The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[Grevlin]

It seems like I'm the only one having issues with my Sub12. I just tried an experiment. I played the "ending" scene in Knowing and got that rare but familiar metallic coughing from the Sub. I then played a music cd: The new Black Eyed Peas cd. That CD has CRAZY bass. The "reach in and vibrate your heart bass" or "club bass" and that's how it felt. Up to 48 or 49 on the 606- crazy loud, and no funny sounds, just house SHAKING bass. -- far louder then the scenes in the movies causing the problems.

So, please, something has to be wrong in my set-up. This bass sounds AMAZING when I play a cd or mp3, (off the PS3) but then I get the coughing (I guess bottoming out) with the BIG BASS blu's.

Any Ideas?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Grevlin

It seems like I'm the only one having issues with my Sub12. I just tried an experiment. I played the "ending" scene in Knowing and got that rare but familiar metallic coughing from the Sub. I then played a music cd: The new Black Eyed Peas cd. That CD has CRAZY bass. The "reach in and vibrate your heart bass" or "club bass" and that's how it felt. Up to 48 or 49 on the 606- crazy loud, and no funny sounds, just house SHAKING bass. -- far louder then the scenes in the movies causing the problems.

So, please, something has to be wrong in my set-up. This bass sounds AMAZING when I play a cd or mp3, (off the PS3) but then I get the coughing (I guess bottoming out) with the BIG BASS blu's.

Any Ideas?

This always surprises me. I play movies, multi-channel SACD's, DVD-A's, and 2.1 CD's at very loud levels to test my system, but I don't generally experience bottoming of my subwoofers.

The bass sound in the room can be very uneven and depending on the sub's position and your listening position, you will get very hot and cold spots. An easy solution is to use two or four subwoofers.

With dual subs, it is best to have identical subs from the same manufacturer and positioning in the room becomes crucial.

1. The best placement for two subs is in the middle of side walls.
2. Put one in the middle of the front wall and one in the middle of the rear wall.
3. Another option that may work, but is not as great is in the two front corners.
   Put the stronger sub with better low frequency extension in the front corner and the weaker sub next to the side or rear of your listening area. Adjust their levels very carefully so that one sub does not over power the other one. The sub up front will give you lower frequency bass sound and sub closer to you will give you higher frequencty bass sound. Turn their levels to 50%, no higher than 65%-70%.

Here are some other things you can do:

1. On the back of the subs, turn their levels to 50%-60%, no higher than 75%.
2. On the back of the subs, turn their crossovers all the way up to their maximum point. You set the crossover in the receiver.
3. In the receiver's menu, set all speakers to SMALL.
4. In the receiver's menu, set the crossovers of all the speakers to 80Hz. You can deviate from 80Hz depending on the low frequency extension of your speakers. Make sure the crossover is always set at least 10Hz-15Hz higher than the minimum frequency response (+-3dB) of your speakers.
5. In the receiver's menu, set the crossover frequency of the LFE channel to 80Hz-120Hz.
6. In the receiver's menu, set the level of the subwoofers to zero.
7. Turn off one subwoofer.
8. Play the test tones through the subwoofer that is on and measure its response with the SPL meter. Adjust its level on its back (not the receiver) so that you get approximately 75dB.
9. Turn on the other subwoofer and turn off the previous subwoofer.
10. Run test tones through it and adjust the level on its back so that you get approximately 75dB.
11. Now, turn on both subwoofers and do not touch the levels on their back.
12. Run the test tones again and adjust the level of all speakers. Make sure the SPL meter is held steady at a 45 degree angle at the primary listening position. Don't stand directly behind the SPL meter. Stand on the side. It is best for the SPL meter to be on a tripod.
13. When the time comes to adjust the subwoofers, move the SPL meter slighly to the right and slightly to the left and average the dB level that it registers.
    Hopefully this will work. If you move the subwoofers or move your listening position, don't be surprised if the level of the subwoofers change drastically.

For additional information, read A Guide to Bass Management. Post #2 in that thread has additional links and information.

Don't forget to add some polyfill to your subwoofers without over stuffing them.

