HELP Trouble Setting Up My New PC-Ultra!

[DTS]

For a more simpler calibrate he might want to pop in a THX, anything Pixar, dvd. Its a lot easier at least to get him in the ball park. Just a thought.

 

[Pyrrho]

So even though I have tower floorstanding speakers, they should still be set to small? Do you want pics of the room or of just the sub?

Unless your front speakers have a frequency response that goes as low as your subwoofer, you should set them to "small". Otherwise, they will not be reproducing all of the deep bass that you can have, and your subwoofer is not going to reproduce anything that is sent to them instead of to it. So, for virtually all people, they should set their main speakers to "small". The frequency crossover you should select depends upon the capabilities of your various speakers; the crossover frequency should be set above the -3dB point in the bass frequency response of the main speakers, and below the -3dB point in the higher frequency response of the subwoofer. Typically, it is best to set it around 80 Hz, but it really depends upon the capabilities of the various speakers (front, center, surround) involved. If you can set the crossover frequency differently for the different speakers, that might be best, but if not, you need to consider the performance of the worst performing of your various speakers when selecting a crossover frequency.

 

[Pyrrho]

Yeah I did, but I manually changed the L/R levels back to 0 db... woops. I didn't understand why it was all the way down to -9 db. That alone has made a huge difference.

Here are the pics:
http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa223/esau44/new setup/

There is not a lot of point in using an automatic setup if you are just going to arbitrarily change the settings afterwards. The automatic setup is supposed to balance the sound of the various speakers, and it does that by boosting and/or cutting the levels of the various channels. Unless your automatic feature does not function properly, you should simply use whatever levels it selects for the balancing of the various channels. If you change it, by increasing the levels of anything but the subwoofer, you will effectively be reducing the bass output relative to other sounds.

 

[Midcow2]

setting speakers to small

Set them to small, see if this helps. Someone could give a more detailed explanation on this but setting your speakers to small has nothing to do with the size of the speakers themselves.

Setting the speakers to "samll" really doesn't mena they are small. Typically whe you set to small at some crossover point ( usually around 80hz-150hz) the lower frequencies are sent to sub-out or LFE.

If you set to small and can adjust the crossover you can try various frequencies to obtain the sound you desire.

Many auto-callibration systems will set the subwoofer level very low.

A couple of things to check.

(1) In some cases it is front speaker size "small" or "large"; "small usually ensures bass output goes to sub.

(2) Sometimes the is a bass setting "main", "sub", "mixed"; needs to be "mixed" or "sub" ( many times the speakers size setting of "small" has the same effect.

(3) Most subs have a separate amplifier and hence a separate gain volume control; you probably will need to adjust this. I wouldn't suggest maximum at first, maybe somewhere around midpoint or lower and slowly increase. However, for some reason some subs have to have the gain set pretty high before they provide good "thumping" sound

(4) Go to your speaker setup menu and ensure that it says subwoofer="yes" and then look at the subwoofer dB level. As I said before, most quick-setup, auto-setup, or auto-equalization systems set the level very low. Again, in use increments and slowly increase the Sub gain.

Good luck and by the way very nice sub!

 

[Pyrrho]

... However, for some reason some subs have to have the gain set pretty high before they provide good "thumping" sound...

Most recordings are not mixed with "thumping" levels of bass at sane volumes of other frequencies, so if one wants that without simply turning up the volume so high one causes permanent damage to one's hearing, one simply turns up the bass to give one a very unflat frequency response, overemphasizing the bass. When you set the gain on the subwoofer above the level for a flat frequency response, you are effectively turning up the bass. Turning up the bass is what is typically done at dance clubs.

Many home theater enthusiasts do not like a flat frequency response at all, and routinely set their subwoofers to overemphasize the bass. You can read posts at sites like this one in which people recommend setting the subwoofer to overemphasize the bass instead of setting it to a flat frequency response.

In some cases, this desire for more bass is the result of having a less than ideal subwoofer, as most subwoofers do not reproduce the deepest bass at a level equal to the upper bass, and therefore the feeling that some bass is missing will be appropriate when the subwoofer is set for the flattest response it can give. Unfortunately, though, turning up the subwoofer to a higher level overemphasizes the upper bass, and it still will not reproduce frequencies lower than its capabilities.

I don't have that problem any more, as I have two SVS Ultra subwoofers. I like having my subwoofers set to a flat frequency response, but not everyone simply wants all the bass that is intended and no more, and they, therefore, set things according to their preferences and have a less accurate reproduction of the recording.

 

[Matt34]

It's amazing what you can find elsewhere on Audioholics.com.

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/get-good-bass/

 

[sgtpepper9]

All I can say right now is... wow. Thanks for the help everyone. I am amazed. I am too busy listening to music and watching scenes of movies at the moment. I will post a review soon

 

[Adam]

Hey, don't worry about us - enjoy that sonic beast! I can still remember watching the scene in Mr. and Mrs. Smith when Brad Pitt is riding a dune buggy through the desert, and I could actually feel it when he landed from one of the jumps. Prior to getting the Ultra, I didn't even know that there was bass in that scene!

Enjoy, my friend! We can wait for that review.

 

[AVRat]

Yep, it adds a whole new sensory dimension to the HT experience when you can feel (sorry mike c) as well as hear and see it!