Setting SUB level output???

[dad311]

Do you have to constantly adjust the bass level depending on the type of music your listening to?

I might be listening to some Jack Johnson and the bass is perfect, then I switch over to some Black Eye Peas and I find the bass is to way to hot and then have to trim it down.

Did I setup my bass correctly?

I have two Emotiva Ultra 12s.

Using a SPL meter(Radio Shack digital,) I set all my speaker levels at 75db.

After setting the speakers, I turned on one sub at a time and adjusted the level to about 67.5db(7.5db offset 67.5 +7.5 = 75db @ 20hz)


Turned on BOTH subs and adjusted the master sub level down to 67.5 db.

So now my total sub output is 67.5 db (75db with 7.5 offset) which should match my speakers.



Sound correct??????

 

[bikdav]

You are a victim of the recording engineer. No two pieces are ever recorded exactly alike. No recording engineers are alike. Therefore, don't bother readjusting levels all the time.

 

[dad311]

Tonight I played several of my favorite songs with my tower speakers set to full. I then set the crossover and adjusted the sub level to match the bass of the front speakers.

I figured this would be a good neutral point for the sub and it was only off by 1.5-2db.

 

[Jeff R.]

You may want to crossover your front tower speakers. Generally you are better to let the sub do the low end, it is a subs specialty and then cross your speakers over at the point in which your sub will pick up at. Even though your towers are able to play that low, the bulk of your power from the amp is being used to produce the low frequencies, that your sub is very capable of producing. You will likely get better integration between your sub and speakers and cleaner sound across the entire frequency range.

 

[dad311]

I set my crossover @ 40hz. I know thats low, but that where it sounds the best. My speakers range is 30hz - 20k(klipsch rf-63). The bass sounds nice at tight.

 

[Jeff R.]

I would consider moving it up to about 80-90 hz and let the sub do everything else. My guess is that may be where you are seeing the swings in output by music type. The way your lower frequency overlaps between the sub and the towers is creating this.

At the very least give it a try...nothing lose but a quick change on your receiver and maybe a gain adjustment on the sub.

 

[dad311]

Jeff, I think setting the crossover much higher does cleanup the heavy bass music, but I think my jazz music suffers a little. Truth be told I think these klipsch rf-63s are capable of so much bass, a sub is really optional for music. I might just set the cross over to full and bypass the subs for music.

Thx