down to 3 choices

[Pogre]

]\]`

 

[bradymartin]

ok i think everythings good now. though i still prefer direct mode for streaming music.

I am now convinced stereo mode rolls off the highs, and the subwoofer in eq 2 both ports open i can feel the bass more and seems to surround the whole room with bass.

but the bass is still louder and stronger in direct mode, and the treble is brighter. though the bass i can tell comes from the towers and doesnt surround the room like with the sub on stereo mode. towers are toed in to mlp position. the towers go down to 32 i believe, klipsch rp280s

i use youtube, spotify etc. for music/smart tv and a bluray player for movies.
i have optical cord connected to the tv and back to the denon for streaming. tv audio button on denon.

hdmi for blu ray player to the avr. bluray button on denon

i had to go into both settings individually, tv audio, and blu ray, to bring everything back down to zero in channel level adjust. now i need to turn the volume up more to get the same volume i had before.
then went to speakers/test zone and upped the sub from -6 to -3, left everything else alone.
also adjusted the towers to 80 crossover.

 

[Pogre]

ok i think everythings good now. though i still prefer direct mode for streaming music.

I am now convinced stereo mode rolls off the highs, and the subwoofer in eq 2 both ports open i can feel the bass more and seems to surround the whole room with bass.

but the bass is still louder and stronger in direct mode, and the treble is brighter. though the bass i can tell comes from the towers and doesnt surround the room like with the sub on stereo mode. towers are toed in to mlp position. the towers go down to 32 i believe, klipsch rp280s

i use youtube, spotify etc. for music/smart tv and a bluray player for movies.
i have optical cord connected to the tv and back to the denon for streaming. tv audio button on denon.

hdmi for blu ray player to the avr. bluray button on denon

i had to go into both settings individually, tv audio, and blu ray, to bring everything back down to zero in channel level adjust. now i need to turn the volume up more to get the same volume i had before.
then went to speakers/test zone and upped the sub from -6 to -3, left everything else alone.
also adjusted the towers to 80 crossover.

Excellent. And it sounds like it did yield some improvements.

I forget what you had for a subwoofer before? I had an adjustment period when I went from meh to a real sub. It did seem more subdued. After some critical listening to some of my favorite bass heavy tracks I determined what I was missing was the distortion from my old subs. It was just nice, clean bass. It's not suppose to slam you in the face, but you should be able to tell a difference when you flip it on or off.

Bump it up a couple more dB to say, -1 and do some listening again. Don't get wrapped up in test tones. We hear deep bass differently than we do the mid and upper frequencies. Listen to some familiar bass heavy music and give it a few sings to grow on you.

Or you could just say F all that and run your towers in direct if that sounds best to you!

 

[bradymartin]

after more music listening (streaming) i think maybe i like the bass from the sub more. sounds smoother and perhaps cleaner but still not as loud. maybe ill up the speaker/test tone by a couple more db to -1 or 0.

towers bass in direct mode has more initial thump, if thats a word. also not sure how to put it but lingers more. nothing to complain about these towers bass, they sounds great. and the treble is bright which i like.

why in stereo mode are the highs rolled off?

ok off to the fireworks.

Happy 4th of July alcoholic, i mean audioholic freaks

 

[bradymartin]

Excellent. And it sounds like it did yield some improvements.

I forget what you had for a subwoofer before? I had an adjustment period when I went from meh to a real sub. It did seem more subdued. After some critical listening to some of my favorite bass heavy tracks I determined what I was missing was the distortion from my old subs. It was just nice, clean bass. It's not suppose to slam you in the face, but you should be able to tell a difference when you flip it on or off.

Bump it up a couple more dB to say, -1 and do some listening again. Don't get wrapped up in test tones. We hear deep bass differently than we do the mid and upper frequencies. Listen to some familiar bass heavy music and give it a few sings to grow on you.

Or you could just say F all that and run your towers in direct if that sounds best to you!

i had a bic f12 subwoofer before and it just seemed more thunderous. but i upped it like 5 or 6db.

that being said this hsu sounds clean like you say, and better. i guess i was used the f12 being very loud. im going to experiment more and raise the hsu to -1 or 0 tomorrow.

