The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[luvnhateSony]

^^^ Jomari, your response is very much apreciated and I especially apreciate your recommendations on the speaker and subwoofer settings. It will turn out to be very helpful once my subwoofer is in place. Cant wait!

[jomari]

Originally Posted by luvnhateSony

^^^ Jomari, your response is very much apreciated and I especially apreciate your recommendations on the speaker and subwoofer settings. It will turn out to be very helpful once my subwoofer is in place. Cant wait!

your very welcome.

the question stands tho, did you buy one yet? whether you get one like ours, feel free to continue posting, (of course depending on which one you choose, we have dedicated threads for most of em)...

best of luck bud.

[kndy]

Greetings everyone,

I moved my subwoofer to best setting with BD gave and it sounds great.

But there is one thing that I am unclear about. For the past few days, I've been reading about the db settings for a subwoofer (on the Onky 606 threads) and some people have there's in the negatives, or +3-4 db, I tried those earlier this morning and I didn't hear the kick, when I put it at +12db then I hear the bass nicely.

So, seeing that many people on various forums have there settings in the negatives or a low + db, is the goal to have the db very low or in the negatives? I'm a bit unclear about the decibel settings for my speakers I guess.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by kndy

Greetings everyone,

I moved my subwoofer to best setting with BD gave and it sounds great.

But there is one thing that I am unclear about. For the past few days, I've been reading about the db settings for a subwoofer (on the Onky 606 threads) and some people have there's in the negatives, or +3-4 db, I tried those earlier this morning and I didn't hear the kick, when I put it at +12db then I hear the bass nicely.

So, seeing that many people on various forums have there settings in the negatives or a low + db, is the goal to have the db very low or in the negatives? I'm a bit unclear about the decibel settings for my speakers I guess.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

i will address this in two parts.

most of our readings, our findings towards how our home theater is set up is highly subjective to the listener. there are a number of factors to consider when indicating such numbers or volume levels, including
- room dimensions
- room interaction with the speakers
- how 'loud' is loud for someone
- what media is being played

we all have different rooms, and different sources, media, et all, used in demonstrating our systems. we can have almost identical setups, from the media, to the player, to the AVR/Pre pro, and STILL get varied results. why? room interaction is one good reason, as well as its dimentions.

thus, part two.

This is exactly the reason why most people in this hobby use a SPL meter, not only to properly calibrate our systems (which is highly recommended), but to also have a singular ground that minimizes all the interactions ive mentioned above. of course we cannot remove such detail as ive said, but we can definitely find a common point to work with, based on our SPL readings. we also dont have the same set of ears, some cant hear certain frequencies, others can. again, a matter of subjectiveness comes into play. thus the need for something unbiased, a tool to determine objectively what we ARE hearing via the SPL meter.

to learn more about SPL meters, i suggest a little bit of reading on our sticky,
calibrating sticky care of ugh... big daddy (again) ...

you can also learn more about your room and your speaker performance with other tools, including the TruRTA program (which you can download for free), but you'd need a good calibrating microphone to do so.
hehehe.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by kndy

Greetings everyone,

I moved my subwoofer to best setting with BD gave and it sounds great.

But there is one thing that I am unclear about. For the past few days, I've been reading about the db settings for a subwoofer (on the Onky 606 threads) and some people have there's in the negatives, or +3-4 db, I tried those earlier this morning and I didn't hear the kick, when I put it at +12db then I hear the bass nicely.

So, seeing that many people on various forums have there settings in the negatives or a low + db, is the goal to have the db very low or in the negatives? I'm a bit unclear about the decibel settings for my speakers I guess.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

The actual dB Settings are totally meaningless. Each room is different. The same speakers may sound completely different and may require different dB settings. For example, you may have two identical front speakers and set their levels equally. However, it is possible for one of the speakers to sound louder. It is because of speaker/boundaries interaction.

The most important thing about calibration is that you want the level of all speakers to be the same at your primary LISTENING POSITION. The actual positive or negative dB levels are useless.

Subwoofers are the problem children. The low bass frequencies have very long wavelengths that are sometimes several times the dimensions of the room. These frequencies interact with the boundaries (walls, ceiling, floor) and create standing waves. Because of this, you need to move your subwoofer around to get better performance for your primary listening position. Each time you move your subwoofer, you need to re-calibrate the speakers again. Don't be surprised if your dB levels, particularly for the subwoofer, change drastically.

Make sure the level on the back of the sub is in the 50%-75% area. Set the other speakers to small with the appropriate crossover frequencies (e.g., 80Hz). If the level of the subwoofer is +12dB in the receiver, it means your subwoofer is not in a good location. Move it around and experiment. Put it in a corner and see what happens. Always keep it a couple of feet away from the walls. This is more important if the port is in the back of the sub.