[cdanielski]

Big Daddy, you can count me in as a new HD-Sub12 owner (cherry...really wanted black but couldn't pass up the deal). The auction just ended tonight, but I already can't wait to hear what our setup sounds like with some extra bass (this is our first subwoofer)!

I'm currently working with my local repair shop to troubleshoot some problems with my Onkyo TX-SR606 AVR. Hopefully they will be resolved by the time the Sub12 gets here (prayers appreciated ). If any of you have that AVR, read this post to see if you can help. Thanks!

I'll post back when I get it all hooked up. Off to re-read all those sticky's threads!

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by cdanielski

Big Daddy, you can count me in as a new HD-Sub12 owner (cherry...really wanted black but couldn't pass up the deal). The auction just ended tonight, but I already can't wait to hear what our setup sounds like with some extra bass (this is our first subwoofer)!

I'm currently working with my local repair shop to troubleshoot some problems with my Onkyo TX-SR606 AVR. Hopefully they will be resolved by the time the Sub12 gets here (prayers appreciated ). If any of you have that AVR, read this post to see if you can help. Thanks!

I'll post back when I get it all hooked up. Off to re-read all those sticky's threads!

Congratulations. I will add your name to the list of owners in Post #1.

If you don't mind, how much did you end up paying? Also, what are your other speakers?

Make sure you read A Guide to Bass Management sticky. It will help you with the setup.

[liquidice]

nice theater cdanielski! Finished basement, and in Ohio! If we didn't live in the middle of the Black Swamp, I'd be with you on the basement setup!

[cdanielski]

Thanks liquidice. Putting all of this together has been a real blast.

Glad to see other Buckeyes out here! Love the look of your setup too

[jomari]

been ages since ive been here, and noticed how long our list has got. 63 new owners of various Acoustic subs... very impressive for the price, and for the amount of good experiences we have with it.

thanks again BD, im sure we're going to hit higher than what we have.

[cdanielski]

My Sub12 arrived today. Unpacked it, but I'll need to kick the kids off the PS3 to hook it up. Hopefully, later tonight, I'll post pics and first impressions.

I'm still having buzz/hum problems with my receiver, but I'm too excited not to test it out!

[Irrob]

Originally Posted by jomari

been ages since ive been here, and noticed how long our list has got. 63 new owners of various Acoustic subs... very impressive for the price, and for the amount of good experiences we have with it.

thanks again BD, im sure we're going to hit higher than what we have.

Indeed, I'd like to see pics from more owners. I'll be adding a second HD sub to my collection very soon.

[Irrob]

Originally Posted by cdanielski

My Sub12 arrived today. Unpacked it, but I'll need to kick the kids off the PS3 to hook it up. Hopefully, later tonight, I'll post pics and first impressions.

I'm still having buzz/hum problems with my receiver, but I'm too excited not to test it out!

with a room your size two Sub 12's would rock

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by cdanielski

My Sub12 arrived today. Unpacked it, but I'll need to kick the kids off the PS3 to hook it up. Hopefully, later tonight, I'll post pics and first impressions.

I'm still having buzz/hum problems with my receiver, but I'm too excited not to test it out!

For your noise problem, check the Ground Hum thread. It may help.

[cdanielski]

I just wanted to document the first couple days (setup/testing) of our theater's first subwoofer.

In addition to the Acoustic Audio HD-Sub12, I also purchased a 12' RCA (RG6) cable from Monoprice as well as their Y adapter (2 male, 1 female). Standard shipping was amazingly fast from both vendors.

The sub arrived double boxed and was in good condition. It came with a 6ft cable and an adapter (1 female, 2 male). The only cosmetic blemish was a bit of black glue on the outside of the sub's cone. Hopefully I’ll be able to remove that later.

I connected everything to my setup and nothing smoked (yeah ). Unfortunately, I already had a noticeable hum/buzz due to an ongoing problem with the 606 , but the addition of the sub didn't change that in any way.

I first played parts of two blu-rays; Rush's Snakes and Arrows and Cars. Both left me feeling a bit under whelmed (wasn't even sure it was working), but I knew that I had yet to run Audyssey and make the AVR settings recommended in this forum (nor did I have my back surround speakers connected).

