Sub not working at low frequency

[Drummo]

I'm a newbie with a sub so I apologise if my question is stupid. I recently purchased a new sub, an ELAC sub 50 ESP.
I hooked it up to my system, followed the set up guide on these forums and sat back to enjoy my new sound. Unfortunately things weren't great, the sub didn't sound to impressive. I downloaded a frequency tone cd and gave that a whirl and no matter what I do I can't get any sound until about 35-40 hz. I pushed the crossover up to 60, then 80 hz and no change. Does anyone have any idea what is going wrong. My main speakers are a pair of old B&W's that I thought may be the cause because they are only rated at 40hz to 20khz however I took them to a reputable repair place and they said the speakers were still sounding and working great.
My amp is a Denon avr3805.

Thanks

 

[Exit]

You may just have a subwoofer that only goes down to 35-40 Hz. Your subwoofer specifications may state they go lower but some manufacturers measure frequency response under unrealistic conditions and with wide +/- db variations so they can claim lower frequency response. If you want you can place the subwoofer in a corner versus just near a wall and the bass will be stronger. It still might only go down to 35-40 Hz though. Try looking up independent test reports (if there are any) and see what they say about your subwoofer's frequency response.

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm a newbie with a sub so I apologise if my question is stupid. I recently purchased a new sub, an ELAC sub 50 ESP.
I hooked it up to my system, followed the set up guide on these forums and sat back to enjoy my new sound. Unfortunately things weren't great, the sub didn't sound to impressive. I downloaded a frequency tone cd and gave that a whirl and no matter what I do I can't get any sound until about 35-40 hz. I pushed the crossover up to 60, then 80 hz and no change. Does anyone have any idea what is going wrong. My main speakers are a pair of old B&W's that I thought may be the cause because they are only rated at 40hz to 20khz however I took them to a reputable repair place and they said the speakers were still sounding and working great.
My amp is a Denon avr3805.Thanks

I have looked at the specs of that sub, and the low frequency low point is stated at 28 Hz. They don't quote the Fs point. I think you have proved that the 3db point is somewhere around 35 Hz. Since it is a B4 reflex the spl will die at 24 db per octave below 3 db. So at 18 Hz room your observations it will be 24 db down. So you have not bought what would be considered a sub in the US.

Where are you located? I say this because you have to be careful when buying European subs. Much as I like the voicing of a lot of European speakers, especially those from the UK, subs would not be included.

Now this comes about because in many European countries free standing dwellings are not the rule. The UK and Holland particularly come to mind. The speaker manufactures have learned, that having prodigious spl below 35 Hz results in complaint, and legal jeopardy for their owners.

The operation of most decent US subwoofers in the UK would result in calls to the police. The good old British "Bobby" has the classic phraseology for these complaints and encounters, under the charge: - "Causing a disturbance likely to result in a breech of the peace."

 

[trnqk7]

Uh, guys...read again. It sounds to me like he is saying that the sub does not start outputting until 35-40 hz and has output on down from there. Not above.

My guess would be that he has the crossover to the sub in his receiver set too low.

Check the subwoofer's xover setting on the Denon, I bet that is the issue.

I would hazard that everyone here so far was too quick to "judge" the quality of your subwoofer and not actually read your question closely enough!

 

[TLS Guy]

Uh, guys...read again. It sounds to me like he is saying that the sub does not start outputting until 35-40 hz and has output on down from there. Not above.

My guess would be that he has the crossover to the sub in his receiver set too low.

Check the subwoofer's xover setting on the Denon, I bet that is the issue.

I would hazard that everyone here so far was too quick to "judge" the quality of your subwoofer and not actually read your question closely enough!

I don't get that sense. The OP will have to clarify. I think he just confused the issue talking about the crossover which is irrelevant.

He says on his test CD he gets nothing until the 35 to 40 Hz range. I assumed he was working from the bottom up, but I concede he might have been working from the top down. His question is now unclear to me. It would be mighty strange if he had no output between crossover and 40 Hz the way he says he has it set.

Would Drummo please clarify and clear up the confusion. Being a European sub, my answer is likely the right one, but we will see.

 

[emorphien]

Uh, guys...read again. It sounds to me like he is saying that the sub does not start outputting until 35-40 hz and has output on down from there. Not above.

My guess would be that he has the crossover to the sub in his receiver set too low.

Check the subwoofer's xover setting on the Denon, I bet that is the issue.

I would hazard that everyone here so far was too quick to "judge" the quality of your subwoofer and not actually read your question closely enough!

