Passive subwoofer : How to boost Bass level

[hitendramahida1]

Hi ,
I have 7.1 system which include 5 bose speaker with Bose passive subwoofer.
2 front and centre speaker goes to subwoofer and output from sub goes to receiver (yamaha htr 5760).

I missing the bass level usually i find in bose all accostimass series system.
I have setup cross over at 80hz while keeping DSP at max with BASS output to WOOFER only.Also to note all sepaker are kept SMALL in setting.

Your ideas or suggestion greatly appreciated in regards how can i increase bass level.

 

[FirstReflection]

If the Front Left & Right and Center speakers all connect to the Bose Bass Module and NOT directly to your Yamaha receiver, it means that the Bass Module is acting as the crossover and handling the bass management itself. Therefore,in your Yamaha receiver's setup menu, you should set the Front Left & Right and Center speakers to "Large" or "Full Range" and you should set the subwoofer to "Off" or "None".

The other big problem is that the Bose Acoustimas systems are very low quality speakers. I know that they are expensive, advertised as being good, promoted heavily in stores by salespeople, and many people just out in public think that Bose products are supposed to be good. But among home theater and audio enthusiasts, Bose has a terrible reputation because they sell very low quality, very cheap speakers for a HUGE mark up and basically trick the public with lots of advertising. They are THE prime example of people being fooled by advertising, salespeople and a high price tag. Sadly, they are just a rip off. They are not good speakers and they are massively overpriced. I'm sorry to break this news to you. It never feels good to have someone tell you that you were tricked into spending a lot of your money on a bad product. But it's not your fault. Many, many, many people have been tricked by Bose and their salespeople and advertising. But folks like us, who love home theater and audio, we try out best to warn people and to recommend MUCH better speakers that cost the same or less than Bose. But we can't reach everyone nor convince everyone.

Anyways, the Bose Bass Module that you have simply is not capable of playing true, deep bass. It is not a subwoofer. It plays down to about 60Hz, maybe has a small amount of output as deep as 40Hz. But there is at least an entire octave of bass completely missing and what bass it does produce is of very poor quality.

Sorry for the bad news. But the good news is that now that you have found this message board, you can get a lot of helpful recommendations and buy yourself some speakers and subwoofers that are actually good!

 

[Grador]

FirstReflection's advice is spot on, but I thought i'd just chime in with a little more explanation. The way the passive subwoofer works in your system is by taking the signal that the amplifier puts out to the front speakers, splitting it, and then reproducing it's part while letting the rest through to the left/right/center. What you have done with the receiver is what you would want to do if you had an active subwoofer. The receiver is splitting off the bass and not putting it out on the signal to the front speakers, and instead trying to send it to an active subwoofer that isn't there. Since the receiver is sending no bass to the fronts, there is nothing there for your passive subwoofer to reproduce.

Hope that helps you understand what's going on.

 

[hitendramahida1]

thank you first of all for taking time and effort to explain me about the alternatives and suggestion.

My receiver has options of bass as Front / sub woofer /both. so based on suggestion i would try FRONT and make R/L/C speaker LARGE.

You guys you are right and this was my first expensive home theater setup.I got Bose with 5.1 setup .Later on i added 2 quality energy floor standing speaker to add DEEP BASS however was not happy with overall experience.

Going through forums like this made me realize my decision was not right however i just don't want to get rid off this system because of SIZE constraint i have.

So i really appreciate your input to make my life better and really amazed how quick i got responses on this forum within 24 hrs of registration.

you guys are awesome and keep sharing more thoughts.

 

[timoteo]

+1 on what FR said...set speakers to Large & sub to Off. Right now you are having your Yamaha filter out the bass before it ever has a chance to get to the Bose Bass Module.

FYI: notice that Bose calls it a "Bass Module". They legally cannot call it a Subwoofer because it does not play down into the "Sub"-sonic frequencies.

So yes, whenever you want to experience truly accurate & good audio you will need to take the advice given on these audio enthusiast sites & buy some new gear, sorry to say buddy!
But in the meantime, make those changes to at least get the best you can from your Bose!

 

[Grador]

My receiver has options of bass as Front / sub woofer /both. so based on suggestion i would try FRONT and make R/L/C speaker LARGE.

This is exactly correct, always glad to help.

 

[blazerboy]

Bose is made for like an expensive aestheticly appealing computer speaker set that can go for as much as a budget HT setup (that can blow the pants off it and around the corner twice ) if you can return it, id advise to do so.