Who runs their sub a little hot?

[3db]

How may of you run your sub a little hot? By how many db would you say?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I run mine a tad hot maybe +2 for music. During movies I run the 60hz range around +4 hot.

 

[Warpdrv]

Everybody !!!!!!!

 

[GlocksRock]

I do, but not by much, maybe a couple db hot.

 

[mike c]

megahot. at least 6db minimum, IIRC 9-10db currently (last movie i watched was transformers)

 

[supervij]

I always ran it at 2 dB hot, but then Hot Fuzz caused some damage to my sub's voice coil. I now run it at 0 dB relative to the other speakers.

cheers,
supervij

 

[Alamar]

I don't run my [crappy] sub hot at all. After I upgrade my sub to something not crappy I might acutally run it a little cool when when wife's around. [WAF]

When she's not around though I'll get it back to +0db relative to the other speakers.

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Note I ran my crappy sub hot for a while but it "muddied up" the sound too much. When I set it back to 0db relative to the other speakers I was happier.

*********************************

FYI: At night I turn off the subwoofer because of neighbor concerns.

 

[majorloser]

+4 higher then everything else

 

[Halon451]

Maybe a little too hot.

 

[bandit]

I run 2db hot... which I like.. (alot). If I push much higher though, I things seem to muddy up... I know the treble should still be the treble, and the mids still be the mids.. but everything loses clarity to my ear if I get the sub set too high...

Happy New Year...

Bandit.

 

[Davemcc]

I run my subs hot, too. I don't know exactly how hot. I adjust it frequently to suit my taste or mood. I don't feel bound by any convention or number to tell me what sounds right to me.

 

[brulaha]

I run mine right where Audyssey sets it. For my system, that is -3 db. It's such a monster that I don't think it benefits to push it any hotter. With any gain in volume, it draws too much attention to itself.

 

[fmw]

Can't help but wonder if these responses help me understand the cars I hear thumping down the road from 1/2 mile away. No, I guess I'll never understand that.

 

[TLS Guy]

The tendency to run subs at higher output is generally a cover for trouble in the upper bass and lower midrange.

 

[majorloser]

The tendency to run subs at higher output is generally a cover for trouble in the upper bass and lower midrange.

WRONG!

We like bass. Lots of bass.

 

[mike c]

Can't help but wonder if these responses help me understand the cars I hear thumping down the road from 1/2 mile away. No, I guess I'll never understand that.

"if it's too loud ..."

The tendency to run subs at higher output is generally a cover for trouble in the upper bass and lower midrange.

huh? how'd you get to that conclusion?

 

[Thunder18]

I always ran it at 2 dB hot, but then Hot Fuzz caused some damage to my sub's voice coil. I now run it at 0 dB relative to the other speakers.

cheers,
supervij

What scene in Hot Fuzz would cause that? I may need to go back and re-watch it.

 

[supervij]

I don't remember any one scene in particular, but there's TONS of low bass in the entire movie. Every once in a while during the flick, I would hear this crinkling sound coming from the general area of the sub. (Nobody else heard it, of course!) And the next day when I tested it again using the Darla scene in Finding Nemo, the crinkling sound was there. E-mailing Athena, they confirmed that it's the voice coil slowly being destroyed.

Having realized just now that I didn't really answer your question but went off on a related tangent, I'll answer your question now: the movie itself is a parody of the buddy cop movie genre, and it uses its soundtrack to heighten the parody. Consequently, there's tons of surround, lots and lots of "effects", and more LFE than you can shake a stick at. And it's everywhere. Just about every scene will have crazy bass going on.

Maybe my YPAO set my sub level hotter than it should have, but the flick really did a number on my sub. It's back to 0 dB relative for this kid.

cheers,
supervij

 

[Gasman]

The tendency to run subs at higher output is generally a cover for trouble in the upper bass and lower midrange.

My guess is, you have not been to a theater lately???
Speakers alone (in local theater), cost over a quarter million.
But if I actually went into the theater, not to feel the bass, I would want my money back.

It has nothing to do with compensating for poor capabilty of your fronts.
It has all to do with FEELING the bass.

To answer the OPs question, my answer would be the same as Dave's.
I run it to my taste, and do not bother checking at what a specific #db.
Granted, I have it set for normal listening at ~+1db.
But depending on the movie (or music), I will adjust for my mood at that time.

On a side note:
Just rewatched the first two Pirate movies back-to-back on BD (on the 96" ).
First movie = better PQ
Second movie = better SQ (and tons more LFE).

 

[TLS Guy]

My guess is, you have not been to a theater lately???
Speakers alone (in local theater), cost over a quarter million.
But if I actually went into the theater, not to feel the bass, I would want my money back.

It has nothing to do with compensating for poor capabilty of your fronts.
It has all to do with FEELING the bass.

To answer the OPs question, my answer would be the same as Dave's.
I run it to my taste, and do not bother checking at what a specific #db.
Granted, I have it set for normal listening at ~+1db.
But depending on the movie (or music), I will adjust for my mood at that time.

On a side note:
Just rewatched the first two Pirate movies back-to-back on BD (on the 96" ).
First movie = better PQ
Second movie = better SQ (and tons more LFE).

Yes, but as I have pointed out before, the movie situation is highly artificial, with a wopping 20db boost in the LFE channel during effects such as explosions. Feeling the bass as you say.
However in musical and other material there is very little information and energy below 60 HZ. This is a good review so you can see where the energy lies.

http://www.dak.com/reviews/Tutorial_frequencies.cfm

I'm very familiar with feeling the bass and this system vibrates the whole floor. However it is only reproducing movie effects a small percentage of the time in use. A larger percentage of the time but still far from the majority of the time reproducing large pipe organs, the only instrument to have fundamentals below 60 Hz.

Yes, I do go to the movies occasionally, one of my daughters and son in laws frequently in the Twin Cities. However they are agreed this beets the lot.

http://mdcarter.smugmug.com/gallery/2424008#127077317