CHT-15 Setup Questions

[Tom Steele]

Hi all,

My CHT-15 arrived today, just two days after it was shipped!!!

So I'm looking at it, and thinking to myself, "I'm gonna get a hernia moving this thing!" But I did it anyway, and it is almost in place, sadly I'll need my wife to help me put it in place when she gets home, because we have hardwoods and I need someone to help me lift it right above the proper place and set it straight down.

If I try to slide it at all, the rubber sticky feet fall off.

Anyway, looking at the back, my question is: what are good starting points for the settings?

I'm assuming these:

Home Theater vs Music. I will use it for 90+% Home Theater.

Crossover - 80hz?

What is the switch for the high pass crossover? 80/100?

Phase: 180 degrees? I am under the assumption this is best?

Obviously I will have to play with all of these, but some starting points would be nice.

TIA!!!

-Tom Steele

 

[Unregistered]

slide it on a towel or blanket or sheet

 

[Unregistered]

what is your receiver xover set at ??

if you are using your receiver's xover turn up the xover all the way up as high as it can go and phse use 0, this is a starting point

 

[Tom Steele]

Disappointed right now...

I have the sub set up and running and I'm still not satisfied with the sound. It sounds boomy and loose to me. I had the Yamaha YST-800 before which was a 10-inch downward firing sub. It was tight and punchy, but still had the muscle to seriously penetrate the room.

The CHT-15 sounds muddy to me. I have a CHT-12 in my master bedroom that doesn't seem to have the same problems.

I sure wish Yamaha built the electronics in their subs as well as they design the box and driver. I loved the sound of the Yamaha, but I can't afford to replace one every time the power goes off.

I'm going to keep trying to tune the system, I don't have a lot of options on placement, but I will work on that too. I really don't imagine placement solving my problem though.

Can placement improve the tightness of the sound? Or does placement have more to do with volume levels?

Frustratedly,

-Tom Steele

 

[Rÿche 1]

what is your receiver xover set at ??

if you are using your receiver's xover turn up the xover all the way up as high as it can go and phse use 0, this is a starting point

Velodyne subs have subwoofer direct. Turn the sub crossover off, and use the receivers crossover. What is the receiver crossover set at? 80hz is a good start. Placement is crucial with subs. Properly placed and crossedover, your sub should rock.

 

[nm2285]

Placement can effect tightness of bass. Do you currently have it in a corner? All those relections can make it boomy and leave many bumps in the response curve. A good way to figure out placement is to put the sub at the listening position, then get on your hands and crawl around the edges of the room. Wherever it sounds best is where it should go.

My family owns a CHT-8 and a CHT-10. I own a Pinnacle Digital Sub 350. Neither of the Velodynes sound as good as the Pinnacle, but the Pinnacle is far more expensive (retail) than either. The CHTs are good values and, especially for home theater, you should not be this disappointed with them. Keep playing, it'll fall in eventually.

 

[Rÿche 1]

Placement can effect tightness of bass. Do you currently have it in a corner? All those relections can make it boomy and leave many bumps in the response curve. A good way to figure out placement is to put the sub at the listening position, then get on your hands and crawl around the edges of the room. Wherever it sounds best is where it should go.

The CHTs are good values and, especially for home theater, you should not be this disappointed with them. Keep playing, it'll fall in eventually.

Agreed....

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

Don't forget to calibrate the whole system with a SPL meter. One of the most common issues that cause "boomy" bass is having the subwoofer level *hot*.

Tom V.
SVS

 

[annunaki]

Crossover selection can "muddy" up bass response as well. Experiment with settings. I have often found 50hz-60hz at 18db/oct-24db/oct are very suitable for larger subwoofers. That is of course, if, your other speakers are up to the task.

Room placement is probably the biggest cause of undesirable response. Tom V. also made a very good point. Calibrate the system.

 

[cbraver]

Why do people complain about subwoofers being "muddy?" They are all muddy. That's not a characterist to judge a subwoofer by. Go listen to a high end Velodyne or something, now turn off the monitors and just listen to the sub itself. It's gunna sound muddy because the punch comes from the midrange, not the subwoofer. That's why good midrange is crucial and, in many "audiophiles" opinions, more important then a big low end.

Like Tom said, it's probably because the volume is too high and so the sub is overpowering the mains. Any sub will sound like **** if it's overpowering the mains.

I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I'm just passionate.

-Chad

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

Very often *muddy* is a subjective impression left by a subwoofer that is calibrated too hot...or has one(or more) severe peaks in the response. A sharp peak at say 45-55hz will cause that frequency to "ring". In other words....when a 45-55hz bass note hits...it won't decay naturally. Instead it will seem to take forever to decay...and before it fully does...another 45-55hz hit may already be starting. So instead of a..."thawacK....thawacK....thawacK" type of bass output...you'll have more of a "thawaaaaathawaaaathawaaaa". All the bass peaks just blending in with one another.

Get the calibration right with a relatively flat frequency response and most subwoofers will tend to sound very good up to their intended operating limits. (of course, getting a flat FR is easier said than done in most rooms).

Tom V.
SVS

 

[cbraver]

Nod. It's all about the installation. A cheap sub placed properly can be more than sufficient, where an expensive sub placed improperly will sound aweful. Volume is another story.

-Chad