Best subwoofer for $600?

[55katest55]

I have come to the conclusion that feeling bass in movies is freaking awesome.

Also that Audyssey calibration turns on Audyssey dynamic EQ automatically and muddies up the bass.

 

[Warpdrv]

I have come to the conclusion that feeling bass in movies is freaking awesome.

Also that Audyssey calibration turns on Audyssey dynamic EQ automatically and muddies up the bass.

Welcome to the world of room correcting implementations and pitfalls that lie within...

First Reflection gives some great advice, just keep in mind that if you look at something like the SMS-1, it has limitations, and those lie in its ability to handle more then 1 sub. It is really geared for processing and handling a single output, UNLESS your sub placement can and will be synchronous, meaning placement is limited to both on the front or rear wall at the same distance from the LP.

Otherwise the EQ is limited to only a single band output and if the subs are not congruent the EQ can have adverse effects on either of the subs and response for the LP.

 

[55katest55]

Welcome to the world of room correcting implementations and pitfalls that lie within...

First Reflection gives some great advice, just keep in mind that if you look at something like the SMS-1, it has limitations, and those lie in its ability to handle more then 1 sub. It is really geared for processing and handling a single output, UNLESS your sub placement can and will be synchronous, meaning placement is limited to both on the front or rear wall at the same distance from the LP.

Otherwise the EQ is limited to only a single band output and if the subs are not congruent the EQ can have adverse effects on either of the subs and response for the LP.

I think my next move will be to get a receiver with AudysseyMultEQ32. That should work for two subs, which seems like will be more than enough for me (lets hope). The only problem is i need $2000 to buy one.

 

[FirstReflection]

Yeah - I'm hoping MultEQ XT32 will start to "trickle down" fairly quickly. But for the moment, it's only in the higher-priced models.

That said, if you shop around, you can find the Denon 4311CI (which is a fantastic receiver) for around $1600 or the Onkyo TX-NR3008 for under $1500. So it's not quite the $2000 mark - although that's pretty much the going prices on Amazon, so you're by no means off the mark with that figure

The Denon 4312CI should be getting announced at some point in the not too distant future. There's a chance that some good deals might be available on the 4311 when that happens. Looks as though Denon might be aiming for the 4312 to be the first receiver to ship with Audyssey's new "Low Frequency Containment" LFC processing. I'm pretty eager to see how that actually performs and just how badly it mucks up the frequency response!

But the 4311CI pretty much has every feature I would personally want at this point. It's a really nice unit. And when you're looking at something like the SVS AS-EQ1 at $770 or the Velodyne SMS-1 at $750 (regular price), the idea of spending around twice that amount, but getting a receiver as awesome as the 4311 suddenly doesn't seem so crazy

 

[55katest55]

Yeah - I'm hoping MultEQ XT32 will start to "trickle down" fairly quickly. But for the moment, it's only in the higher-priced models.

That said, if you shop around, you can find the Denon 4311CI (which is a fantastic receiver) for around $1600 or the Onkyo TX-NR3008 for under $1500. So it's not quite the $2000 mark - although that's pretty much the going prices on Amazon, so you're by no means off the mark with that figure

The Denon 4312CI should be getting announced at some point in the not too distant future. There's a chance that some good deals might be available on the 4311 when that happens. Looks as though Denon might be aiming for the 4312 to be the first receiver to ship with Audyssey's new "Low Frequency Containment" LFC processing. I'm pretty eager to see how that actually performs and just how badly it mucks up the frequency response!

But the 4311CI pretty much has every feature I would personally want at this point. It's a really nice unit. And when you're looking at something like the SVS AS-EQ1 at $770 or the Velodyne SMS-1 at $750 (regular price), the idea of spending around twice that amount, but getting a receiver as awesome as the 4311 suddenly doesn't seem so crazy

I bolded this because i realized that doing an Audyssey calibration automatically turns on Audyssey Dynamic EQ. And THAT really mucked up the lower frequencies. Boosted the hell out of them and made them sound awful.

Anyway, that denon does definitely look nice. Wonder how it compares to the Onkyo. I really shouldnt even be thinking/talking about this right now.

 

[FirstReflection]

Onkyo's "thousand" series receivers are no slouch! They're literally identical on the inside to their Integra counterparts. It seems as though the Integra brand still garners a bit of a better reputation, even though performance is identical. Chalk it up to name branding

Anywho, my personal quibbles with Onkyo's receivers mostly have to do with the way that sound settings are handled. The kink actually mostly comes from THX (which Denon doesn't bother with on the 4311). One of the issues is that THX has their own automatic EQ settings such as "Re-EQ" and "Boundary Gain Compensation". When these combine and cascade with Audyssey, they can make things a little hinky. Basically, if you know what you want, there are still ways to get there, but you have to dig through menus and do some trial and error. And even after all that, there are cases where the receiver won't "remember" your setting when you turn it off and then back on, so you'll have to go through the settings again every time you turn your receiver on!

The biggest problem is that if you do not use a THX mode, Onkyo defaults to Audyssey's "Audyssey Curve" in the auto-setup/EQ, and there is no option to change that setting. The only way to get Audyssey's "Flat" EQ curve is to select a THX listening mode. And that isn't the end of the problem. The reason why you get Audyssey's "Flat" EQ setting in a THX mode is because of that "Re-EQ" from THX. Well that defaults to "On" every time you turn on the receiver or switch inputs. If you want a genuinely "Flat" EQ setting from Audyssey, you have to use a THX listening mode and then manually disengage Re-EQ and Boundary Gain Compensation EVERY time you listen! So that's a pain - and just try to explain that process to a non-techie person! Nightmares

So yeah, like I said, there's almost always a way to get things the way you want on Onkyo's receivers, but it can be a pain and not very convenient. With no THX on the Denon, you don't run into this problem. Denon lets you select either the "Audyssey" curve a "Flat" curve or a "Match Front" curve and it will actually REMEMBER that setting so that you don't have to set it every time you turn on the damn receiver!

lol

Anyways, in that range and price class, the Denon 4311CI is certainly my top pick for now. I completely respect Onkyo. They pack in more features for the price than anyone, really. They're fine for me, since I can handle going through all the settings as necessary. But I just think Denon has handled things a little more elegantly at the moment.

We'll see how things go with the 4312, but there really isn't anything in Onkyo's newest "x009" series of receivers or the sister Integra "x0.3" series receivers and pre/pros that would make me change my mind right now. What's going to get me excited is when Audyssey MultEQ XT32 drops down into lower-priced models. And if I were betting on which company is going to do that first, I'd put my money on Onkyo, but I'd probably still wait for Denon to actually do it in a way that isn't frustrating to use in practice