I agree with everyone else's conclusion and interpretation of the information provided, but as TLS mentions it's hard to fully conclude what the OP means without him being more clear about it.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Drummo,
Please clarify as others have requested. Do you mean you get no sounds above 35-40hz or no sounds below 35-40hz?

Either way, double check the crossover on both the sub and your Denon 3805. Also make sure that in your recievers speaker setup that your speakers are set to "small."

Jack

 

[Drummo]

Thanks Gents; my apologies for the confusion, probably caused by my lack of technical knowledge. I went back over the specifications for my sub and TLS Guy is right, the frequency range is quoted as 28-240hz so it's no wonder I'm getting nothing down at 20 and 25. Not sure how I missed that, sorry for wasting your time... and my money...
on the sub that is
Damn annoying though.

For interest, I used a test cd to measure the response-the cd starts at 20hz and moves on up to 22000hz. At 20, 25 and 30 there is no response (not surprisingly now), or should I say no sound output that I can hear. At 35hz there is the faintest 'feel' of a noise and then response begins at 40hz.
I am located in Australia and my listening/viewing room is a very big room roughly 12m x 8m.

Thanks again guys and sorry for wasting your time..

 

[Jack Hammer]

Thanks Gents; my apologies for the confusion, probably caused by my lack of technical knowledge. I went back over the specifications for my sub and TLS Guy is right, the frequency range is quoted as 28-240hz so it's no wonder I'm getting nothing down at 20 and 25. Not sure how I missed that, sorry for wasting your time... and my money...
on the sub that is
Damn annoying though.

For interest, I used a test cd to measure the response-the cd starts at 20hz and moves on up to 22000hz. At 20, 25 and 30 there is no response (not surprisingly now), or should I say no sound output that I can hear. At 35hz there is the faintest 'feel' of a noise and then response begins at 40hz.
I am located in Australia and my listening/viewing room is a very big room roughly 12m x 8m.

Thanks again guys and sorry for wasting your time..

Glad you figured it out. A lot of people really aren't aware of what the frequency response is or means for a sub. So they just go out and buy "a sub." Same thing happened with some of my friends.

Hopefully its not too late to return it or exchange it for something with a lower response. If not, you can always upgrade later and keep that for use in a smaller room or secondary system (or just sell it).

Jack

 

[mtrycrafts]

Thanks Gents; my apologies for the confusion, probably caused by my lack of technical knowledge. I went back over the specifications for my sub and TLS Guy is right, the frequency range is quoted as 28-240hz so it's no wonder I'm getting nothing down at 20 and 25. Not sure how I missed that, sorry for wasting your time... and my money...
on the sub that is
Damn annoying though.

For interest, I used a test cd to measure the response-the cd starts at 20hz and moves on up to 22000hz. At 20, 25 and 30 there is no response (not surprisingly now), or should I say no sound output that I can hear. At 35hz there is the faintest 'feel' of a noise and then response begins at 40hz.
I am located in Australia and my listening/viewing room is a very big room roughly 12m x 8m.

Thanks again guys and sorry for wasting your time..

Hopefully you can return it, exchange it for a he-man sub That room will need it, especially in the low band you seem to be interested in.
SVS or Hsu comes to mind, if they are available there.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks Gents; my apologies for the confusion, probably caused by my lack of technical knowledge. I went back over the specifications for my sub and TLS Guy is right, the frequency range is quoted as 28-240hz so it's no wonder I'm getting nothing down at 20 and 25. Not sure how I missed that, sorry for wasting your time... and my money...
on the sub that is
Damn annoying though.

For interest, I used a test cd to measure the response-the cd starts at 20hz and moves on up to 22000hz. At 20, 25 and 30 there is no response (not surprisingly now), or should I say no sound output that I can hear. At 35hz there is the faintest 'feel' of a noise and then response begins at 40hz.
I am located in Australia and my listening/viewing room is a very big room roughly 12m x 8m.

Thanks again guys and sorry for wasting your time..

So the F3 is around 40 Hz and it is 24 db down at 20 Hz. That is not unusual for European subs. Don't forget what the "coppers" say, " Likely to cause a breech!"

You need a big American Sub.

 

[emorphien]

Somehow I'd think the "big american sub" approach would be popular in Australia as well. Hopefully you can return it for something better suited for your room! That sounds like a rather large room and may need some more money than you initially thought if you want to really fill it with bass.

No idea what's available in your country though but let us know if you find something!