Might get rid of my subwoofer!

[PCFan]

I was watching Bonnie and Clyde yesterday. In the scene where Clyde robs the bank and Bonnie is waiting in the car for him with the engine running, I could here a hum coming out of my subwoofer in the scene when Clyde was inside the bank which I suppose is the sound of the engine running from the car waiting outside. It felt like the bass was out of place and it didn't blend in well. I though that my subwoofer was malfunctioning for a second. I had my crossover set to 100hz on my receiver. My speakers only go down to 90hz. I tested the movie on my PC with my PC speakers and only if I turn the volume of my subwoofer almost all the way up I can here that same hum coming from the subwoofer. I might get rid of my subwoofer and satellite speakers and find a way to make room for my Polk M30 speakers because I can hear bass being directed from my subwoofer and it doesn't sound like it belongs in the movie. Also sometimes mens voices sound unnaturally deep and I'm not sure if it's because my satellite speakers have poor midrange and the subwoofer is playing some part in those voices if I set my crossover to 100hz. If I use my Polk bookshelf speakers, I won't have room for a subwoofer. So am I better off not using satellite speakers with subwoofer and just using bookshelf speakers without a subwoofer?

[Fors*]

Try lowering your low pass filter/crossover to 80Hz in the receiver for your sub, and see if this helps at all. By restricting some of the LFE signal, you may get rid of some unwanted bass that appears in the upper range of the LFE (80Hz to 120Hz). Sometimes a deep voice may be detectable in your sub because it is getting down to that range. We have a member who stated he can always detected George Clooney's voice in his sub until he lowered his LPF to 80Hz.

[Kryptonic]

Crossover should almost always be set to 80hz in the receiver. I agree with forsberg that lowering your crossover would help quite a bit.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Crossover should almost always be set to 80hz in the receiver. I agree with forsberg that lowering your crossover would help quite a bit.

That's absolutely not true- you should look at the speaker's capabilities. If you have satellites that're only capable of going down to 90hz (I had some that recommended 120hz crossover) setting them higher would cause distortion, clipping, and potential damage to the speaker. If it WERE true, receivers wouldn't offer a variable crossover setting.

What I see is that you're potentially confusing the crossover of the speakers with the Low Pass Filter of the subwoofer. Forsberg's idea isn't a bad one- however in doing that you're losing some of the bass information. It's definitely worth the experiment though.

To the OP, sure, try lowering the crossover, but understand that you don't want to go beyond the speaker's specs in most circumstances. Chances are that anything ABOVE 80hz is going to cause some bass localization and potentially send some dialog to the subwoofer. That's the downside to those small systems. Big speakers are required for that lower sound in most cases- physics demands a big box.

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by aramis109

That's absolutely not true- you should look at the speaker's capabilities. If you have satellites that're only capable of going down to 90hz (I had some that recommended 120hz crossover) setting them higher would cause distortion, clipping, and potential damage to the speaker. If it WERE true, receivers wouldn't offer a variable crossover setting.

What I see is that you're potentially confusing the crossover of the speakers with the Low Pass Filter of the subwoofer.

To the OP, sure, try lowering the crossover, but understand that you don't want to go beyond the speaker's specs in most circumstances. Chances are that anything ABOVE 80hz is going to cause some bass localization and potentially send some dialog to the subwoofer. That's the downside to those small systems. Big speakers are required for that lower sound in most cases- physics demands a big box.

am i mistaken or did you mean to say "setting them lower?" as in frequency/numerically.

[peterng]

Humming sound is usually cause by bad speaker cable if the distance (reciever and sub) is long . Try to replace the speaker cable that connect between your receiver and the sub with a quality heavy duty one to see if the hum will go away ...

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by peterng

Humming sound is usually cause by bad speaker cable if the distance (reciever and sub) is long . Try to replace the speaker cable that connect between your receiver and the sub with a quality heavy duty one to see if the hum will go away ...

I think the hum he is referring to is the one he hears during that one scene in Bonnie and Clyde. It doesn't appear to be some random humming he is getting, otherwise he may have a ground loop issue instead.

[peterng]

Originally Posted by PCFan

I was watching Bonnie and Clyde yesterday. In the scene where Clyde robs the bank and Bonnie is waiting in the car for him with the engine running, I could here a hum coming out of my subwoofer in the scene when Clyde was inside the bank which I suppose is the sound of the engine running from the car waiting outside. It felt like the bass was out of place and it didn't blend in well. I though that my subwoofer was malfunctioning for a second. I had my crossover set to 100hz on my receiver. My speakers only go down to 90hz. I tested the movie on my PC with my PC speakers and only if I turn the volume of my subwoofer almost all the way up I can here that same hum coming from the subwoofer. I might get rid of my subwoofer and satellite speakers and find a way to make room for my Polk M30 speakers because I can hear bass being directed from my subwoofer and it doesn't sound like it belongs in the movie. Also sometimes mens voices sound unnaturally deep and I'm not sure if it's because my satellite speakers have poor midrange and the subwoofer is playing some part in those voices if I set my crossover to 100hz. If I use my Polk bookshelf speakers, I won't have room for a subwoofer. So am I better off not using satellite speakers with subwoofer and just using bookshelf speakers without a subwoofer?

Did you hear the hum from other movie as well or just this B & C movie ?

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

am i mistaken or did you mean to say "setting them lower?" as in frequency/numerically.

You're right. My error.

[Steve]

OP positioning of the subwoofer could also be a problem. It's often recommended that the sub may do better in the front of the room if you have to set the crossover higher than about 80 Hz. With it in the front it should blend better with your mains and help eliminate the localization effect of the higher frequencies.

[PCFan]

Well, I rearranged my furniture, bought speaker stands, and finally have the space for my subwoofer and my 2 bookshelf speakers but the positioning of my subwoofer might not be optimal. The subwoofer is in front of my right speaker stand which is in between my wall and TV stand with about an inch of space in either side of my subwoofer and I'm not sure if that's a bad location for a subwoofer. Another spot I can put my subwoofer is on the other side of my TV stand, in front of my left speaker stand which is between my bed and TV stand but I don't like the idea of having a subwoofer next to my bed. My bookshelf speakers go down to 55Hz, so is it ok if I set the crossover to 60Hz with these speakers? I still might get rid of my subwoofer.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by PCFan

Well, I rearranged my furniture, bought speaker stands, and finally have the space for my subwoofer and my 2 bookshelf speakers but the positioning of my subwoofer might not be optimal. The subwoofer is in front of my right speaker stand which is in between my wall and TV stand with about an inch of space in either side of my subwoofer and I'm not sure if that's a bad location for a subwoofer. Another spot I can put my subwoofer is on the other side of my TV stand, in front of my left speaker stand which is between my bed and TV stand but I don't like the idea of having a subwoofer next to my bed. My bookshelf speakers go down to 55Hz, so is it ok if I set the crossover to 60Hz with these speakers? I still might get rid of my subwoofer.

To allow for a bit more headroom, if you can, set the crossover for your bookshelf's at 70Hz...if you don't have it, then you could do 60Hz, but be careful playing at loud volumes.

As far as the sub, you seem very limited in locations, and ultimately, your sub may never perform to the best of it's capabilities because you are unable to find the right location. Are you limited by space or simply because you don't have a long enough RCA audio cable to allow for more locational testing?

[PCFan]

I'm limited by space. This is in my bedroom and my bed and PC are near my TV, but my bed is taking up most of the space.