Subwoofer is directly on WOODEN floor; issues

[Mkilbride]

So my sub is a Velodyne VX-11. It has no "Feet", it lays directly against my hardwood floor.

Even turned down to about a Quarter volume + -12dB and whatnot, the amount of bass it produces is, well, absurd, the room shakes, and I get these crazy vibrations.

So I figured maybe putting a towel under it, or a carpet of some sort.

I found these:
http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-SUBDUDE-Theater-Isolation-Platform/dp/B003EM17IK

But the price is crazy...60$...though I may have to end up getting it if I can't fix this issue.

I was hoping it'd be like a 15-20$ fix, at most.

Alot of it has to do with my rooms shake and location of the sub, which I cannot do much about, unless well, I remove a table from my room, and even then, it'd only improve by a small margin.


Also need something to tilt my center, sitting at my desk, towards me. My old speaker came on a platform that I could tilt towards me; my RC Micro does not. I see Auralex makes something for this as well..for 40$.

Shot at 2012-05-19

I put a wedge I found + a cloth towel and angled it decently at my face, but it's not right at it, probably about mouth level and it's flimsy at best. Plus, it's flush against the top of the desk, I'm sure that causes some kind of reverb or so...though I put a small cushion between it to help with that, but I doubt it does much. I also have it stuck out an inch, as that was recommended by some guides I saw, that if you have to have a speaker in an enclosure like that, sticking it out half an inch can make a world of difference...really, it's the only place for my center.

Thanks.

 

[jonnythan]

I made a cheapo Subdude from a piece of plywood I had laying around and 8 4"x2"x1" sanding blocks I got at Walmart.

Other options:

1) Auralex Gramma for $50
2) A set of plain stick-on rubber feet for $5 from Walmart or similar

I think your DIY center solution is fine. However you get it angled up doesn't really matter, and you're constrained by the top shelf.

 

[timoteo]

Check out the thread, "Sub Platforms" about 4 threads below yours. I gave a few options to Jay_C who asked about the same thing. I gave him some pretty detailed instructions & 2 options (one of course being to by from Auralex) I know $50 can seem high but they really are good products...simple but work well. I have seen a lot of people try to cut corners by building their own, in fact I actually build my own. But unless you use the same materials that the online brands use, you probably aren't going to get as good of results. So check out that thread, hopefully it will help you either build a quality platform or will lead you to buy a Subdude, because they really can improve your listening experience a lot!!

 

[tattoo_Dan]

Also need something to tilt my center,

Thanks.

for my center I use a couple $2 rubber door stops to tilt it at my ear level

 

[afterlife2]

Not sure If you saw my thread, but I like my results: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/diy-corner-tips-techniques/79700-afterlife2s-dyi-homemade-bass-placement-table.html
How do you like your new speakers? Do I spy MM's?

 

[tattoo_Dan]

this will also help the situation !

 

[Mkilbride]

Check out the thread, "Sub Platforms" about 4 threads below yours. I gave a few options to Jay_C who asked about the same thing. I gave him some pretty detailed instructions & 2 options (one of course being to by from Auralex) I know $50 can seem high but they really are good products...simple but work well. I have seen a lot of people try to cut corners by building their own, in fact I actually build my own. But unless you use the same materials that the online brands use, you probably aren't going to get as good of results. So check out that thread, hopefully it will help you either build a quality platform or will lead you to buy a Subdude, because they really can improve your listening experience a lot!!

I'm shite with my hands, so I doubt I'd manage it even half right.

50$ is alot for what it is...but...I'll get it in the next week or so...my room is just really poorly suited for my subwoofer...got to make it as best I can.


As for how they sound...quite good, though my tri-pod comes tomorrow so I can run Audessy properly, hopefully that'll make it better.

Honestly, my only issues right now is, the sub, way to much boom...which I can do little about...

ANd my rear surrounds being out of phase, but that may just be Audessy's fault, I took them off the wall and ran it and they weren't out of phase, so I assume it has to do with that, not much I can do then...they also sound odd, when running with 5.1 sound, say in a game, they can sound mighty alright, but at the same time, some sounds come off sounding really "odd" and some way to quiet. For example, in a horror game, the whispers I'm supposed to hear from behind, are non-audible, unless I literally stick my ear next to my rear surround. Though some games they work properly, but sound...hmm...flat, and somewhat distorted...

 

[timoteo]

If you cant build on then yeah just buy one!

