Is There Something Wrong With My Sub?

[horror4life245]

Hey Everyone,

I've had this new surround system for around a week and a half. The only thing is that the front speakers and the subwoofer are pretty old, about 7 years old or so. They were given to me by my older brother. The front speakers are MONSTERS and are loud and clear. They're Energy Connoisseur C-2. And I have a MartinLogan Encore TF Center Speaker, which is loud as hell, as well. The subwoofer is an Energy XL-S8. As of now the knobs are the low pass filter, which is at 75 out of 100. Then there is the bass volume, which is at 7 out of 10. No matter what movie I play, I only get the slightest whisper from the subwoofer.
I've tried movies such as King Kong (2005) (T-Rex Scene), SAW V (Pendulum Scene), and SAW VI (Ending scene with the theme, which I know has bass).
I've even tried music and it still comes out VERY soft and I can barely notice it. I get all the rumble from the front speakers, but I want a lot more from my subwoofer. I even did the auto-calibration with my Denon 1910 twice to see maybe if it just had something to do with that, and it didn't. The thing I KNOW isn't blown, because when I unplug the subwoofer, it makes a LOUD noise. However, when I do the auto-calibration and it makes the thudding noise, it's very small. This subwoofer has been known to be loud and to give a lot of rumble, but it isn't doing that. Is there anything I can do to improve the sub? It was originally on a desk and sounded bad and I just put in the floor and tested and it didn't sound any different. What do I do? Is there something wrong I'm doing? Please let me know so I can fix it and enjoy the bass parts of my movies, and hear it as loud as it is with my front and center speakers.

Also, is there maybe a way to make it on the receiver so it sends louder signals to the subwoofer? Please help!

[callas01]

Originally Posted by horror4life245

Hey Everyone,

I've had this new surround system for around a week and a half. The only thing is that the front speakers and the subwoofer are pretty old, about 7 years old or so. They were given to me by my older brother. The front speakers are MONSTERS and are loud and clear. They're Energy Connoisseur C-2. And I have a MartinLogan Encore TF Center Speaker, which is loud as hell, as well. The subwoofer is an Energy XL-S8. As of now the knobs are the low pass filter, which is at 75 out of 100. Then there is the bass volume, which is at 7 out of 10. No matter what movie I play, I only get the slightest whisper from the subwoofer.
I've tried movies such as King Kong (2005) (T-Rex Scene), SAW V (Pendulum Scene), and SAW VI (Ending scene with the theme, which I know has bass).
I've even tried music and it still comes out VERY soft and I can barely notice it. I get all the rumble from the front speakers, but I want a lot more from my subwoofer. I even did the auto-calibration with my Denon 1910 twice to see maybe if it just had something to do with that, and it didn't. The thing I KNOW isn't blown, because when I unplug the subwoofer, it makes a LOUD noise. However, when I do the auto-calibration and it makes the thudding noise, it's very small. This subwoofer has been known to be loud and to give a lot of rumble, but it isn't doing that. Is there anything I can do to improve the sub? It was originally on a desk and sounded bad and I just put in the floor and tested and it didn't sound any different. What do I do? Is there something wrong I'm doing? Please let me know so I can fix it and enjoy the bass parts of my movies, and hear it as loud as it is with my front and center speakers.

Also, is there maybe a way to make it on the receiver so it sends louder signals to the subwoofer? Please help!

what is the settings in the receiver set at? Your sub gain in the receiver, make sure it is at 0 db, then change the crossover 80hz, and the speakers set to small. The gain/volume on the back of the sub, set it to 50%, when you go from the sub out on your receiver to the LFE input on the back of the sub what, what is the crossover on the back of the sub set to?

[horror4life245]

Originally Posted by callas01

what is the settings in the receiver set at? Your sub gain in the receiver, make sure it is at 0 db, then change the crossover 80hz, and the speakers set to small. The gain/volume on the back of the sub, set it to 50%, when you go from the sub out on your receiver to the LFE input on the back of the sub what, what is the crossover on the back of the sub set to?

Hey, you're going to have to treat me like I know nothing haha. Because I know some, but not a lot about subs.
First of all there are 2 inputs on the back of the subwoofer, I have it in the Subwoofer In, what's the X Over Input???
How do I change the crossover? And you want me to set all the other speakers such as the front to small? Will that make the speakers not as loud?
Sorry about all the questions, I'm just not really smart with subs haha.

