Proper way to set subwoofer gain .

ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
The other consideration is that the OP reports seriously deep bass on movies. This leads me to believe his sub level is actually correctly set. So increasing the sub level has to risk sub damaging levels for movies.
That's why I asked about room set-up. I have a fishy suspicion about this, too!
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
The other consideration is that the OP reports seriously deep bass on movies. This leads me to believe his sub level is actually correctly set. So increasing the sub level has to risk sub damaging levels for movies.
That's where the remote controls (in this case both sub and avr) for level can come in handy....easy to raise it for music and lower it for movies....or whatever your preference is. OTOH the sub level for movies with LFE would be different than merely redirected bass.....
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
How do you have your room set up in the room, and how big is the room? Open to other areas, or closed?
The room is 27 ft long 18 wide and 11 feet at the peak in the middle of the room . The whole rig is setup in the closed end with the subs in the corners a foot from the walls in every side that’s close to them . Main listening position is about 12 foot from the center channel dead center of the room . One door at the end goes to kitchen other side door goes to bedroom equidistant in size and placement in the back of the room . It’s not the biggest room but not small with an 8 foot to 11 foot peak in the center . Which actually I think works in the systems favor .
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
The other consideration is that the OP reports seriously deep bass on movies. This leads me to believe his sub level is actually correctly set. So increasing the sub level has to risk sub damaging levels for movies.
That's kinda what I'm getting at too. That's why I suggested investing in, and learning to take some measurements. I think his spl is probably good, but likely dealing with nulls, which would be more obvious with music.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
It’s not the biggest room but not small with an 8 foot to 11 foot peak in the center
Dude!
That is a Large room in Bassaholic parlance... almost Extreme considering it sounds like the area is open to other spaces as well.

We could deep dive for another hour about set-up ideas, and how to maximize your room's acoustics without even getting into treatments... But I can't play like that right now. Suffice it to say, there is a lot of stuff that can be dug into, among which would be taking one of those subs and moving it closer to, and perhaps a little behind your seating area, provided your AVR can process each Sub individually.
A simple test would be setting up the Sub Crawl just to see where good positions in your room may be.
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
That's kinda what I'm getting at too. That's why I suggested investing in, and learning to take some measurements. I think his spl is probably good, but likely dealing with nulls, which would be more obvious with music.
I will say that for movies the bass content is just incredible I’ve never felt bass that low and clean in this room like ever with no hint of the subs straining quick , powerful I also try to run this rig flat too which can sound well flat lol . Now if you move around the room the bass gets better as I increase the overall volume too it’s kind of weird when you can feel bass frequency’s two rooms over too .
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Spartan
That seating info makes sense. He is in the eye of the storm and needs to get closer to the edges. His other rooms are being hit with debris.:p
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
Dude!
That is a Large room in Bassaholic parlance... almost Extreme considering it sounds like the area is open to other spaces as well.

We could deep dive for another hour about set-up ideas, and how to maximize your room's acoustics without even getting into treatments... But I can't play like that right now. Suffice it to say, there is a lot of stuff that can be dug into, among which would be taking one of those subs and moving it closer to, and perhaps a little behind your seating area, provided your AVR can process each Sub individually.
A simple test would be setting up the Sub Crawl just to see where good positions in your room may be.
I here ya man and I do appreciate your time and knowledge too new gadgets are fun and then there’s always questions lol !
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
That seating info makes sense. He is in the eye of the storm and needs to get closer to the edges. His other rooms are being hit with debris.:p
Two main seats smack dab in the center with what’s left of my hair blowing in the artificial wind from these new boomers ;-)
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Dude!
That is a Large room in Bassaholic parlance... almost Extreme considering it sounds like the area is open to other spaces as well.

We could deep dive for another hour about set-up ideas, and how to maximize your room's acoustics without even getting into treatments... But I can't play like that right now. Suffice it to say, there is a lot of stuff that can be dug into, among which would be taking one of those subs and moving it closer to, and perhaps a little behind your seating area, provided your AVR can process each Sub individually.
A simple test would be setting up the Sub Crawl just to see where good positions in your room may be.
I agree. That is a fairly large room. He consulted with SVS tho and they assured him a pair of PB1000s can handle it. I'll bet they do it pretty well. You and I are nuts tho, and will always end up with 4x as much as we need in any room... lol.
I will say that for movies the bass content is just incredible I’ve never felt bass that low and clean in this room like ever with no hint of the subs straining quick , powerful I also try to run this rig flat too which can sound well flat lol . Now if you move around the room the bass gets better as I increase the overall volume too it’s kind of weird when you can feel bass frequency’s two rooms over too .
Ryan's right tho, lots to dig into. First you need to figure out what's going on in there and measurements are the best way to find out. You could experiment with positioning without measuring tho, and might be able to see some improvements.

