audio help please!

[krazeyeyez]

i have plenty of questions and any answers suggestions or links to informational sources would be appreciated.

what are the general tips to hooking up your system, calibrating speakers, and getting your sub to match the rest of the system while still being able to rumble the house?

can you blow a subwoofer now a days? if so things to avoid damaging speakers would be a helpful tip.

my sub has a phase dial, crossover, and a power knob.

what does the phase dial actually do and how?

as for the crossover, my receiver has what i think is a crossover, it has speaker config setting where i can set my speakers to 80hz (says thx) and my lpf of lfe to 80hz (also says this is the thx level) so my question is does my receiver actually do the crossover, and therefore should i just turn the dial on my sub up.

are the above the right levels......80hz the optimum setting? also i have the option of setting my left/right speakers to full band which my audyssey speaker calibration thing said to do, but 80hz is thx or whatever and i have heard that mentioned before.

in my receiver settings there is also a setting for speaker distance, this should be accurate to how far they are from your sitting position, correct? because my audyssey set my sub as 2 feet away when its actually like 8 or 9 feet away.

the individual speaker level settings are also strange since everything seems to be set to very low levels, left/right = -8db, center= -5db, surround= -11db which is the lowest it goes, and my sub was set at -15db, which is also the lowest option available.

these are just a few of my thoughts and if anyone can explain these different settings, how they interact with each other, and any advice with getting the most out of my specific equipment or things to avoid damaging them would GREATLY APPRECIATED.

thanks guys!

also when my sub is at the level where it seems to blend well, it will go from offering some good bass, to damn, very quick. like some scenes you immediately look over to the sub like good god lol! is there anyway to make it so i can still get good quality loud tight bass without having those parts of movies just ungodly rumble my sub!


EDIT: one more, if you click the link on my stereo equipment list, a few pictures show some of my ceiling, its that tiled stuff, my room is in the basement, and those ceiling tiles rattle like crazy....any tips on reducing noise from these.

[Tyler2106]

To many questions to answer...can't seem to find any answers...complete overload ahhhhhh!!!

[Big Daddy]

I created two threads on this. They will answer most of your questions.

A Guide to Home Theater Audio CODECs
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=41820

Calibrating Your Audio with an SPL Meter
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=38765

The second thread has a section on subwoofer positioning and its interaction with the main speakers.

[krazeyeyez]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I created two threads on this. They will answer most of your questions.

A Guide to Home Theater Audio CODECs
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=41820

Calibrating Your Audio with an SPL Meter
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=38765

The second thread has a section on subwoofer positioning and its interaction with the main speakers.

maybe the mods can change my title from power member to POWER NOOB. i scanned over that post a while ago and saw the spl thing and not much of the rest, figured my receiver had audyssey so i was covered.

thanks for bringing that to my attention and not mentioning my lack of skill with the search function

[Slicker1]

To put it the easy way the Phase comes into play if you use two subs. You set the Phase differently, so they don't cancel each other out.

Check your mains, see how low they will go=hz. Then adjust your sub to compensate. Example: mains go down to 100hz, then sub should be set to pick up the slack at 100hz.

"setting for speaker distance, this should be accurate (EXACT as possable) to how far they are from your sitting position= correct!" Also "toe" in your main speakers to your listing postion. Center up/down too!

Get a sound pressure level meter from Radio Shack, then configure your speakers output evenly to your main listing postion. Where your ears/head are at in your favorite chair/couch

Little green felt tabs stop rattle. The kind they use under nick nacks. You could also glue the joints of the ceiling with JB Weld

[krazeyeyez]

ok so my sub has a slight rattle!!! and yes its the speaker itself, not the cabinet or anything around the speaker. its a slight rattle, and doesn't happen except during deeper bass or during the test tone thing i run through my receiver! its not blown because everything else sounds fine but some levels are making it rattle, is it supposed to do this or is it a faulty unit!

i am heading up to radio shack now! i hope i don't have to lug this big ass speaker back up to the store.

EDIT: just to explain the level that it rattles at, in the "irobot" bluray on the "your having an accident" scene......when the big carriers first pull into the tunnel behind will smith, i get like no bass only a really annoying rattle......can't be normal!

[krazeyeyez]

can u blow a subwoofer now a days? don't these have protection against that?

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by krazeyeyez

...
EDIT: just to explain the level that it rattles at, in the "irobot" bluray on the "your having an accident" scene......when the big carriers first pull into the tunnel behind will smith, i get like no bass only a really annoying rattle......can't be normal!

I don't have iRobot yet, but maybe your sub is trying to reproduce low frequencies it can't really handle, so instead of sound it just makes noise. Some subs have received good reviews because they fade out gracefully when it comes to the lower 20Hz register and below.

[krazeyeyez]

Originally Posted by HDJK

I don't have iRobot yet, but maybe your sub is trying to reproduce low frequencies it can't really handle, so instead of sound it just makes noise. Some subs have received good reviews because they fade out gracefully when it comes to the lower 20Hz register and below.

i think thats most definitly what it was.....that and my room acoustics.....i think the 14" driver was too much considering my room is kind of boomy to begin with.

anyways i decided to take the dsp-3400 back! i think it was just too much, more then i need or can use anyway.

i settled on the ultracube 12" and so far so good.....i love it.

i am not good with lingo, so all i can say really is it sounds "cleaner". very smooth, and although it doesn't rumble me as much as the dsp, it produces quality sounding bass and doesn't seem to bring out the rattles of my room to the extent the dsp did. seems to compliment and blend with my klipsch speakers better then the dsp did. plus the size can't be beat, love the fact it doesn't stand out like most subs i have had.

still need to get myself a spl meter and a longer cord (current 6 foot) so i can experiment with room placement a little more in depth.