Subwoofer output options

[Buckle-meister]

All,

I am in the process of setting up two subs. In my Z9's menu, I have the following options to choose from:

1. Monaural (which I used prior to recently purchasing my second sub)
2. Stereo
3. Front and Back
4. None.

My question is; what's the difference between Stereo and Front and Back?

With Stereo, will the Z9 actually play different material through each sub (assuming the content being played is in stereo)? If so, why? After all, if the material being played through the subs is non-localizable due to the frequencies involved, then what's the point of playing stereo material through them, and if Stereo refers simply to two subs, each playing monaurally (summed stereo content?), then we're back to the original question; what's the difference between Stereo and Front and Back?

Cheers,

 

[STRONGBADF1]

All,

I am in the process of setting up two subs. In my Z9's menu, I have the following options to choose from:

1. Monaural (which I used prior to recently purchasing my second sub)
2. Stereo
3. Front and Back
4. None.

My question is; what's the difference between Stereo and Front and Back?

With Stereo, will the Z9 actually play different material through each sub (assuming the content being played is in stereo)? If so, why? After all, if the material being played through the subs is non-localizable due to the frequencies involved, then what's the point of playing stereo material through them, and if Stereo refers simply to two subs, each playing monaurally (summed stereo content?), then we're back to the original question; what's the difference between Stereo and Front and Back?

Cheers,

HI Robbie,

I'm not sure about "front and back" but if you cross over at 100 or higher it would/could be localizable so "stereo" would be useful.

If you choose "fount and back" does it have any additional setings. Like a delay???

SBF1

 

[Buckle-meister]

Hey StrongBadF1,

I'm not sure about "front and back" but if you cross over at 100 or higher it would/could be localizable so "stereo" would be useful.

True, but why would one cross over so high? Besides, if the bass was localizable as a result of setting a high cross over then the subs'd have to be placed close to the front left and right speakers (assuming 2-channel music only is being discussed here) so that bass was still perceived to emanate from there and not 'smeared' generally.

If you choose "front and back" does it have any additional setings. Like a delay?

Nope. The diagram shown on the OSD shows both subs at the side of the two towers at the front of the room for Stereo and in diagonally opposite corners of the room for Front and Back but that could just be for illustrative purposes. After all, Monaural could be placed anywhere, not just the position shown in the OSD.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

True, but why would one cross over so high? Besides, if the bass was localizable as a result of setting a high cross over then the subs'd have to be placed close to the front left and right speakers (assuming 2-channel music only is being discussed here) so that bass was still perceived to emanate from there and not 'smeared' generally.

I know it seams odd doesn't it. Maybe there are people who buy flagship receivers and cube speakers!

Yes, Some people like there subs set next to or under there mains so it's like a full range speaker.

Yamaha does like to give the consumer lots of options though. How many times have you ever bought something that had options/settings that you couldn't figure out who would need them. Happens to me often enough...but my wife says I can be a little thick at times.

Nope. The diagram shown on the OSD shows both subs at the side of the two towers at the front of the room for Stereo and in diagonally opposite corners of the room for Front and Back but that could just be for illustrative purposes. After all, Monaural could be placed anywhere, not just the position shown in the OSD.

Sounds like good places to start.

SBF1

 

[Buckle-meister]

Sounds like good places to start.

Tried them last night, though Stereo was selected for all positions. As you'd expect, the diagonally opposite corners activated the (way too small for my liking ) room's modes so that was scrapped, and better placement was found than having the subs next to the front towers.

At present the subs are equally placed along the long axis of my room, one against either side wall, at about the half way mark. I know this should place them in a bit of a null pressure area but my initial experimentation last night gave this, the subs 180 degrees out of phase with the main speakers, as the best of a bad bunch of trialled locations.

I miss my old room.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I miss my old room.

From every thing I've read two subs is a royal pain in the bum to dial in but once you have it's worth it.

I wonder if there is any good and relativly cheap software that will help set up multiple subs in a given room?

You get there! (and then you'll be able to help me when I do the same sometime down the road)

SBF1

 

[Buckle-meister]

From every thing I've read two subs is a royal pain in the bum to dial in but once you have it's worth it.

The problem's not setting up the two subs; sure, it's more difficult than setting up just one, but it's a new and interesting experiance so I'm okay with that.

No, the problem is the size of my living room (4.2m x 3m) compared to my old (4.2m x 4.2m). The (even) small(er) size of the room causes severe bass response. Thankfully this is somewhat mitigated by my bass traps and strategic placement of my subs. Nevertheless, it's like fighting a losing battle.

My gut feeling is that there's no possibility of achieving as good a response as I had in my old room.

 

[Buckle-meister]

Hmm, well, I took some readings with ETF to see if there was any appreciable difference between the various settings. I also read my manual, which states:

1. Select Front and Rear if your two subwoofers are in the front and rear sound fields.
2. Select Stereo if your two subwoofers are in the right and left sound fields.
3. Select Monaural if your subwoofer(s) are in a single sound field.

It would appear from the above that the Z9 does indeed expect the subs to be placed as per the diagram shown in the OSD and so one would expect it to manipulate the sound accordingly. It would also appear that, given the arbitary placement of the subs at present, I should be using the Monaural setting. Oops.

The results of my experiment, here, seem a bit odd to me. If anyone has a better interpretation...

1. The results don't appear to be being skewed by the noise floor, taken because the flat is close to a fairly busy road (another sore point ).
2. Both the Monaural and Stereo setting appears, in the room in question, to exacerbate a room mode at approximately 38Hz.
3. The only other difference is that the Monaural setting causes a lower response above approximately 100Hz than the other settings, though why this should be, given that the crossover is set to 80Hz and the sub's (diminishing) slope above this should remain the same for all settings (true?), I've no idea.

Any thoughts anyone?