What you are describing in this post is what you'd expect walking around the room, in and out of peaks and nulls.
Now if you move around the room the bass gets better as I increase the overall volume too it’s kind of weird when you can feel bass frequency’s two rooms over too .
That's where the ol' sub crawl comes in handy too. Have you tried that?
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
I agree. That is a fairly large room. He consulted with SVS tho and they assured him a pair of PB1000s can handle it. I'll bet they do it pretty well. You and I are nuts tho, and will always end up with 4x as much as we need in any room... lol.

Ryan's right tho, lots to dig into. First you need to figure out what's going on in there and measurements are the best way to find out. You could experiment with positioning without measuring tho, and might be able to see some improvements.

What you are describing in this post is what you'd expect walking around the room, in and out of peaks and nulls.

That's where the ol' sub crawl comes in handy too. Have you tried that?
Yep I’ve done it I didn’t really notice difference in other parts of the room with are seating arrangement Iam stuck with the two front corners. I have been thinking of rearranging my front and putting these subs right next to the equipment cabinet and moveing my mains a little farther apart I’ve seen some guys setup that way . My mains are separated by 9 feet center to center . My thought is getting the subs out in the middle a little more and widening my soundstage up front but that could be another animal too . I’ve got big towers and lots of power separating them another foot . Is there a reason some rigs are setup in this fashion. I did for sure talk with the guys at SVS very helpful too . I’ve not one complaint about these with movies and I can make them sound good with music but I got to up the levels like 6 to 8 to fill the soundstage out which it sounds really good but I know over driving the levels can be a bad thing . Just trying to find equal ground .but like you say I need to see what’s going on for sure .
 
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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Many start with the old isoceles triangle thing between your L/R speakers and your seat....I prefer spreading my L/R out as my rooms allow....you seem to have room to spread L/R out....

ps I meant equilateral triangle....sorry.....shoulda had that second cuppa
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
Many start with the old isoceles triangle thing between your L/R speakers and your seat....I prefer spreading my L/R out as my rooms allow....you seem to have room to spread L/R out....
Agreed I’ve got room I could move the subs to the inside and move the towers wider very easy there around 9 feet apart now I could easily go farther . jbl recommends 6 to 12 feet apart on these towers it’s an option Iam looking at .
 
K

Kleinst

Senior Audioholic
Yep I’ve done it I didn’t really notice difference in other parts of the room with are seating arrangement Iam stuck with the two front corners. I have been thinking of rearranging my front and putting these subs right next to the equipment cabinet and moveing my mains a little farther apart I’ve seen some guys setup that way . My mains are separated by 9 feet center to center . My thought is getting the subs out in the middle a little more and widening my soundstage up front but that could be another animal too . I’ve got big towers and lots of power separating them another foot . Is there a reason some rigs are setup in this fashion. I did for sure talk with the guys at SVS very helpful too . I’ve not one complaint about these with movies and I can make them sound good with music but I got to up the levels like 6 to 8 to fill the soundstage out which it sounds really good but I know over driving the levels can be a bad thing . Just trying to find equal ground .but like you say I need to see what’s going on for sure .
Well in my bedroom I have 2 PB1000's (not pro). I have to turn them up 3/4 the way but they sound great. Not sure it's stressing them out I hope. My level is within 2 db of my mains (2 or so less)
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Agreed I’ve got room I could move the subs to the inside and move the towers wider very easy there around 9 feet apart now I could easily go farther . jbl recommends 6 to 12 feet apart on these towers it’s an option Iam looking at .
Hard for someone to recommend width without taking the room into account, tho. Note I meant equilateral triangle as a starting point....you already have an isocelesish triangle :)
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Spartan
I see Grizzly Claw has dark chocolate for those chocolatey mids everybody keeps going on about.:D
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Yep I’ve done it I didn’t really notice difference in other parts of the room with are seating arrangement Iam stuck with the two front corners. I have been thinking of rearranging my front and putting these subs right next to the equipment cabinet and moveing my mains a little farther apart I’ve seen some guys setup that way . My mains are separated by 9 feet center to center . My thought is getting the subs out in the middle a little more and widening my soundstage up front but that could be another animal too . I’ve got big towers and lots of power separating them another foot . Is there a reason some rigs are setup in this fashion. I did for sure talk with the guys at SVS very helpful too . I’ve not one complaint about these with movies and I can make them sound good with music but I got to up the levels like 6 to 8 to fill the soundstage out which it sounds really good but I know over driving the levels can be a bad thing . Just trying to find equal ground .but like you say I need to see what’s going on for sure .
The more you type, the more it just points to an uneven fr to me, not a volume issue. Example. If you have a good response at your seat from 35 hz and down, and a null at say 45-50 hz that movie bass is gonna sound awesome but your music will sound anemic. You could be compensating for that null by turning the overall volume up on your subs for music.

As you noted tho, it's gonna be really hard to figure that out without some measurements. I just pulled those numbers outta my ass because it's close to what I had going on here.
 

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