 

[Pogre]

i had a bic f12 subwoofer before and it just seemed more thunderous. but i upped it like 5 or 6db.

that being said this hsu sounds clean like you say, and better. i guess i was used the f12 being very loud. im going to experiment more and raise the hsu to -1 or 0 tomorrow.

I think that's at least part of it. It took a little getting used to, but I really started appreciating it more when I listened critically to some familiar tracks.

I also suspect you're a bit of a bassaholic too (says the guy with two 15" subwoofers ). Not that there's anything wrong with that!

 

[bradymartin]

after much more experimenting in music listening, i like stereo mode with the sub playing eq2 both ports open, and towers at 80hz. i still feel the treble is toned down in stereo mode and hope to fix that. direct mode treble is awesome. the towers are way too close to the wall, around 7 inches i think. bass lingers.

watching movies, towers at 80 crossover, is much better than when i had the towers at 40 or 60hz. I watched John Wick and other action type moves with explosions. Better with a 80 crossover.

feels like the extra bass of the towers is wasted.
i could have gotten a 15" hsu sub to use with my bookshelves for approx the same money as the towers and 12" sub. i learned a good lesson.

im selling the towers and using an extra pair of klipsch rp160s i have..

 

[shadyJ]

after much more experimenting in music listening, i like stereo mode with the sub playing eq2 both ports open, and towers at 80hz. i still feel the treble is toned down in stereo mode and hope to fix that. direct mode treble is awesome. the towers are way too close to the wall, around 7 inches i think. bass lingers.

watching movies, towers at 80 crossover, is much better than when i had the towers at 40 or 60hz. I watched John Wick and other action type moves with explosions. Better with a 80 crossover.

feels like the extra bass of the towers is wasted.
i could have gotten a 15" hsu sub to use with my bookshelves for approx the same money as the towers and 12" sub. i learned a good lesson.

im selling the towers and using an extra pair of klipsch rp160s i have..

Generally a pair of bookshelf speakers and one or two powerful subs is better than tower speakers.

But your towers will have more dynamic range in mid and upper bass than your bookshelf speakers, so before you part with the tower speakers, do some comparing first. On the other hand, if you don't listen at high volumes, the extra dynamic range on the towers are wasted so then you should sell them.

 

[Joe B]

I would not be too quick in selling your tower speakers. I've had two bookshelf/sub set ups in the past and really loved them. I now have two tower speakers with a sub (dialed in with Anthem's ARC) and I can't believe the difference in sound. I would take some time working with what you have before you make a choice which you might regret (position, calibration, etc).

"feels like the extra bass of the towers is wasted" In my set up at home the sub is so well dialed in that I am totally unaware of having a sub. All of the bass produced by the system appears to come from the tower speakers. It's not until I run the system with the sub off that I aware I have a sub at all. With the book shelf/sub set ups I've had in the past, the integration between the speakers and the sub was not as sweet.

 

[Pogre]

I recently bought towers and did notice more fullness and presence in the mid-bass region. It's not night and day, but there is some improvement. Agree with Shady, if you don't listen much at higher volumes you're not missing much with bookshelfs. I however, like to push the volume from time to time.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I pretty much agree with these guys too. Even in their respective camps, towers/bookshelf's have different capabilities and integration can be challenging, or not. Unless there are space constraints, my money will always go to towers(not a bookshelf with an integrated wooden stand lol). Since you still have them I also recommend some comparisons.

 

[bradymartin]

yeah i just love these towers way too much. i cant part with them

after much more music listening, comparing stereo mode with hsu at eq2 and both ports open vs direct mode towers only.....

stereo mode still less bass. and the highs are definitely toned down compared to direct mode towers only.
towers are set at 80crossover and about 13 inches from the back wall, and major toe in to mlp.

stereo mode bass fills the room more and present everywhere. towers bass you can def tell its coming from them, but more powerful, for sure.

what makes me think something is off is i auditioned the klipsch rp280s at frys several times. they had them connected to a smaller klipsch sub, 8 or 10 subwoofer. dont know how they had crossovers etc. setup or any other processing.

so at frys, switching from stereo mode to direct, stereo mode definitely without a doubt the bass was more powerful than direct mode.

so its contradicting my system. if this is how its supposed to be then no complaints. sounds great either way. just want to know nothing is wrong.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

The bigger contradiction as you say, is probably the room. What kind of space does frys have to listen in? I've never been in one so just wondering.

