Newbie here needs some help with subwoofer settings

[markymark_73]

First of all ...Sup guys!!! This is my first post and I hope you can help me out. I want to make sure I am doing this right. I have a Panasonic receiver and I am using Infinity satellite speakers. I am running 2 KLH subs because I prefer alot of bass with my movies. I have 1 sub to the left in the middle of the living room and the other on the right in the middle as well. I have the speaker size set to small and the filter for the cut off bass is set to to 100Hz. It only has 3 settings which is the 100 150 and 200. On the back of my 150 watt KLH subs it has a frequency knob that goes from 30 to 180Hz. It has 1-11 on the gain volume. They are currently on 180Hz and I have the gain on 6. Does this sound right??? I have been using the movies king kong and attack of the clones for adjusting to get no distortion on the sub.(great movies to test by the way) I do not have a SPL meter. Should I have the frequency at 180 or should I cut that back to 80-100? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[jamie2112]

80 to 100 is what you want.....

 

[markymark_73]

80 to 100 is what you want.....

I tried it and it does sound good. I have it at about 90 and turned the gain up some more. Seems to have a little bit clearer harder deep bass to it. Looks like I am going to keep it his way. I have the subwoofer volume on my receiver on about half way. Do I need to keep the cut off bass to 100 Hz on my receiver?

 

[MDS]

If you are using the bass management of the receiver then you want the xover frequency knob on the sub turned all the way up to 180 like you had it before. You don't want two crossovers interacting with each other.

To set the volume level on the receiver really requires that you calibrate the levels of all of the channels using the receiver's test tone and an SPL meter. However, you can do it by ear if you want and if it sounds good to you then it's good enough (although it likely won't be accurate).

 

[j_garcia]

I agree, all the way up is what you want if you are using the receiver to do the bass management.

Are the speakers attached to the sub or directly to the receiver? If they are going through the sub, then you want it set to sub=no and speakers large to feed the full range to the sub and the sub manages the crossover to the speakers attached to it.

 

[markymark_73]

I agree, all the way up is what you want if you are using the receiver to do the bass management.

Are the speakers attached to the sub or directly to the receiver? If they are going through the sub, then you want it set to sub=no and speakers large to feed the full range to the sub and the sub manages the crossover to the speakers attached to it.

They are attached to the receiver. Should I leave the cut off bass on the receiver at 100Hz?

 

[markymark_73]

If you are using the bass management of the receiver then you want the xover frequency knob on the sub turned all the way up to 180 like you had it before. You don't want two crossovers interacting with each other.

To set the volume level on the receiver really requires that you calibrate the levels of all of the channels using the receiver's test tone and an SPL meter. However, you can do it by ear if you want and if it sounds good to you then it's good enough (although it likely won't be accurate).

Thanks for the info. I just realized Garcia is offline. Should I keep the filter for cut off bass on receiver at 100Hz?

 

[j_garcia]

Not exactly I am a sniper...

What we need to know is a little bit about your speakers. You want to set the receiver to something that gives them the ability to handle their full range without going so low that you create a dip between them and the sub, while also not making them so high that the subs start to perform outside of their range either (too high). Running the sub channel higher can make it more easily localized (you can tell where the sound is coming from). Are these Infinitys like TSS type models that are smaller or are they mid-size bookshelf speakers? If they are the smaller sattelites, I'd say 100Hz is probably right for them. If bookshelf speakers, 80Hz might work better.

 

[markymark_73]

Not exactly I am a sniper...

What we need to know is a little bit about your speakers. You want to set the receiver to something that gives them the ability to handle their full range without going so low that you create a dip between them and the sub, while also not making them so high that the subs start to perform outside of their range either (too high). Running the sub channel higher can make it more easily localized (you can tell where the sound is coming from). Are these Infinitys like TSS type models that are smaller or are they mid-size bookshelf speakers? If they are the smaller sattelites, I'd say 100Hz is probably right for them. If bookshelf speakers, 80Hz might work better.[/QUOT

Hey!!! I see your back They are the smaller satellites. I figured for satellites they should be set at 100Hz. I just wanted to make sure. I turned it back up to 180Hz and set the gain to 6. You can really fine tune it by ear if you listen to the music soundtrack. When it gets a little too much bass with some humm to it you know you went to far. I know its not perfect like using the spl meter...but it's close. I'll get one sometime soon. The subwoofer level on the receiver is where it gets tricky. I really do need a spl meter.

 

[mazersteven]

I am running 2 KLH subs because I prefer alot of bass with my movies.

Sounds to me like your a perfect candidate for a subwoofer up-grade. 1 quality subwoofer will do wonders for an HT system.

 

[mazersteven]

I have 1 sub to the left in the middle of the living room and the other on the right in the middle as well.

Room placement might also be addressed for better performance.

 

[markymark_73]

Room placement might also be addressed for better performance.

It's really hard in this room. Big windows and wooden floors.

 

[markymark_73]

I have crawled all over the freakin floor and found the sweet spot was in the middle of the room. Never thought it would of been there.

 

[mazersteven]

I have crawled all over the freakin floor and found the sweet spot was in the middle of the room. Never thought it would of been there.

1) I assume you are using a splitter from your receiver to the subwoofers. Right?

2) Have you placed 1 of the subwoofers in the sweet spot. Then crawl around the room hearing for the place in the room that the bass sound the best?

 

[mazersteven]

It's really hard in this room. Big windows.

This is an easy fix.