Help Settign Up

[ViviF0rever]

So i bought a BIC Acoustech H-100 subwoofer and finally got it today. I have a Yamah HTR-6060 feeding it from the amplifiers Subwoofer Pre-out with a RCA cable into the back of the sub. This gives me some bass when i do independent channel tests, but the subwoofer does not do anythign at all when there is music or something playing, or whatever it does is inaudible.

If i hook up the subwoofer by wiring the speakers through it i get bass working.

Any suggestions what i am doing wrong? I had the SubX-over set to as high as it would go and tried to adjust through the receiver. Ive tried setting the receiver at values from 40hz to 200hz and no difference. Am i missing something here?

 

[avaserfi]

Do you have an spl meter? Try running the channel tests and making all your speakers equal and then try to test the sub again.

If it is playing through the channel test it should work. The only other thing I can think of is maybe it plays through the channel test because you chose that speaker there. Have you gone to your speaker set up and input the fact that their is a subwoofer to be sending sound to?

 

[jake5717]

You may have your receiver set to fronts. Can you confirm the sub is working (is the driver moving)? Do you hear bass anywhere in the room?

 

[darien87]

What type of receiver do you have?

I know that with my Yamaha, if you don't set the sub function to "Both", the sub will only be activated when the receiver receives a ".1" signal. So, the sub would turn on with a movie, but not with music.

Check your sub output settings.

 

[Johnd]

Is the Yammy setup as subwoofer=yes on the receiver's setup menu?

 

[ViviF0rever]

It was a computer issue, the computer which was feeding it had some retarded defaults that i fixed later. I messed around with the receiver, computer, and subwoofer settings for forever and now its working pretty well

 

[moreira85]

What type of receiver do you have?

I know that with my Yamaha, if you don't set the sub function to "Both", the sub will only be activated when the receiver receives a ".1" signal. So, the sub would turn on with a movie, but not with music.

Check your sub output settings.

IS THIS TRUE, I HAVE A YAMAHA RECEIVER AND HAVE IT SET TO SUB FOR BASS OUT, SHOULD IT BE SET TO BOTH???

 

[MDS]

IS THIS TRUE, I HAVE A YAMAHA RECEIVER AND HAVE IT SET TO SUB FOR BASS OUT, SHOULD IT BE SET TO BOTH???

No. LFE always goes to the sub unless you set subwoofer = no, in which case the LFE goes to the mains (which will automatically be set to Large).

A 'Both' setting applies only when the mains are set to Large. Any speaker set to Large will get a full frequency signal and normally none of that signal would be redirected to the subwoofer. With Both, the Large speaker gets the full frequency signal AND the bass below the xover goes to the subwoofer - hence both the mains and sub are playing the same content ('double bass' if you will as Onkyo calls this feature).

 

[moreira85]

So if Bass is set to both and you have fronts set to small and crossover at 80hz does that mean that the fronts will now receive LFE below 80 because it is set to both? If that is the case then i will keep mine at Bass Out set to Sub only.

 

[moreira85]

No. LFE always goes to the sub unless you set subwoofer = no, in which case the LFE goes to the mains (which will automatically be set to Large).

A 'Both' setting applies only when the mains are set to Large. Any speaker set to Large will get a full frequency signal and normally none of that signal would be redirected to the subwoofer. With Both, the Large speaker gets the full frequency signal AND the bass below the xover goes to the subwoofer - hence both the mains and sub are playing the same content ('double bass' if you will as Onkyo calls this feature).

So if I have Xover set to 80 and the Fronts set to small and choose Bass out=Both Does that mean that fronts will play Bass along with the sub but the signal below 80 will be sent to Sub only or does that mean since it is set to both that all low frequency below 80 will go to both fronts and sub. My fronts are staying at small regardless.

 

[MDS]

So if I have Xover set to 80 and the Fronts set to small and choose Bass out=Both Does that mean that fronts will play Bass along with the sub but the signal below 80 will be sent to Sub only or does that mean since it is set to both that all low frequency below 80 will go to both fronts and sub. My fronts are staying at small regardless.

Bass out = Both means that the front speakers are Large and both the front speakers and the sub play the bass regardless of whether the receiver allows you to select Small for the fronts. On Onkyo receivers you cannot select the Double Bass (same thing as Bass out = Both) unless you set the fronts to Large).

If the xover is set to 80 Hz and Bass out = Both then:
1. Front speakers play all frequencies (because they are Large).
2. Bass below 80 Hz for any channel set to Small goes to the sub.
3. Bass below 80 Hz for the front channels goes to the sub.
4. LFE always goes to the sub.

The 'Both' or 'Double Bass' aspect of it is that both the front speakers and the sub are playing frequencies below 80 Hz. In contrast, if you had the fronts set to Small with Bass = Sub then the fronts would only play 80 Hz and above just like any other channel set to Small.

