Increasing bass on my Marantz SR18

[StratCountry]

I have a Marantz SR18 I bought a month ago, the bass on it very limited at low to moderate volume level setting, is there something I'm missing while setting up the receiver?

The receiver is hooked up to my dbx Soundfield V speakers which have the 15" drivers, the bass gain on receiver is set at maximum, treble gain set on o, speaker set on large, sub woofer is off, surround is off, set on stereo.

I don't care to hook up a sub woofer since I have 15' drivers on the speakers. For now, I have the receiver connected to my BSR EQ3000 with the frequencies 60Hz & 80hz set at +5db, & 500hz set at about -5db for more of a rich sound. with these settings, the sound quality is superb from the Marantz, I'm using this receiver to listen to my cd's.

I would rather do away with the equalizer since I'm not able to connect my DSS to it, or at least i haven't figured out how yet. There are several SuriusXM radio stations I listen to with DSS.

Would appreciate any help,
Jerome

 

[markw]

There's something drastically wrong with either your receiver, speakers, equalizer, or your expectations. ...or any combination thereof.

 

[KEW]

the bass on it very limited at low to moderate volume level setting

Does this mean you have decent bass at louder volume levels?

 

[StratCountry]

Marantz bass

There's something drastically wrong with either your receiver, speakers, equalizer, or your expectations. ...or any combination thereof.

There is tremendous growl in the speakers, even at low volume level while running through the equalizer. While bypassing the equalizer, bass sounds rather tame, almost to the point of tinny.

Jerome

 

[StratCountry]

Marantz bass

Does this mean you have decent bass at louder volume levels?

I have good bass only if I turn up the volume on the receiver at a deafening level which there is no point listening at that level unless the speakers were placed in my backyard.

Thanks,
Jerome

 

[markw]

I THOUGHT I knew that speaker.

I did some checking. These are not "real" DBX products. At one point, DAK, of mail order catalog fame in the 80's and 90's, bought the DBX name and used it on their house brand speakers that were made by BSR, the turntable and equalizer manufacturer.

Size isn't everything, but it sure sells speakers. The speakers looked impressive in the catalog, along with the "Thunderlizards".

Although they have impressive looking 15" bass drivers in a 4 or 5 way system, they were not really good performers. Odds are that a decent 8 or 10" Dayton powered sub will be more satisfying.

 

[cpp]

Found this online about these speakers.

1- 15" nylon laminated cone front mounted woofer with 44 oz. magnet structure

1- 8" polypropylene cone midrange (800hz - 3500hz) closed basket design mounted at 30 degree angle

1- 2 3/8" H X 3/16 W. micro-thin aluminum ribbon tweeter mounted at 30 degree angle. Exponentially flared frame ensures maximum wide-angle horizontal dispersion for all frequencies above 3500 hz.

1- 4" polypropylene cone top mounted midrange ambiance driver (1200 Hz - 5000 Hz).

1- 2" phenolic-ring clamped liquid edge cone top-mounted ambiance tweeter. (5000 Hz +)

Features:
Attenuator control to adjust the volume of the top firing speakers to adjust to room characteristics.

Speakers can be biamped. 15" woofer can be powered separately from the rest of the drivers, giving the performance of a separate subwoofer with the convenience of one cabinet. You also wind up with two subs.

Dimensions: 36" high x 18 3/8" wide x 12" deep.
Weight: 50 lbs. each.

Comments are noted on this site as well

old speakers dbx soundfield v - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

 

[StratCountry]

DBX Speakers

I did some checking. These are not "real" DBX products. At one point, DAK, of mail order catalog fame in the 80's and 90's, bought the DBX name and used it on their house brand speakers that were made by BSR, the turntable and equalizer manufacturer.

Size isn't everything, but it sure sells speakers. The speakers looked impressive in the catalog, along with the "Thunderlizards".

Although they have impressive looking 15" bass drivers in a 4 or 5 way system, they were not really good performers. Odds are that a decent 8 or 10" Dayton powered sub will be more satisfying.