So next I connected all the speakers, ran Audyssey, and set the Onkyo TX-SR606 as follows:

Subwoofer : yes (of course!)
Front : 50 hz
Cntr : 60 hz
Surr : 80 hz
SurrB : 80 hz
SurrBack : 2ch
LPF : 120 hz

DVD PLIIX Movie
Bass : +8 db
Treble : 0 db
DynamicEQ : On
M. Optimizer : off
Subwoofer : +1.0 db
Cnter : -4.0 db

Then, I popped in Cars and Night at the Museum...Wow!... I could finally hear deep bass!!! Sweet . I borrowed Transformers from a friend (thanks Bill), but forgot that it was a Standard Definition DVD. The Ironhide Flip was still pretty cool, but I'm sure it sounds even better on blu-ray!

At the recommendation of so many in this forum, the next day I added poly-fill to make sure I was getting the optimum experience right from the beginning. See pictures of this process in my gallery. Not sure if it was the poly or extra usage, but everything sounds great.

I haven't been able to break it in as much as I wanted (too nice outside), but it is definitely getting better with every session. The last two things I've listened to sounded simply amazing - Horton Hears a Who (SD DVD) and some old-school DC Talk (CD).

In summary - what a great enhancement this has been! It adds that next level of theater realism that we were missing. If you are on the fence about this sub – or any other for that matter - don’t think twice, just do it. Going from no sub to this one was worth all the time spent reading, researching, and bidding (ebay).

Next on the to-do list is to build a sub riser and paint the Sub12 black to match my other speakers.

Thanks to Big Daddy and all the others here who invest so much of their time to provide such thorough and reliable information! Way to go guys! You

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by cdanielski

I just wanted to document the first couple days (setup/testing) of our theater's first subwoofer.

In addition to the Acoustic Audio HD-Sub12, I also purchased a 12' RCA (RG6) cable from Monoprice as well as their Y adapter (2 male, 1 female). Standard shipping was amazingly fast from both vendors.

The sub arrived double boxed and was in good condition. It came with a 6ft cable and an adapter (1 female, 2 male). The only cosmetic blemish was a bit of black glue on the outside of the sub's cone. Hopefully I’ll be able to remove that later.

I connected everything to my setup and nothing smoked (yeah ). Unfortunately, I already had a noticeable hum/buzz due to an ongoing problem with the 606 , but the addition of the sub didn't change that in any way.

I first played parts of two blu-rays; Rush's Snakes and Arrows and Cars. Both left me feeling a bit under whelmed (wasn't even sure it was working), but I knew that I had yet to run Audyssey and make the AVR settings recommended in this forum (nor did I have my back surround speakers connected).

So next I connected all the speakers, ran Audyssey, and set the Onkyo TX-SR606 as follows:

Subwoofer : yes (of course!)
Front : 50 hz
Cntr : 60 hz
Surr : 80 hz
SurrB : 80 hz
SurrBack : 2ch
LPF : 120 hz

DVD PLIIX Movie
Bass : +8 db
Treble : 0 db
DynamicEQ : On
M. Optimizer : off
Subwoofer : +1.0 db
Cnter : -4.0 db

Then, I popped in Cars and Night at the Museum...Wow!... I could finally hear deep bass!!! Sweet . I borrowed Transformers from a friend (thanks Bill), but forgot that it was a Standard Definition DVD. The Ironhide Flip was still pretty cool, but I'm sure it sounds even better on blu-ray!

At the recommendation of so many in this forum, the next day I added poly-fill to make sure I was getting the optimum experience right from the beginning. See pictures of this process in my gallery. Not sure if it was the poly or extra usage, but everything sounds great.

I haven't been able to break it in as much as I wanted (too nice outside), but it is definitely getting better with every session. The last two things I've listened to sounded simply amazing - Horton Hears a Who (SD DVD) and some old-school DC Talk (CD).

In summary - what a great enhancement this has been! It adds that next level of theater realism that we were missing. If you are on the fence about this sub – or any other for that matter - don’t think twice, just do it. Going from no sub to this one was worth all the time spent reading, researching, and bidding (ebay).

