Basic Subwoofer Advice

[dborgill]

Greetings,

I have quite the hodgepodge of a system but am loving it. I will ask my question and then list my equipment below for reference.

I am having a tough time getting my sub to sound right. It either sounds too "rumbly", "too powerful" or "too weak". Can't seem to get the right middle ground. It's pointing a the corner of a room FYI. I used my MRAC mic to auto calibrate my receiver. It put the crossover at 100hz and I set my subwoofer to 100hz also. But there is also a phase button on the sub (Normal/Reverse) what should I set that to? Also, is it better to have the Sub higher on the receiver or the level on the sub itself turned up higher?

JVC HTIB Speakers
Sony 10" Sub
Sony A3000 55" 1080p
Marantz SR-4003 Receiver

[DavePS3]

You really need to experiment. accoustics, placement both come into play. Generally, if the sub is too boomy, pull it away from the corner a bit. On my receiver, I do this with my Mirage BP150 and Cambridge Audio receiver...

Receiver: Sub' level at full
LFE all the way down to 0 - that way I can easily raise the level on movies with crappy bass.

Sub' - Phase at Normal
main volume at about 10 to 11 o'clock
crossover at about 1 o'clock

It's a crap shoot really, but if you have one other person to do the adjusting while you sit and listen to the same audio passage over and over, you'll get it. Might take an hour but it'll be worth it.

[dborgill]

Thanks for the info.

What is the normal/reverse phase setting mean?

Any list of recommended Blu-Rays for audio?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by dborgill

Greetings,

I am having a tough time getting my sub to sound right. It either sounds too "rumbly", "too powerful" or "too weak". Can't seem to get the right middle ground. It's pointing a the corner of a room FYI. I used my MRAC mic to auto calibrate my receiver. It put the crossover at 100hz and I set my subwoofer to 100hz also. But there is also a phase button on the sub (Normal/Reverse) what should I set that to? Also, is it better to have the Sub higher on the receiver or the level on the sub itself turned up higher?

JVC HTIB Speakers
Sony 10" Sub
Sony A3000 55" 1080p
Marantz SR-4003 Receiver

Getting your subwoofer to work in a small home theater room can be tricky. Read A Guide to Subwoofers and A Guide to Subwoofers (Part II): Standing Waves and Room Modes. They explain how to set the crossover frequency, phase, and the effect of room modes (standing waves) on subwoofer performance.