I wasn't aware of this, I bought these speakers new from DAK back then. The bass drivers may have a low db sensitivity. I used these speakers for the first ten years, and now, just recently took them out of storage to hook them up to my recently purchased old school Marantz from 1999.

The sound quality is awesome coming from the dbx's, open, transparent, they can be bright, or warm, super at giving ambiance, but low on bass at comfortable listening volume level.

Was considering Klipsch reference sereies speakers in the future.

Jerome

 

[StratCountry]

Bi amping dbx speakers

Found this online about these speakers.

Speakers can be biamped. 15" woofer can be powered separately from the rest of the drivers, giving the performance of a separate subwoofer with the convenience of one cabinet. You also wind up with two subs.

Comments are noted on this site as well

old speakers dbx soundfield v - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

Would you know how I could bi amp the bass drivers in my dbx's into a sub woofer? As mentioned in my earlier post, I now own a Marantz SR18, using the receiver primarily for listening to my older cd's.

Jerome

 

[M Code]

I have a Marantz SR18 I bought a month ago, the bass on it very limited at low to moderate volume level setting, is there something I'm missing while setting up the receiver?

The receiver is hooked up to my dbx Soundfield V speakers which have the 15" drivers, the bass gain on receiver is set at maximum, treble gain set on o, speaker set on large, sub woofer is off, surround is off, set on stereo.

I don't care to hook up a sub woofer since I have 15' drivers on the speakers. For now, I have the receiver connected to my BSR EQ3000 with the frequencies 60Hz & 80hz set at +5db, & 500hz set at about -5db for more of a rich sound. with these settings, the sound quality is superb from the Marantz, I'm using this receiver to listen to my cd's.

I would rather do away with the equalizer since I'm not able to connect my DSS to it, or at least i haven't figured out how yet. There are several SuriusXM radio stations I listen to with DSS.

Would appreciate any help,
Jerome

Go into the OSD..
1. What are the L/R front speakers set to?
To get full-range the setting needs to be LARGE.
2. Is the subwoofer ON or OFF?

Just my $0.02...

 

[j_garcia]

Would you know how I could bi amp the bass drivers in my dbx's into a sub woofer? As mentioned in my earlier post, I now own a Marantz SR18, using the receiver primarily for listening to my older cd's.

Jerome

Biamping has nothing to do with a subwoofer. In this case, it means using a separate amp for the woofer only. If you want more bass, a powered subwoofer is all you should need.

I am going to say it is the speakers that are the issue, possibly the placement of them in the room, but not likely the receiver. Just because your speakers have 15" drivers does not mean you will get deep, powerful bass. While there are plenty of tower speakers that can handle bass, a powered sub is generally still going to be better at it.

 

[Rickster71]

How are the surrounds on the 15" drivers?
Wondering if the foam is rotted.

 

[StratCountry]

Bia amping dbx

Biamping has nothing to do with a subwoofer.

Sorry about the the bi-amping thing, I can see your point about the 15' drivers, bigger doesn't necessary mean better.

First pair of speakers I owned were Marantz speakers with 10" drivers back when I bought my first Marantz receiver & speakers in late 70's, then the dbx Soundfield V speakers late 80"s, then some 5.1 satellite speakers that I never was fond of, now back to my original dbx's until some extra $'s roll in.

I'm a bit drawn to the Klipsch's reference Series for a 5.1 setup: RB-81 II for the main, RW-12 subwoofer, RS-52 II for the rear. I'm pretty good at 100 watts RMS for my music cds.

Jerome

 

[StratCountry]

Speaker surrounds

How are the surrounds on the 15" drivers?
Wondering if the foam is rotted.

Surprisingly, they are still in perfect condition, including the cones.

Jerome

 

[j_garcia]

Sorry about the the bi-amping thing, I can see your point about the 15' drivers, bigger doesn't necessary mean better.