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by kndy

Greetings everyone,

I moved my subwoofer to best setting with BD gave and it sounds great.

But there is one thing that I am unclear about. For the past few days, I've been reading about the db settings for a subwoofer (on the Onky 606 threads) and some people have there's in the negatives, or +3-4 db, I tried those earlier this morning and I didn't hear the kick, when I put it at +12db then I hear the bass nicely.

So, seeing that many people on various forums have there settings in the negatives or a low + db, is the goal to have the db very low or in the negatives? I'm a bit unclear about the decibel settings for my speakers I guess.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

did u calibrate it properly..

[jomari]

Jaejw,

are you texting again while driving???

Kndy,

think of it this way, lets say we both have the same equipment, same media, speakers et al...

i can say that i am getting super dooper bass from my subwoofer, with my gain at the 9oclock position!!! and then put that silly you rock avatar here:

but in your room, you get 'drooping' bass, not doing much for you. nada. same volume, same position at 9oclock, but zilch.

then you calculate how big the room is,

mine would be 10x8 while yours may be 20x16.

or, we simply have distinct hearing, and well, damage to certain extent (to no offense)...

its a very subjective topic, thus to become objective, we use SPL meters.

[billlh]

Just thought I'd chime in here. Thanks to this thread I'm now an owner of the 12" sub. I hope it's all you claim it is Big Daddy.

Bill

[jomari]

Originally Posted by billlh

Just thought I'd chime in here. Thanks to this thread I'm now an owner of the 12" sub. I hope it's all you claim it is Big Daddy.

Bill

welcome to the forum bill, hopefully, we can coerce you to stick around more. we always appreciate newcomers here...

the only initiation we have is pictures. of the sub. of the subwoofer.

again, welcome to the foray.

[JJ]

Here's some peeks at the inner workings of the Sub-10 whilst I fill it with some Polyfill. Looks to be, on the inside, a $160 sub, I'm honestly about to take the driver and amplifier out of it and make my own enclosure. Being a tedious and OCD-driven woodworker (when I make models for Architecture) - seeing this on the inside hurts a bit. I need to hurry up and put it back together!

[jomari]

JJ, any chance you can upload your pictures via the gallery function? i cant see it... im at work...

so, whats your plan on building your new subwoofer enclosure? do keep us posted via the upgrading subwoofer thread we have...

[Driver_King]

Quick JJ! To the Poly-fill!

[crazyBLUE]

Make sure you screw that sub back in good JJ ~ Wouldn't want it poping out now !!!

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by jomari

Jaejw,

are you texting again while driving???

.

uh,,,,no... I was uh,,,,,,, parked... yes I was parked and I did my texting...


anybody want to buy a bridge,,,, ???

[erict]

Will I gain anything from using a SPL meter to set up my sub and speakers? If so which one would you recommend?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by erict

Will I gain anything from using a SPL meter to set up my sub and speakers? If so which one would you recommend?

An SPL meter gives you more flexibility when you want to calibrate your audio. My SPL meter is probably 15 years old and continues to help me. Buy the Radio Shack Digital SPL meter for $50. It is easier to use than the analog meter. Most of their stores carry them. You can also buy it online.

All the useful information and links are in Calibrating Your Audio with an SPL Meter thread. It has a sticky in the Receivers section. Read the thread before you make a purchase.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by erict

Will I gain anything from using a SPL meter to set up my sub and speakers? If so which one would you recommend?

absolutely. this is one tool that started a lot of home theater enthusiast to go from a beginner to at least an intermediate user. id also highly suggest reading the sticky ive posted earlier, and gain a little more information about how to use it, and why we use it in the first place.

the SPL meter gives you a more accurate, objective reading as to how your speakers sound compared to your ears.

[jomari]

darn it. bd beat me to it. again.

JJ, what are you going to end up doing with the HDSUB12 enclosure then? *wink*

[brett_day]

has anyone seen and or heard the 15" version of the hd sub? i am torn between upgrading the driver in my polk psw10 (by the way, thanks for the info Big Daddy! much appreciated) or i am thinking about the HD-sub15

[erict]

Originally Posted by jomari

absolutely. this is one tool that started a lot of home theater enthusiast to go from a beginner to at least an intermediate user. id also highly suggest reading the sticky ive posted earlier, and gain a little more information about how to use it, and why we use it in the first place.

the SPL meter gives you a more accurate, objective reading as to how your speakers sound compared to your ears.

That's the one reason I was wondering about. I know there can be be a long debate on this and this isn't the right thread but wouldn't you want your ears to be the final test instead of a meter telling you whats best?