New subwoofer sounds boomy and is not blending

[thecoolguy11]

I just bought a new Athena AS-P300 subwoofer with the Athena Point 5 mk II speakers. While the satss are great, the subwoofer sounds boomy and is not blending with the sats.

I am using a Yamaha HTR5760, with the crossover set to 100 Hz. The frequency response of the athena speakers is 80 Hz - 20 Khz.

The volume control of the subwoofer is set to 6 on a scale of 1 -10.

Is there some setting that is incorrect? Is the subwoofer not all that great? Is this a common problem with all new subwoofers? The Athena manual does talk about a breakin period?

Any help will be appreciated

 

[Az B]

What size and shape is the room? Is the sub in a corner or in the middle of a wall? Have you tried setting the crossover to 80Hz to see what it sounds like?

 

[cam]

Asuming you have your speakers set to small, reciever crossover set at 100 and your sub crossover set as high as it will go (as to not interfere with the bass management your reciever is doing), then other factors to consider are; positioning, volume of your sub as opposed to your sats, and your 100hz crossover point is to high. Try 80 or 90 if you can. Also, I know from experience not to be to critical of a new speaker till it has a couple of hours on them. A subwoofers cone and surround material can be very stiff fresh out of the box.

 

[thecoolguy11]

Room size is 10' X 12'

The room size is 10' X 12'. The subwoofer is right in front of the listening position. i.e it is next to the telivision facing the couch. Yes I tried setting the crossover frequency to 80Hz. The subwoofer has a dial as well. I've set the crossover frequency on that as well? Does the subwoofer setting override the one done on the receiver or does it work the other way round?

 

[AudioHiFi]

I would look at this:

http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=DSP1124P&lang=eng

They can be found on Froogle for about $113.

 

[AudioHiFi]

The subwoofer has a dial as well. I've set the crossover frequency on that as well? Does the subwoofer setting override the one done on the receiver or does it work the other way round?

Only use one crossover. Which ever one you think is better.

 

[cam]

If your reciever is set at 80 and your sub is set at 70, you will have a hole. Even if your reciever is set at 80 and your sub set at 80, because of the slope of the crossovers you will still have a hole in your sound. Set the sub crossover as high as it will go regardless whether your reciever is set at 80,100,120 or whatever. If the sub and reciever's crossovers were brickwalls (which they are not) you could set your reciever and sub at the same point.

 

[AudioHiFi]

If your reciever is set at 80 and your sub is set at 70, you will have a hole. Even if your reciever is set at 80 and your sub set at 80, because of the slope of the crossovers you will still have a hole in your sound. Set the sub crossover as high as it will go regardless whether your reciever is set at 80,100,120 or whatever. If the sub and reciever's crossovers were brickwalls (which they are not) you could set your reciever and sub at the same point.

Even if you do that the two crossovers will interact with one another and cause undesirable results. When you have multiple xovers in the same audio chain it can cause interactions.

You should only have one set. If you can't defeat the sub crossover then turn the xover off on the receiver.

A nice write up on other crossover issues:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_9_3/feature-article-multiple-crossovers-9-2002.html

Another decent article on bass mgmt:
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/bassmanagement01.php

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/subwwofertowerspeakers.php

and bass acoustics:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/Loudspeakers&RoomsPt3.pdf