Is the volume on my sub set too high?

[little wing]

I haven't looked at the settings on my sub or in the AVR lately but felt like it was time to review settings, mainly because of a new member in the household, and things tend to get touched. Anyway, I have a smallish room. 12 1/2 ' across, the couch is about is about 11' feet or so from the speakers. This is the main listening area. The room also opens to a small foyer and a den. The entire room ultimately extends another 14 feet behind the couch, which is the dining area.

My sub is small. Rythmik F12. I know the general consensus around here. Small sealed subs are basically a waste. But it's all I got right now, and there is really no room for a second one. I checked the volume on it, it's a couple of clicks past halfway. See attached image. When I ran YPAO I seem to remember reading somewhere that you should turn your sub volume up to where your RC software sets the sub volume in the AVR to about 0.0 dB. My speakers are Ascend Acoustic towers. I'm not a real bass nut, I just wanted something to supplement the towers for movies. Like said, I know a bigger or multiple subs is probably the answer. But is there a rule of thumb on how high you can turn up the sub volume?

The level in the AVR is currently set to -0.5dB. (Yamaha RX A3060) As far as listening habits, measuring with an SPL on a phone app, peaks sometimes get to 75 to 80dB when listening to music, sometimes movies get a little higher but not much. I do have a UMIK - 1 measurement mic, I downloaded REW, but couldn't figure out how to get it to work, so I kinda gave up on that. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[j_garcia]

Technically you can turn the sub up to 100% without harming it As you mentioned though, if you have it at 100% and YPAO would be putting a large cut in the level, then you would have wanted to back it off a bit. It actually sounds like you have it dialed in fairly well already, so is there an issue? I have no problem with sealed subs However if the problem is you're looking for more bass, you may want to move to a ported for more low end grunt or simply a larger sealed sub (or get another F12).

 

[Trell]

My sub is small. Rythmik F12. I know the general consensus around here. Small sealed subs are basically a waste.

I've two SVS SB-3000 (sealed) that are about the same size in my small living room, and a ported one would be way too physically big.

It's a compromise, but that's life.

 

[little wing]

Technically you can turn the sub up to 100% without harming it As you mentioned though, if you have it at 100% and YPAO would be putting a large cut in the level, then you would have wanted to back it off a bit. It actually sounds like you have it dialed in fairly well already, so is there an issue? I have no problem with sealed subs However if the problem is you're looking for more bass, you may want to move to a ported for more low end grunt or simply a larger sealed sub (or get another F12).

No real issue that I can speak of, the bass in the room actually sounds pretty good. Clean sounding but with added weight the speakers alone can't give. Sometimes for movies I'll flip the switch on the back from High damping to Low. Seems to add a bit more extension (perceived or reality, LOL). The sub is placed on the other side of a lounge chair in the living room. It's out of sight and it sounds good there. It would be a bit of a challenge finding a place for a second one. Especially when the GF thinks a simple 5.1 is too many speakers to begin with

Thanks for the vote of confidence on sealed subs


Appreciate the response!

 

[little wing]

I've two SVS SB-3000 (sealed) that are about the same size in my small living room, and a ported one would be way too physically big.

It's a compromise, but that's life.

Did you get one SB -3000 and then add another, or did you get them both at the same time? Reason I ask is, could you tell a big difference when you added the second one? The second sub is to help even out bass throughout the room, right? as opposed to adding more bass.

 

[Trell]

Did you get one SB -3000 and then add another, or did you get them both at the same time? Reason I ask is, could you tell a big difference when you added the second one? The second sub is to help even out bass throughout the room, right? as opposed to adding more bass.

I got the second one some time after and that was to try get more even bass.

 

[j_garcia]

I have a very large room and one SB4000. It doesn't hit as hard in the infrasonic range, but it has more than enough output above that. I would have a hard time fitting a second sub so I went larger during one of the holiday sales at SVS. It is actually smaller than my previous sub, but takes up about the same floor space.

E15? If you have the room, it will make a big difference, but it is larger.

 

[little wing]

I have a very large room and one SB4000. It doesn't hit as hard in the infrasonic range, but it has more than enough output above that. I would have a hard time fitting a second sub so I went larger during one of the holiday sales at SVS. It is actually smaller than my previous sub, but takes up about the same floor space.

E15? If you have the room, it will make a big difference, but it is larger.

I could actually do an E15. I don't have space limitations where my F12 currently sits.

 

[petek]

I have two F12s in my hifi room and I do not consider them small.

 

[lovinthehd]

I have two F12s in my hifi room and I do not consider them small.

Just relatively small, particularly compared to ported models that require more box volume....or to those who want larger drivers....