Need help considering options

[lovinthehd]

Curious, how did you set levels to match your speakers? You may just be running the sub too hot?

 

[Parallax982]

Curious, how did you set levels to match your speakers? You may just be running the sub too hot?

I'm not sure. First I adjusted the gain to try to match the A5+'s so the sub would come in where the speakers roll off (hope I'm using the term correctly) and then I took the volume down to where I couldn't hear the sub and then turned it back up just above that point so I'd hear it just a little. I wanted an nice integrated sound; not a powerful thumpy mess. But I'm no expert and could have messed it up. Would you recommend lowering the volume or adjusting the gain?

 

[Parallax982]

Just got off the phone with a guy named Kevin at Hsu. He is great. Spent a lot of time with me. He's going to send me some frequency files to play for my wife. He suggested that if her problem is in a certain range, there's not going to be a way to correct it. Not with an isolation pad or by adjusting the sub. But if it's in another range, then the adjustments on the sub may do it. So one more thing to mess with.

 

[Pogre]

As to the "tuning" capabilities of subs like the Hsu and some others, not particularly. If she can't handle the frequency range of your current sub, then unlikely the deeper tuning variability of the Hsu would help out.

That's what I'm thinking too. If she doesn't like bass then she doesn't like bass. You can't tune it to have good bass, but also not bother someone who hates bass. That's like tryna make a square circle.

Does she just hate it in general or mainly when she's in her usual seat? If she happens to be sitting in a peak spot then there may be something you can do. If it's just that she doesn't like bass period then there really isn't much you can do.

Threads like this make me love my wife even more. She loves the whole system, bass and all.

 

[Pogre]

Just got off the phone with a guy named Kevin at Hsu. He is great. Spent a lot of time with me. He's going to send me some frequency files to play for my wife. He suggested that if her problem is in a certain range, there's not going to be a way to correct it. Not with an isolation pad or by adjusting the sub. But if it's in another range, then the adjustments on the sub may do it. So one more thing to mess with.

You should have gotten a disc with different frequencies if you bought a sub from HSU. I think there are 4 or 5 songs then a bunch of test tones.

 

[Parallax982]

I've not bought the Hsu get. This is in preparation, so I can see whether I want to.
As for my wife, it can be a challenge being married to a highly sensitive woman. For me, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. She's so kind and caring, and truly one of the best people I've ever known. And it can be hard to deal with her sensitivities, which go well beyond music. No swearing in our home. No violent movies. In fact, I need to be careful talking about the news because if she hears of something tragic it can stay with her for days. Last week, when the Israelis and Palestinians were blowing each other up, I found her crying in the shower one morning. I asked what was wrong and if I could help. She said, "No, I'm really upset about what's happening to children in the middle east and I just need to cry." Sometimes she gets upset spontaneously, knowing there are people without clean water in Africa and other regions. Or that people are getting killed in war zones or starving in refugee camps. It's not easy to be so sensitive in a world full of conflict.

But that's part and parcel of who she is. Her sensitivity results in her being a sweet gem of a person. Someone who cares deeply about our son, about me, about our relatives and friends. About everyone. And I can't leave out that she's a wonderful wife. That's why I really want to make this work for her. She'll go right up to the edge trying to accommodate my needs and I don't want that. I'd sooner not listen to music when she's around.

 

[Parallax982]

Update. Ran those tests last night and nothing worked. At the end of the day, the only thing a bit successful was moving the sub to an outer wall. When I did that, my wife was able to find a comfortable spot downstairs in the family room at the other end of the house where she didn't feel like she was fending off sound waves. I had asked the tech at Hsu Research whether it might make sense to pick up one of their subs and he said it would not, based on how my wife responded to the various sound waves. That it's only in a certain range that their product might offer an opportunity to tune to her liking. So there we are. I'll stick with the CT-100, at least for now, and try to keep it low.