Low Bass

[visakk]

Hi,

I am trying to figure out the problem with my Home Theatre setup.
I am unable to hear sound like Explosions, big Thuds etc. It is verry annoying to have sound suddenly stopping while watching a War/fights as the sound system suddenly stops and starts.
My setup as follows.

1)ONKYO SR601
2)BOSE AM6
3)Toshiba DVD player
4)DVD playes and Receiver are connected between COAX channels, through a cable supplied with the Player(Ordinary quality)

Is it because, the speakers are not capable of..?
Or Receiver doesn't have the ability..?
Or DVD player could not read the data properly...?
Does this COAX has a big role in this..?

Please advise me.

Siva

 

[Rob Babcock]

I'm not sure if this is a setup or what, but I'll bite. First, make sure your receiver is set up properly. If I recall, your AM6's are wired so that you run your speaker cable to them, then out to the sats. Is that correct? If so, set your receiver to "LARGE" mains, "SMALL" for center & surrounds, and "NONE" or "OFF" for the subwoofer. This will route the bass & LFE channel to the fronts/"sub" in the AM6.

You'll find, though, that your bass module is really a "detached woofer," not a true subwoofer. I'd say a sub has to be able to play cleanly down to at least 25 hz or so to truly be called a subwoofer- yours simply can't do that. So whatever inhabits the lowest couple octaves really won't be audible. Moreover, the bass module is probably being overloaded badly by heavy movie bass. I'm not totally clear on whether you mean it gets nasty during big explosions or that it completely cuts out...If the former, you can remedy this by adding another subwoofer, although integration might take some work.

It could also be that your receiver is running out of power & clipping badly during the loud parts. In all likelihood you're looking at both.

I'd guess your rig is probably fairly robust down to 50 hz or so, with probably a bit of a hump there. Below that the output is likely down quite a ways (depending somewhat upon your room- you get a little "room gain" in most instances, but it's variable).

The most common advice you'll probably get here is to ditch your speakers and move up to something a bit better. Audiophools generally develope "upgraditus" as they get deeper into this hobby, and I think you'll find there's a lot better out there than the brand you're using.

If you can swing $500 or so, you can get a really killer sub from Outlaw Audio or Hsu Research. A very little more will get you a SVS sub with a built in amp. Compared to what you're getting now, you'll be stunned speechless.

 

[visakk]

Thanks Rob for your quick reply.
Yes, you are right I have set the Front and Surround Speakers as LARGE and center as SMALL and Subwoofer OFF. I could find an option in SR601, where I can specify LFE = ON.
I have set the cross overr frequency as 60Hz(is it something to do with explosions?)

It is NOT getting nasty duirng explosions, but completely cuts OFF.
I heard these arguments about the speakers, for time being I have to live with it and get something out of it. If the speakers are bad it should sound bad but not completely cuts the sound.
How do I find if my Receiver is running out of power..?

I thank you for your suggestion to choose other models inthe similar range, but I dont have much choice in India. I would follow u r suggestion when I upgrade my system to a real 5.1.

 

[annunaki]

If the LFE channel is set to on, shut it off. Fronts shopuld be set to large with the subwoofer set to off. all other speakers can then be set to small. Is all of the audio shutting off? Is it just the low bass output that you are not hearing? If the latter, it is because the subwoofer is still on, whether it be labeled as sub or LFE. When setting your center and rears to small a 60 hz crossover point should be fine.

 

[Votrax]

The AM6 series 1 and 2 have a passive subwoofer. You need to set all the speakers to large and crossover as low as possible since all speaker outputs from the receiver go into the bass module which then send the low signals from all five speakers to the sub via a passive network. The series 3 have a powered sub, therefore you would need to set the subwoofer output to on.

 

[Rob Babcock]

You're saying a passive network sums all the bass from all five channels? Yikes! That's a lot to ask of the rather smallish bass driver. At any rate, if that's the case then you would have to set them all to large. Although that will probably exacerbate the problem even further. The way visakk describes it, it sounds like perhaps either the receiver's protection circuits are kicking in and muting the output or the amps are being driven into hard clipping to the point where they're basically choking on it.

 

[Votrax]

You're saying a passive network sums all the bass from all five channels? Yikes! That's a lot to ask of the rather smallish bass driver. At any rate, if that's the case then you would have to set them all to large. Although that will probably exacerbate the problem even further. The way visakk describes it, it sounds like perhaps either the receiver's protection circuits are kicking in and muting the output or the amps are being driven into hard clipping to the point where they're basically choking on it.

Bose calls it "Adaptive Energy Summing". It must have not worked too well since they made the sub powered in the series 3 model.

 

[av_phile]

Hi,

I am trying to figure out the problem with my Home Theatre setup.
I am unable to hear sound like Explosions, big Thuds etc. It is verry annoying to have sound suddenly stopping while watching a War/fights as the sound system suddenly stops and starts.
My setup as follows.

1)ONKYO SR601
2)BOSE AM6
3)Toshiba DVD player
4)DVD playes and Receiver are connected between COAX channels, through a cable supplied with the Player(Ordinary quality)

Is it because, the speakers are not capable of..?
Or Receiver doesn't have the ability..?
Or DVD player could not read the data properly...?
Does this COAX has a big role in this..?

Please advise me.

Siva

Sounds to me like your receiver is tripping everytime a loud LF signal is about to go to your speakers. Onkyo receivers are recommended for 6-ohm loads or higher. What are the impedances of your BOSE speakers?

I would hazard a quess that the receiver is detecting very low impedances at certain low frequencies at high amplitudes it couldn't stomach that it has to shut off momentarily. You may want to borrow another set of speakers or have one demoed from an AV shop to check on this. Preferrably not another BOSE. Alternatively, you could bring your receiver to an AV shop, connect it to some other speakers and play the pertinent DVD movie chapter that is giving you a problem. I will hazard a guess again that your problems just might disappear with better set of speakers.

 

[Votrax]

Bose Acoustimass speakers are all 8 ohm. The AM6 sub just doesn't put out that much bass. I would suggest buying a powered sub in conjuction with the AM6's.

 

[visakk]

It seems what AV_Phile telling is correct, the receiver is tripping off and low LF signal is coming. It is not the BASS that is cutting off but complete sound.

Based on ur suggestion I have brought one Multimeter and checked the impedence of all speakers all are showing 7.6ohm except center channel which is showing nothing, multimeter is not showing any reading for Center channel.

Indian do not have much of HighEnd AV shops, so I have to find out a place where I can take my system to test it(I bought all these setup from US)

 

[annunaki]

It sounds to me as though you have found your problem.