First pair of speakers I owned were Marantz speakers with 10" drivers back when I bought my first Marantz receiver & speakers in late 70's, then the dbx Soundfield V speakers late 80"s, then some 5.1 satellite speakers that I never was fond of, now back to my original dbx's until some extra $'s roll in.

I'm a bit drawn to the Klipsch's reference Series for a 5.1 setup: RB-81 II for the main, RW-12 subwoofer, RS-52 II for the rear. I'm pretty good at 100 watts RMS for my music cds.

Depends on the room size as well, but a setup like that should work out fine. I'd probably look elsewhere for the sub too though. When you get to that point, check out the subwoofers area here and provide a budget and room size and I am sure the gang here can help you find a solid performer for the price. If you are satisfied with the sound you get from these speakers now, you can always start with adding the sub first

Surprisingly, they are still in perfect condition, including the cones.

Jerome

Yes, I think you would have been asking a different question if the surrounds were rotted because the distortion would have been obvious, but it is a perfectly good question.

 

[StratCountry]

Go into the OSD..
1. What are the L/R front speakers set to?
To get full-range the setting needs to be LARGE.
2. Is the subwoofer ON or OFF?

Just my $0.02...

Speakers set to large

I set subwoofer on & off, there was no difference in bass volume. Even when subwoofer set to on, I still get full range of frequencies if I were to use a 2.1 setup for music.

Jerome

 

[StratCountry]

Depends on the room size as well, but a setup like that should work out fine. I'd probably look elsewhere for the sub too though. When you get to that point, check out the subwoofers area here and provide a budget and room size and I am sure the gang here can help you find a solid performer for the price. If you are satisfied with the sound you get from these speakers now, you can always start with adding the sub first



My listening room size is: 15' x 17' x 8' high, all sheet rocked walls & ceiling, fully carpeted, all cloth cushioned furniture. My budget will have be under $1000, I'll be looking for extra good deals on used Klipsch speakers.

I am quite content with the dbx sound quality. For now just looking & hoping.

Thanks,
Jerome

 

[mtrot]

I'm assuming you have the speakers connected in phase, right? If not, bass will be weak at the listening position. Other than that, I have no explanation why your bass is so weak, unless it is just the effect of your room.

Does your receiver have a "late night" or a traditional "loudness" setting? The loudness setting will boost the bass and treble a bit at low volume levels. Also, I believe your receiver probably has a built-in equalizer you could try. Might be a way of not having to use the outboard equalizer.

 

[StratCountry]

I'm assuming you have the speakers connected in phase, right? If not, bass will be weak at the listening position. Other than that, I have no explanation why your bass is so weak, unless it is just the effect of your room.

Does your receiver have a "late night" or a traditional "loudness" setting? The loudness setting will boost the bass and treble a bit at low volume levels. Also, I believe your receiver probably has a built-in equalizer you could try. Might be a way of not having to use the outboard equalizer.

Double checked the speaker wire polarities, they are red on red/black on black.

My receiver has a night setting and a bass peak setting, both are switched off.

No loudness nor built in eq.

Thanks for your suggestions, I pretty much accepted the weak bass level at low to mid moderate volume setting. It does have tremendous bass when I'm in the mood to crank it up.

"tl some extra $$'s roll to-wards my way, I'll continue to look at my 5.2 Klipsch speakers as mentioned in my earlier post. Been getting a few A/V components ready for sale, the ones I don't really use too much.

Thanks,
Jerome

 

[vipergg]

speakers

You definetly should get some decent bass out of them . I have those 5 way BSR speakers from Dak in the 80's and they still sound great . I'm only running them thru a 50 watt Onkyo stereo receiver with a ADC equalizer and there is plenty of bass thru all ranges. Just had the foam surrounds replaced on the top firing mids on these and they sound great for a 25 year old speaker. 15 inch woofer , 8 inch poly mids, and horn tweeter in the front , 5 inch poly mid and horn firing off the top. they may not be top end speakers but they sound pretty darn good after all these years. If you aren't getting bass then i would look at the amp.