem. I lack the technical knowledge and the proper audioholic vocabulary to properly describe the problem, but I'll do my best.

The sub may be bottoming out. At least that's my uneducated guess. When a soundtrack reaches way down deep (the first "emergence" scene in War of the Worlds on blu-ray for example) it keeps up at first and then will start to thump/flutter/distort. That's the only way I can think of to describe it. It also did this during The Dark Knight...at the end of the first scene when the bank manager asks the Joker what he believes in and the Joker responds. Right after or as he says the word, "stranger" the bass dips down and the subwoofer falters.

Why am I posting this in the "Amps, Pre-Pros, & Receivers section", rather than the "Subwoofer" section? Well, that is because I didn't have this problem when I was using the Pioneer receiver. I'm not sure if the Denon is just more powerful and my subwoofer can't keep up or if it is a setting from the running of Audyssey that needs to be changed. The only thing I did to the subwoofer when switching from the Pioneer to the Denon, was turn the volume knob (the only control on the back of this JBL sub) to the halfway point. This is what is recommended prior to running Audyssey. Before, I believe it was only turned up about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way.

So, what should I assume?

1. The subwoofer just can't keep up and reached it's limit?
2. Something within the Denon menus needs to be changed?
3. The volume knob on the subwoofer needs to be adjusted and possibly re-run Audyssey?
4. ...or something else entirely?

I would appreciate any and all advice. Just remember...yes, I know my subwoofer is piece of junk. I will be replacing it in the near future. I just figure that, at the very least, I'll learn something in the process of sorting this issue out. Thank you.

Check the channel level. You might have a button for this on the Denon's remote. Also, look at the receiver's Bass Management setting.

 

[AVRat]

As mentioned, check the settings first for some indication. The sub isn’t very capable of producing frequencies below about 40 Hz, so MultiEQ is probably trying to compensate and overdriving the lower end.

There may be some tweaks using MultiEQ/DynEQ/DynVol that may help. I’d like to know what the settings look like first.