 

[moreira85]

Thanks MDS. So since i have the bass set to both and even though the fronts are still set to small that means that frequencies below 80 will still be played on the front channel and the sub. correct?

I want the frequencies played below 80 sent to sub only but sounds so much better with fronts set to small and bass set to both.

 

[MDS]

Thanks MDS. So since i have the bass set to both and even though the fronts are still set to small that means that frequencies below 80 will still be played on the front channel and the sub. correct?

Correct. Your receiver really shouldn't let you set the fronts to Small when the Bass out = both because it doesn't make sense. If both the front speakers and the sub are playing the bass then the front speakers are Large by definition.

 

[moreira85]

Bass out
Bass out = Both then:
1. Front speakers play all frequencies (because they are Large).
2. Bass below 80 Hz for any channel set to Small goes to the sub.
3. Bass below 80 Hz for the front channels goes to the sub.
4. LFE always goes to the sub.

thanks, i just got confused because in #3 you said when set to both the bass below 80hz for the front goes to the sub.

 

[moreira85]

Bass out = Both means that the front speakers are Large and both the front speakers and the sub play the bass regardless of whether the receiver allows you to select Small for the fronts. On Onkyo receivers you cannot select the Double Bass (same thing as Bass out = Both) unless you set the fronts to Large).

If the xover is set to 80 Hz and Bass out = Both then:
1. Front speakers play all frequencies (because they are Large).
2. Bass below 80 Hz for any channel set to Small goes to the sub.
3. Bass below 80 Hz for the front channels goes to the sub.
4. LFE always goes to the sub.

The 'Both' or 'Double Bass' aspect of it is that both the front speakers and the sub are playing frequencies below 80 Hz. In contrast, if you had the fronts set to Small with Bass = Sub then the fronts would only play 80 Hz and above just like any other channel set to Small.

okay, i am having a difficult time understanding this, assume Xover is set to 80.

LFE sub only means all speakers bass below 80 gets sent to sub and played by sub.

LFE +Front ( on my yammy you can select this and keep fronts set to small) means that bass below 80hz for all speakers set to small are played by sub, but what about the fronts? is the bass below 80 for the fronts sent to the sub and not ouput by the fronts? Or is bass from front being played twice by fronts and sub? i read MDS response but lfe + front confuses me.

 

[MDS]

Or is bass from front being played twice by fronts and sub?

Yes, bass below the xover is being played by both the sub and the fronts (hence the term 'both' or Onkyo's more descriptive term 'double bass').

A speaker set to Large by definition plays the entire frequency range of the signal it is given, no xover at all - so fronts set to Large would definitely play bass below 80 Hz. The 'both' option means also send the sub the bass below the xover from the front speakers to the sub, because normally any channel set to Large would not send any bass from that channel to the sub.

Yamaha receivers/manuals are second only to Denon in confusing the user. I understand this stuff and yet still scratch my head sometimes when reading Yamaha user manuals (don't get me started on their min/max/std settings for dynamic compression).

A Small setting means to send the bass below the xover to the sub, so how can setting the fronts to Small accomplish 'both' or 'double bass'? With a Small setting, the bass for the fronts would be redirected to the sub and therefore the fronts would not be playing any bass below the xover and it would not be 'both'.

The simple fact is that setting the fronts to Small or Large is irrelevant when the 'both' setting is on - they are Large - and the receiver ignores the actual setting, unlike receivers like Onkyo that enforce the rule that 'double bass' cannot be set unless the front speakers are set to Large. I'm sure there is a footnote in tiny print somewhere in the manual that advises of this fact but it would be far less confusing if they had just implemented it properly and not allow the user to set a setting that will be ignored.

Forget about LFE (the .1 channel in DD/DTS soundtracks) - it always goes to the sub if you set subwoofer=Yes. It gets confusing because people will use the term 'LFE' as a catch-all for bass frequencies when in reality it is a discrete channel, band limited to 120 Hz and below, that only exists on DD/DTS soundtracks.

 

[moreira85]

thanks mds for taking the time to type that up. i read the manaul on setting lfe over and over and it just confused me the way the worded bass both.

So you think i should have my set up for bass set to sub only?????

it just sounds so much better at both but i guess if i do that i will end up with gaps/ nulls.

I think i know what i have to do. i have such high expectations maybe an SVS will solve the problem.

 

[MDS]

It's one of those personal preference choices. I personally don't use the double bass option (as Onkyo calls it) but there is no harm in doing so. If your mains are capable of reproducing the low frequencies well then you will get added slam using the 'both' option because both the mains and the sub will be playing the bass. If you like it, use it.