 

[lovinthehd]

yeah i just love these towers way too much. i cant part with them

after much more music listening, comparing stereo mode with hsu at eq2 and both ports open vs direct mode towers only.....

stereo mode still less bass. and the highs are definitely toned down compared to direct mode towers only.
towers are set at 80crossover and about 13 inches from the back wall, and major toe in to mlp.

stereo mode bass fills the room more and present everywhere. towers bass you can def tell its coming from them, but more powerful, for sure.

what makes me think something is off is i auditioned the klipsch rp280s at frys several times. they had them connected to a smaller klipsch sub, 8 or 10 subwoofer. dont know how they had crossovers etc. setup or any other processing.

so at frys, switching from stereo mode to direct, stereo mode definitely without a doubt the bass was more powerful than direct mode.

so its contradicting my system. if this is how its supposed to be then no complaints. sounds great either way. just want to know nothing is wrong.

I'd have a hard time believing the sub was properly setup at Fry's....was it in a small room or main floor?

 

[bradymartin]

the frys auditioning room has 4 or 5 subs and approx 10 sets of towers all setup with a couple of receivers. id say its 4 times the size of my room. off the top of my head around 20x20, probably more.

while auditioning in stereo mode and direct, i made sure to go to each sub to see if it was on. only the klipsch sub was working in stereo mode.

anyone been to frys location in manhattan beach out of curiosity?

 

[bradymartin]

if you guys seriously think the 12 hsu should be putting out more bass than the towers like the klipsch 8 or 10 (now that i think about it i think its a 10) sub at frys, then i probably should drive to hsu and have them check it out.

 

[panteragstk]

have you tried stereo mode with audyssey bypass? Also, do you dynamic EQ enabled? Which Audyssey curve did you choose (movies or music)?

Lastly, have you tried the lfe+main option?

If your speakers in direct output more bass than your speakers and your sub then something isn't set right (as others have stated).

 

[bradymartin]

have you tried stereo mode with audyssey bypass? Also, do you dynamic EQ enabled? Which Audyssey curve did you choose (movies or music)?

Lastly, have you tried the lfe+main option?

If your speakers in direct output more bass than your speakers and your sub then something isn't set right (as others have stated).

havent tried audyssey bypass but i will. dyn eq enabled. curve? im using audyssey flat. i posted pictures of my settings on previous page i think.

well in stereo mode i thought sub would put out most bass up to 80 where the crossover is set for the speakers.
lfe+main would put the towers in full range?

ill keep messing with it but yeah some setting may be off

i did up the sub by 4 i think, in the speaker calibration/test tones option from -6 to -2.
i left everything to zero in the channel level options

 

[Pogre]

the mk5 sounds cleaner though

Right back to this again. I'm wondering if what you think you're missing is just boomy distortion from and underpowered sub turned up louder than perhaps it should have been. Clean bass sounds different than boomy noise box bass. It's more subtle. You should really only notice it when you turn it off. Panteragstk's suggestion would have your mains playing full range along with the sub. It's a shot in the dark, but you might like it better, you might not. I don't. I keep mine at just lfe. Have you tried the sub crawl?

 

[panteragstk]

havent tried audyssey bypass but i will. dyn eq enabled. curve? im using audyssey flat. i posted pictures of my settings on previous page i think.

well in stereo mode i thought sub would put out most bass up to 80 where the crossover is set for the speakers.
lfe+main would put the towers in full range?

ill keep messing with it but yeah some setting may be off

i did up the sub by 4 i think, in the speaker calibration/test tones option from -6 to -2.
i left everything to zero in the channel level options

LFE+main puts all lfe and LR bass to the sub for more output. I would also enable bypass on the LR so your LR speakers are essentially the same as they would be in direct. Audyssey would not do anything to your main speakers. Plus, you have your crossover for the main LR at 80hz. I'd set them to full range if you are missing the bass that your mains are capable of.

Basically for your speakers and sub combo, your settings seem to be very different from what I would do for music listening.