You may be able to get the sub to sound less boomy by making sure the volume of the sub is calibrated correctly in comparison to the rest of the speakers. Also, if the sub is in a corner, try a different location (if possible). Do the "bass crawl" that can make ALL the difference sometimes. If you don't know what the bass crawl is just search it on YouTube.

Auddessey very often makes the mistake of reading speakers as being out of phase. Just check the wires at both ends, speaker terminals & receiver terminals, if they are wired right then you are good!!

As far as the rears sounding odd let me ask: Are you using HDMI cables for all your audio signals? Because it sounds like you are either not getting the correct 5.1 signal or you have the settings wrong in the receiver. Remember, surround channels many times have very faint sounds. Sometimes they aren't doing anything at all.

 

[Mkilbride]

What's the difference between the Subdude HD and normal, besides 10$?
Amazon.com: Auralex SubDude Subwoofer Isolation Riser; 15x15x2-inch SubDude in Charcoal, Single: Musical Instruments

http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-SUBDUDE-Theater-Isolation-Platform/dp/B003EM17IK/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1337765986&sr=1-1-catcorr



And yes, HDMI only. I am getting Multi CH in and all speakers work; rears just sound "off" somewhat...I dunno, may be Audessy, or for some reason my rear speakers suck.

 

[jonnythan]

The HD is purtier.

 

[Ed Mullen]

Auddessey very often makes the mistake of reading speakers as being out of phase. Just check the wires at both ends, speaker terminals & receiver terminals, if they are wired right then you are good!!

We have found cases where the speaker itself has reverse polarity - this generally is caused by the crossover network. It's rare, but it happens.

Take a 9V battery and touch the binding post leads ++/--. Industry accepted polarity convention is that the speaker woofer cone should move outward.

I was doing an install once and got a phase error on the center channel from Audyssey Pro. I checked the wiring polarity and it was correct. I took a 9V battery and tested every speaker in the system. Every wooofer moved out, except for the center channel; those woofers pulled in. So the speaker was wired backwards internally during the manufacturing process. I deliberately wired the center channel reverse polarity, and the phase error cleared upon retest.

We have also seen (believe it or not) amp channels with reverse polarity. Audyssey Pro gave an phase error on the left main on one install. We checked the wiring and then checked the speaker with a battery - both tested OK. We then swapped that amp channel to the right main (after confirming the right main wiring and speaker tested OK for polarity), and the phase error followed the amp channel. So one of the channels in that external multi-channel discrete amp was wired backwards at the time of build. Again we deliberately wired it out of phase and the polarity error cleared.

We had another install where the subwoofer tested out of phase. These are tricky because this could be caused by several reasons - 1) the woofer was wired backwards, 2) the amp connection was wired backwards, 3) the woofer VC was actually installed upside down (don't laugh, we've seen it), 4) the bridged Class D plate amp is swinging from 'wrong' rail. In cases like this, the easiest thing to do is just pull the amp or the woofer and reverse the wiring until the subwoofer tests the same phase as the rest of the speakers.

Polarity issues are insidious - they can creep in anywhere in the signal chain and sometimes are hard to diagnose because the first inclination is to assume Audyssey (or w/e the auto program is) has given a false positive. This is not always the case, so when it happens, put on your troubleshooting hat and systematically isolate and test each section of the signal chain until you find the culprit. Most of the time, it's actually not a false positive from Audyssey, but an actual polarity reversal.

 

[Mkilbride]

The HD is purtier.

Really?

Is that all?

So no need for an extra 10$. Thanks.

As for the above post; thanks! I might try that, a friend suggested it to me, to reverse the wiring, but I thought "That's way to simple a solution", but I may try it now!


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

Reversed the polarity..

and Audessy detects them as in-phase now!

Thanks so much, it seems so simple, that I thought it could not be true.

Tis odd though, as all speakers are of the same make, it is the RC Micro 5.0 set...the two fronts and rear surrounds are the same speaker, curious as to why they would need to be reversed, perhaps the Denon 1712 is the
culprit?

******

Just tried them out in-game.

Wow!

What a difference, they now sound so much better...and they are picking up details and don't sound...punchy, like mono, they sounded like they were mono before.

 

[Mkilbride]

Well, now they are reported as being out of phase again, upon a second check...annoying

And Audessy set my Crossover to 200HZ!

Ugh.

 

[Mkilbride]

Subdude arrived today.

Put it up on it's platform. Tried placing it more away from the wall, as much as I could.

Still get a bit vibration, bass it clearer, but still way to boomy. Guess it's just my room & nothing can be done about it.