Thinking about a second sub already

[Matt34]

I finally got around to measuring my room today, I knew it was fairly large just didn't have the exact measurements until today. 20'x26' with 9' vaulted ceiling, all carpeted. Living room and dining room are one with a 4' opening to the back side of the listening area that leads into the den.

I've been messing around with the PB-10 today(still need to get a SPL meter) and I just can't seem to get it to produce that "deep, kick you in the chest" bass. Right now the sub is corner loaded on the left side of the room and has a fireplace on the same side protruding 3ft out from the rest of the wall. Seating area is 12' from the sub.

I have the phase at just over half and the gain at around 6. My pro-logic receiver has no speaker size, crossover points or LFE adjustments.

So, is this mostly likely a case of too much room and not enough sub? Or, will a new receiver with those adjustments help get the most out of the SVS?

Sorry for the vagueness, still trying to learn all the correct descriptive terms used by most of you true audiophiles.

EDIT: Just reread this and it even confused me, let me see if I can draw this up real quick.

EDIT#2: Here is my to scale, high speed floor plan using the latest technology.

Yellow are wall units

blue things are my sectional and lazyboy

red are the front speakers and the other blue, of course, is where the sub is at.

[/IMG]

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Move the sub between the leftmost speaker and the green tv in your cad. It appears you have a huge bass trap (fireplace) next to the PB10 that's not allowing the listening postion to hear the full potential LF.

You may also consider moving the sub parallel to the couch - other side of the fireplace. My guess is the low frequency waves are stopping at the fireplace. If somehow you can eliminate the fireplace "wall", you'll hear more of the sub.

Have you experimented with the "crawling for bass" technique yet? It's hard to guess what's happening in your room, but I'm trying based on your layout.

My pro-logic receiver has no speaker size, crossover points or LFE adjustments.

With the SVS's grill off, does the driver seem to be pushing an excessive amount of air? That little sub should seem like it's going into convulsions. If not, your receiver could be at fault.

 

[Matt34]

I'm going to try your first recomendation Buckeye and get it out from behind the fireplace. If that doesn't work then I'll move it to the opposite side of the fireplace. I have a good feeling that my receiver(pioneer vsx-505s cira 1995) is a big factor in the quality I'm getting. My room is probably fairly flat and warm with all the carpet and big pieces of furniture.

Thanks for the advice.....might try the crawl method this weekend, probably get some strange looks from my dogs though?

 

[j_garcia]

There is pretty much no way you are going to get the PB-10 to kick you in the chest. Your room is a bit larger than mine and I can tell you it won't do it. It just doesn't have the oomph to do it in a room that big. What you'll need is a 25-31, a 12/2 or one of the PC+ or PB+ for that.

A buddy of mine has a 25-31PCi in a 30x35 room with high vaulted ceilings in the whole thing (about 20ft). I was really surprised that the thing was able to flap my pant leg in a room that size, but it really does have noticably more output than the PB-10. It's still not kick you in the chest stuff, but it is very impressive. The 25-31 has the most output higher up of the cylinders. I recently spoke with SVS about a potential upgrade and they recommended going with a PC+ cylinder or a second PB-10.

If you have no x-over adjustment, that means it is fixed at whatever point it is, possibly 100Hz. I would start with phase at zero. I'd actually leave it in that corner and point it either toward your seating position or toward the wall to the left (along the longest wall).

 

[Matt34]

Once I get the new receiver and it's still not to my liking, I'm most diffentally going with a second sub.......I love my bass.

 

[j_garcia]

Once I get the new receiver and it's still not to my liking, I'm most diffentally going with a second sub.......I love my bass.

A second PB-10 will give you a +6dB gain, so it should be enough then

 

[Sheep]

Idealy, all systems should have atleast 2 subs.

Good luck with you experiments, give us some pics once its all done!


SheepStar

 

[DaveOCP]

Idealy, all systems should have atleast 2 subs.

Good luck with you experiments, give us some pics once its all done!


SheepStar

I totally agree. I can tell where bass at 60hz and above is coming from, and my subs are still doing all the work in that region. I've actually got four, each of my Mirage OM-6s has a left and right facing subwoofer.

 

[Sheep]

I found that beside my TV, my Athena sounds great. There is very little localization. Being front ported, it had little localization in the corner, but there's NONE just to the right of the tv stand (like 1 inch). I wish I could grab another one, but I'm setting my standards higher for my next subwoofer purchase. Maybe I'll buy 2 of that one.......


SheepStar.

 

[Matt34]

Hmm, I think I'm going to give SVS a call and see what they recommend. I could sell the PB-10 and get a 16-46PCi much sooner or keep the PB-10 and start saving up and have 2 subs.

I ended up moving the PB-10 right next to the TV stand and hooked up my old sub and moved it to the opposite side of the fireplace next to the sectional. Going to test this setup and see how it works out.

 

[Matt34]

Move number 3 over on the other side of the fireplace next to the couch.(PB-10) Old sub is next to the TV. Slapped in Star Wars Ep. I pod race really quick. There was an improvement but I really, really need that new receiver, I'm getting everything coming threw that sub, voices etc.....it's really throwing off the surround field(?).

Talked to Brian last night, I think a HSU VTF-3 MkII w/ turbo might solve all of my problems.(well that plus the new receiver.)