Next on the to-do list is to build a sub riser and paint the Sub12 black to match my other speakers.

Thanks to Big Daddy and all the others here who invest so much of their time to provide such thorough and reliable information! Way to go guys! You

Increase the crossover frequencies of your front speakers and the center channel to 80Hz. It will increase the level of bass through the subwoofer.

Also, play with the location of the sub in the room to get the optimum bass level. Put it in the front corner about a foot or more away away from the walls. Make sure the crossover frequency on the back of the sub is turned all the way up to its maximum level and the level on the back of the sub is around 60%-65%.

If you change the location of the sub or the levels, you may have to run Audyssey again. After Audyssey, you can increase/decrease the level of the sub.

Did you use the Y adapter to add the sub cable to both inputs on the back of the sub?

[Irrob]

Originally Posted by cdanielski

I just wanted to document the first couple days (setup/testing) of our theater's first subwoofer.

In addition to the Acoustic Audio HD-Sub12, I also purchased a 12' RCA (RG6) cable from Monoprice as well as their Y adapter (2 male, 1 female). Standard shipping was amazingly fast from both vendors.

The sub arrived double boxed and was in good condition. It came with a 6ft cable and an adapter (1 female, 2 male). The only cosmetic blemish was a bit of black glue on the outside of the sub's cone. Hopefully I’ll be able to remove that later.

I connected everything to my setup and nothing smoked (yeah ). Unfortunately, I already had a noticeable hum/buzz due to an ongoing problem with the 606 , but the addition of the sub didn't change that in any way.

I first played parts of two blu-rays; Rush's Snakes and Arrows and Cars. Both left me feeling a bit under whelmed (wasn't even sure it was working), but I knew that I had yet to run Audyssey and make the AVR settings recommended in this forum (nor did I have my back surround speakers connected).

So next I connected all the speakers, ran Audyssey, and set the Onkyo TX-SR606 as follows:

Subwoofer : yes (of course!)
Front : 50 hz
Cntr : 60 hz
Surr : 80 hz
SurrB : 80 hz
SurrBack : 2ch
LPF : 120 hz

DVD PLIIX Movie
Bass : +8 db
Treble : 0 db
DynamicEQ : On
M. Optimizer : off
Subwoofer : +1.0 db
Cnter : -4.0 db

Then, I popped in Cars and Night at the Museum...Wow!... I could finally hear deep bass!!! Sweet . I borrowed Transformers from a friend (thanks Bill), but forgot that it was a Standard Definition DVD. The Ironhide Flip was still pretty cool, but I'm sure it sounds even better on blu-ray!

At the recommendation of so many in this forum, the next day I added poly-fill to make sure I was getting the optimum experience right from the beginning. See pictures of this process in my gallery. Not sure if it was the poly or extra usage, but everything sounds great.

I haven't been able to break it in as much as I wanted (too nice outside), but it is definitely getting better with every session. The last two things I've listened to sounded simply amazing - Horton Hears a Who (SD DVD) and some old-school DC Talk (CD).

In summary - what a great enhancement this has been! It adds that next level of theater realism that we were missing. If you are on the fence about this sub – or any other for that matter - don’t think twice, just do it. Going from no sub to this one was worth all the time spent reading, researching, and bidding (ebay).

Next on the to-do list is to build a sub riser and paint the Sub12 black to match my other speakers.

Thanks to Big Daddy and all the others here who invest so much of their time to provide such thorough and reliable information! Way to go guys! You

Cool. Keep us posted step by step when you remove the black glue, and paint the box black. I'd like to know how it turns out.

[talstarone]

Big Daddy I was reading your posts on how you felt when you received the first 8inch AA Sub and the first 12inch AA Sub.
Obviously you fell in Love with these subs performance as well as their price.

I was wondering what your thoughts would be on this question/idea.
I have a Polk PSW10 now.I want 2 or more subs in my small Home Theater room(10 ft 8 X 10 ft).

I was thinking multiple small subs instead of one large sub.I thought this would be easier to spread the Bass thru out the room without pinpointing its origin from a one sub set up.