[horror4life245]

Alright, in my menu it says SW Mode: LFE and LPF for LFE: 80Hz under the Bass Settings.
What's ZONE2? I don't get what that does...
Please just let me know how to get my subwoofer as loud as my front speakers so it all matches and that I could actually hear/feel the sub...

[slyter485]

The crossover input is a knob (usually near the volume/gain knob), turn that to 80hz. By setting the front (and center) speakers to "small", it is mearly changing a bass management setting where it sends lower hz signals to your subwoofer instead of your front speakers. I have read at some other sites that increasing crossover to about 100hz or 120hz is still adequate. I 'think' there is a sticky at the top of this section in the forums that go over that..

I have the 1910 as well and have been playing around with the sub setting to get it right as well, as I wasn't 100% satisfied with the Audyssey settings. In the Parameters list, go to manual speaker setup (or something like that). You can control the speaker dB's on one of the selections. When you get to the subwoofer selection, you can increase the "volume" going to all of the speakers. Scroll down to the subwoofer one and increase it to about "0 dB" and see if that helps at all..

I'm sure more knowledgeable people will chime in too, as I'm still learning too. Hope this makes sense and helps.

[horror4life245]

Originally Posted by slyter485

The crossover input is a knob (usually near the volume/gain knob), turn that to 80hz. By setting the front (and center) speakers to "small", it is mearly changing a bass management setting where it sends lower hz signals to your subwoofer instead of your front speakers. I have read at some other sites that increasing crossover to about 100hz or 120hz is still adequate. I 'think' there is a sticky at the top of this section in the forums that go over that..

I have the 1910 as well and have been playing around with the sub setting to get it right as well, as I wasn't 100% satisfied with the Audyssey settings. In the Parameters list, go to manual speaker setup (or something like that). You can control the speaker dB's on one of the selections. When you get to the subwoofer selection, you can increase the "volume" going to all of the speakers. Scroll down to the subwoofer one and increase it to about "0 dB" and see if that helps at all..

I'm sure more knowledgeable people will chime in too, as I'm still learning too. Hope this makes sense and helps.

Thanks for the advice!
I did as you told me and the sub definitely was louder. I tested SAW V (Pendulum Scene), SAW IV (Theme Music), Inglourious Basterds (Theater Exploding), and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (IMAX Edition) (Opening Title Sequence and Final Battle Scene).
I did turn up the volume on the sub itself though, a bit, not a lot though. It's still hard to hear from my bed, where I lay down to watch movies. However, I'm getting an extension cord for my subwoofer to put behind my bed on the ground. Right now it's on a wooden desk. Do you think it'll sound better on the ground behind my bed? And it'll be on carpet.
And I played Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen at -17 and it was pretty loud (especially the center and front speakers).
I won't have to worry about any of the speakers blowing right?
I did take your advice and put the front and center on Small, this won't make them softer right?
Sorry I'm asking a million questions haha I'm just trying to get this all figured out. I turned the dB to 0 on the menu. The sub was loud standing next to it though, but when I walked away from it, I could kinda hear it but not so much. Maybe because it's on the desk and not the floor????

[JBL4645]

Simple easy way is to play an RCA phone lead into and place that lead directly on the rear of DVD/CD/Bluray player. You should get a loud muffled rumble.

Set the volume at minimum and turn it up gently. You should hear a reasonable loud rumble at minimum volume. If you don’t the matter is more serious.

If that fails then take the sub out of the enclosure and connect it directly to an amp with minimal volume use some music or what ever (pink noise) and if there is sound then the subs fine, if there isn’t the subs damaged.

If the sub is fine then it’s a lose wire or the sub-amp is damaged.

[horror4life245]

Originally Posted by JBL4645

Simple easy way is to play an RCA phone lead into and place that lead directly on the rear of DVD/CD/Bluray player. You should get a loud muffled rumble.

Set the volume at minimum and turn it up gently. You should hear a reasonable loud rumble at minimum volume. If you don’t the matter is more serious.

If that fails then take the sub out of the enclosure and connect it directly to an amp with minimal volume use some music or what ever (pink noise) and if there is sound then the subs fine, if there isn’t the subs damaged.

If the sub is fine then it’s a lose wire or the sub-amp is damaged.

Well, what I did was, I unhooked the input cord and then just put it against the input and it made a huge rumble and even shook my bed a bit. The thing is loud as hell, but doesn't reflect that when playing movies or music....now what?