Lots Of Subs, But No Bass????

[David Gaudreau]

Okay, Is it possible that I have to many subs in my theater room?
I just got the audio portion of the theater setup. when I am listening to a soundtrack the bass sounds pretty weak. I am attaching a basic drawing of where I have everything placed in the room.
Here is my speaker list.

Front Towers DefTech BP7000SC
Front Center DefTech CLR-3000
Side Surrounds DefTech BPVX/P
Rear Surrounds DefTech BPVX/P
Sub 1 DefTech SuperCube Reference
Sub 2 DefTech SuperCube Reference

 

[bandphan]

how do you have your mains crossed? also have you measured you rooms response to see where there might be issues?

 

[Matt34]

You need to get a real time analyzer such as Room EQ and see what exactly is going on.
http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/

Audioholics has a bunch of articles on how to set up your subs to get the most out of them within your room.
http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/get-good-bass/subwoofer-placement-the-place-for-bass-part-1

Here is some more great info on the topic..
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf

 

[David Gaudreau]

how do you have your mains crossed? also have you measured you rooms response to see where there might be issues?

I have the Onkyo TX-SR705 and I believe it has everything set at 80Hz. No I have not measured the room. What would I need to do that?

 

[AVRat]

If all the x-overs are set at 80 Hz, you’re really under-utilizing those speakers. And you’re only using the 2 SCs for sub duty, which is really the way it should be for the most part. This, of course, depends on how you have everything connected.

The center & surrounds can be set at 60 Hz, and the 7000s would be better used Full range (or 40 Hz) all connected via speaker only. The SCs may perform better placed up front about a half-room width apart.

 

[bandphan]

. No I have not measured the room. What would I need to do that?

See matts links for the setup.

check this link for REW, its what ive used as well as many others here..

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/rew-forum/

 

[mtrycrafts]

Besides the other suggestions, check out this link for measured response of your subs
http://home.comcast.net/~frank_carter/Nousaine.htm

78dB at 25 Hz is not impressive
May need to consider more formidable subs?

Also, with 3 rows of seats, I wonder if you don't need more speakers on the side walls?

 

[Midcow2]

Onkyo TX-SR705 setup

Your manual is online at : http://63.148.251.135/redirect_service.cfm?type=own_manuals&file=SN_29344476_TX-SR705_En_0604.pdf

Make sure the Onkyo TX-SR705 has the following settings:

If you used auto setup and the subwoofer was set low it may not have been detected. See page 58

make sure subwoofer =yes
also you can adjust the SP distance and the subwoofer dB level. If the dB level is set too low you might not be hearing it.

Speaker setup starts on page 77

subwoofer=Yes ( note : If you set the front speakers to full band , the subwoofer setting is set at No"

page 79 -you can set a "double bass' and boost the subwoofer output. Again subwoofer has to be set to yes.

look at page 84 and check subwoofer sensitivity for DVD.

Good Luck

 

[bandphan]

78dB at 25 Hz is not impressive

I was going to note that, and while the mid bass plays with more spl, its the lower spl that will matter more in ht. Even stacking them only brings it up to 81db. Hopefully the room is the issue and can be pin pointed and corrected, and then happier with performance. However dumping the 2 SC's and picking up and svs ultra or a pair of mfw15's would add some needed spl.

 

[AVRat]

Hey guys, the SC References are not even on the list. You're looking at the SC I or is it the 7001 towers. Even with the dimensions(?) of David's room, the References will provide some serious pounding. Though I think you're correct that Dave's bass expectations would be better satiated with some other options.

 

[bandphan]

Hey guys, the SC References are not even on the list. You're looking at the SC I or is it the 7001 towers. Even with the dimensions(?) of David's room, the References will provide some serious pounding. Though I think you're correct that Dave's bass expectations would be better satiated with some other options.

it looks like the Trinty only puts out 88dbs in the same frequency, which is supposed to out preform the reference.

 

[David Gaudreau]

Wow thanks for all the comments. I buy beers and steaks for anyone that want to help me tweak the setup. I have a feeling it's placement and settings. For example when I have both subs playing and sitting in the same positions opposite of each other and you stand in the middle of the 2, It almost sounds like my ears are on back wards like the speakers are out of phase and fighting eachother......

 

[David Gaudreau]

Update.

I went home last night and started tweaking the X-over settings on the receiver, here is what I came up with.

Front Towers set to 45Hz
Front Center set to 50Hz
Both subs set at 25Hz
Side and rear surrounds set to 70Hz
in just doing this it already sounded a little better. So then I moved both subs to the front of the room right next to the center channel. And that maid a very noticeable difference. I would say 20-30% more bass response. I was wondering what might happen if I just stacked the Super Cube Reference subs on top of each other?? I then would have a poor man Trinity sub woofer. hahahahaha

 

[David Gaudreau]

Please excuse the mess. I'm working on the concessions room and the theater after work and on the weekends.
In a few of the shots you can see where I had the subs and where they ended up in the front next to the center channel.

Questions.....Comments.......Concerns.....

 

[David Gaudreau]

 

[David Gaudreau]

 

[mike c]

if you want, you can try this:

80hz crossover on everything

placing both subwoofers at the rear - so that they are closer to the seats

 

[David Gaudreau]

if you want, you can try this:

80hz crossover on everything

placing both sub woofers at the rear - so that they are closer to the seats

Well I had them all set at 80Hz originally (THX Standards) I was informed to change it up. As far as moving the subs to the back of the room, they would be in the way.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well I had them all set at 80Hz originally (THX Standards) I was informed to change it up. As far as moving the subs to the back of the room, they would be in the way.

My input would be to not set any sub above 80Hz a it becomes more localized. If the other speakers cannot get down to 80Hz, perhaps that is the issue. I think THX had a good reason for picking that 80Hz.

 

[David Gaudreau]

My input would be to not set any sub above 80Hz a it becomes more localized. If the other speakers cannot get down to 80Hz, perhaps that is the issue. I think THX had a good reason for picking that 80Hz.

Right now the Towers are at 45Hz Center is 50Hz Subs are at 80Hz all 4 surrounds are at 70Hz. Last night I stacked my second SC sub on top of the other one and it sounded even a little bit better. But it ends up being too tall for the position it is in right now. Oh Well