I also thought I wouldnt have to be as perfect on placement with 2 or more small(8inch)AA Subs compared to using 1 12inch AA-HD Sub.
And I also wondered if multiple subs using the 8inch woofer would provide more mid bass and at least as much deep bass as one of the 12 inch subs.

What is your opinion on this subject.
Would I be better served by 2,3,or even (4) AA 8inch Audiophile subs, or would I be better off with one of the 12 inch AA-HD Subs?

I know basically I can pay almost exactally the same to get (1) 12inch or (2) 8 inch subs.So what would you do or advise to do in this situation?

And, as always, Thanks Big Daddy!

[Big Daddy]

Tals,

If you are going to get multiple subs, get at least two 10" subs. With four 8" subs, you will get very good and even bass across the room, but you will not get a lot of deep and low frequency bass sound.

Another option is to get a 12" sub like AA HD-SUB12 and put it up front in a corner and put your current Polk sub on the side of your sofa. Adjust their levels very carefully so that one sub does not overpower the other one. This way, the AA sub up front will provide you with deeper bass frequencies and the Polk sub will provide you with the upper frequency bass sound.

The best option is to buy four 12" subs and put them in the four corners of the room or the middle of all the four walls. You will live in bass heaven and will never leave your HT room.

In my HT room, I have three 12" subs, one 15" sub, and two built-in 15" powered subs in my front speakers. I want to buy or build more subs, but my wife thinks that our house is fully subwooferized.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

In my HT room, I have three 12" subs, one 15" sub, and two built-in 15" powered subs in my front speakers. I want to buy or build more subs, but my wife thinks that our house is fully subwooferized.

BD, if you get the itch and build another sub (actually 2 ), I know of a certain HT that would be more than happy to try it out for you (of course, I would be willing to pay a nominal fee that would be mutually agreed upon...... )

[cdanielski]

BD, yes I'm using the Y adapter.

Regarding placement, the floorplan below shows there are no corners near the front of the room (it is all a big open space)...ceilings and soffits I'm sure will play a role too. I see at least four placement options as indicated; six if I include the "outside" of my fronts. It will take some time to test/calibrate for each position.

Do you have suggestions on which order to try? It is currently placed in position 1 and sounds good to my novice ears.

How much break-in time (hours) should allow before testing in different locations?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by cdanielski

BD, yes I'm using the Y adapter.

Regarding placement, the floorplan below shows there are no corners near the front of the room (it is all a big open space)...ceilings and soffits I'm sure will play a role too. I see at least four placement options as indicated; six if I include the "outside" of my fronts. It will take some time to test/calibrate for each position.

Do you have suggestions on which order to try? It is currently placed in position 1 and sounds good to my novice ears.

How much break-in time (hours) should allow before testing in different locations?

The closer the subwoofer is to the corner of the room, the louder it will play. It looks like you may have to completely rearrange the room or buy a second identical subwoofer.

Use the subwoofer for a couple of days and definitely move it around and experiment.

[talstarone]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Tals,

If you are going to get multiple subs, get at least two 10" subs. With four 8" subs, you will get very good and even bass across the room, but you will not get a lot of deep and low frequency bass sound.

Another option is to get a 12" sub like AA HD-SUB12 and put it up front in a corner and put your current Polk sub on the side of your sofa. Adjust their levels very carefully so that one sub does not overpower the other one. This way, the AA sub up front will provide you with deeper bass frequencies and the Polk sub will provide you with the upper frequency bass sound.

The best option is to buy four 12" subs and put them in the four corners of the room or the middle of all the four walls. You will live in bass heaven and will never leave your HT room.

In my HT room, I have three 12" subs, one 15" sub, and two built-in 15" powered subs in my front speakers. I want to buy or build more subs, but my wife thinks that our house is fully subwooferized.

Will do Big Daddy.
I will go ahead and at least shoot for another 10 inch sub.
Of course it will be an AA Sub, but I will have to look at the AA 10 inch subs and see if they Have both the 10 inch Audophile Sub and the 10 inch HD Sub.

Other then one being a down firing sub and the other being a forward firing sub is there a performance difference?