Subwoofer dB Level Poll

[sgtpepper9]

Ok, quick poll (I don't know how to setup up a real poll) about how "hot" (if at all) you calibrate your sub. Now I know that the Radioshack SPL meter is supposed to be less accurate at the lower bass frequencies but lets not worry about that. Using the Radioshack SPL meter, how much higher do you have your sub set? I've got mine about 8 dB higher than I have my main speakers set. What about the rest of you?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

4 Db Higher.

 

[jamie2112]

5 Db hotter.....

 

[MidnightSensi]

My subs are all set flat. I get bassed out from the clubs and tend to listen at lower levels and flatter at home. Studio is flat also, of course.

 

[Matt34]

3db hotter now, but when I had ported subs I ran them flat.

 

[Alex2507]

As flat as I can get 'em.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Mine is about +5dB w/o the Wife, and -10dB w/ the Wife.

 

[deedubb]

10 dB. I like lots of bass

 

[mike c]

12-16db

i forgot how hot exactly.

 

[skizzerflake]

It took some doing to get a good level for the sub. I used a db meter to get a "flat" response, but that seemed way too bottom heavy. Next try was an old Stereophile disk which had a range of test tones from 20 to 20K. I adjusted by ear and that was better sounding on movies and music, but still peaky (about 60 hz). That appears to be where my NHT speakers and the HSU sub reinforced each other. The best solution was to use the receiver controls to have a brick-wall cut off to the NHTs at about 70 hz and to cut off the sub's control at the same point. The result is lots of bottom without a big annoying peak at 60hz.

 

[stevez11]

Mine are set to flat

 

[tcarcio]

2db for me..........

 

[croseiv]

Mine are 2 dB cold relative to my mains (HT), but I'll bump it up as much as 5-6 dB hot for music.

 

[MidnightSensi]

Mine are 2 dB cold relative to my mains (HT), but I'll bump it up as much as 5-6 dB hot for music.

Interesting, most people do the opposite. What kind of music do you listen to?

 

[highfigh]

I have mine set so it sounds like there's no big mesa followed by a ski jump. I want the volume of the notes to be as even as possible as any instrument goes from low to high and back down. I did car audio for 25 years and while I successfully built many systems for it, I don't do rap or hip-hop. Just about anything else, though. I want the transitions from driver to driver to sound as smooth as possible.

Considering how picky I am about the way music sounds, I'm very happy with the sound quality. Human voice and drums tend to sound very natural and I have been startled by dialog so realistic that it sounded like someone else was here.

 

[croseiv]

Interesting, most people do the opposite. What kind of music do you listen to?

Classical, Jazz, Rock, Electronica (trance-bass heavy). Generally the older rock requires a good boost to suit my taste. Most of the time it's flat to about +3 dB for music. That's just how I like it. Since running the dual Ultras I feel like I get more dynamic response with the subs set a little cold. There's alot more punch with the explosions.

 

[DTS]

Set at +3 db

 

[supervij]

2 dB hot for movies/TV, flat for music.

cheers,
supervij

 

[Adam]

Flat for me.

 

[Pyrrho]

Flat for me. For both soundtracks and music. If flat does not seem "good enough" for you, there are at least three possibilities:

1. Your subwoofer does not reproduce the deepest bass (e.g., 20 Hz) at the same level as the higher bass, so you are missing something when set to flat. Unfortunately, setting it high will overemphasize higher bass, so that won't be right either. The only proper solution is expensive: buy a better subwoofer.
2. You listen to soundtracks and music with the volume low, so that the bass subjectively seems lacking. This is due to the non-linearity of human perception, and is why so many old stereo's had "loudness compensation" switches on them, to make up for the fact that when the volume is turned down, subjectively the bass (and treble) appear to diminish more than the midrange.
3. You just like more bass than the engineers wanted, or more than is natural in the case of an "audiophile" disc in which the music was recorded with no EQ and is just natural (e.g., Telarc CDs, etc.).

Before I got my SVS Ultra subwoofers, pipe organ music was never with enough bass when set to flat. So I used to have problem 1, but not any more.