Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Speaking of subs...

Just curious if anybody is like me and finds themselves constantly adjusting the volume level on the sub whenever going from either different DVDs or to music. The volume dial on my EP350 has a faint white indicator line on the back of the dial so I also find myself tilting or turning the sub to set the level from the factory line to the reference points on the sub, no biggie but a minor bug.

I took some White-Out and drew a fine line across the side of the dial from front to back to extend the factory line and now whenever I adjust the volume I can just look over the top of the sub and use my mark as a quick indicator.

Just a little tidbit I thought I'd share.

One nice thing about the ICBM is that it has a control on the front panel just for this purpose

In reply to:

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One nice thing about the ICBM is that it has a control on the front panel just for this purpose

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You know ol' Rick (me!) comes up with one invention in his life time and somebody comes along and completely shoots it right out of the water.

Oh well, I've got what I figure to be another 20 to 30 (stretching it) years so I'll come up with something else...you just wait, YOU!!

I forgot to mention, it has a white slash mark too

Yea but, I bet it ain't White-Out though...

I don't have the 350, so can't help out there, but I find that I do NOT adjust the amp level on my sub much at all. I have the sub turned up a little more than my wife would like, and so I think that it is at a level that is a little louder than some. I do notice that movies that are mixed nicely have more bass than anything else I listen to, but I don't find anything "missing" for those that don't have high amounts of bass.

PS. I think that my father-in-law patented white-out for use as a "level indicator" for audio dials years ago.

Nick, about the only time I adjust the level is going from DVDs to music. Like you, while watching DVDs I do like to have it turned up a little more than my wife likes. She's going to really get a hoot out of an EP600!

I do want to admit that when someone is coming over to hear my set up, I like to blast the bass a little for some music. I have this "old school" Beasty Boys Anthology set that I throw in from time to time that I like to rattle the house with, so then I DO turn it up.

Oh, I see you have the capability to do just that with that big SVS. I bet that thing does rattle the house!

I found that as I moved to better (deeper) subs the need to run different settings for music and movies gradually disappeared. Now I run the same settings for everything (unless showing off the subwoofer ) and am quite happy with the bass levels on both.

You do need a sub that goes really deep for that to work, though... or you end up cranking the sub level for movies to get those subsonic effects.

Wow....I didn't think of it til you brought it up, but....

....I haven't made any adjustments at all lately

I used to make adjustments when I went from TV to DVDs to VCR tapes to CDs.....all the time!

It took a bit after I got my new M50s and the new receiver and DVD player to get everything dialed in. Then...I don't hardly change a thing anymore!!!????

The main difference? I cross at 60hz now. Otherwise it is a new receiver, a new DVD player AND a new cable box.

Coincidence that all signals are closer now than with the old set-up? Dunno. Has it got something with crossing at 60? Dunno.

But no...don't constantly change the sub settings anymore!....WOW

Just curious, what are your room dimensions ? It might be that you have a room response peak in the 40-50 Hz range which affects music more than movies... so you have to turn it down to avoid getting overwhelming bass on music...

Just a thought. Maybe one more placement tweak (or EQ) might make the difference.

Rick, I run volume on the sub amp a little "hotter" than needed, and adjust the levels from the receiver. (Which are accessable from the remote) I tend to fidget with the levels constantly, so this eliminates having to pop my head behind the thing. I'm told I have a problem, but my therapist says that in time, I can learn to "leave the levels ALONE......" (What I really need is less therapy, and to buy an AVIA disc and SPL meter!)

Yeah...An Avia disc and an SPL meter would sure help me too

What I've been doing, and it works fairly well, silly as it sounds, is use a CD piece that I have that has guitars running up and down the scales from at least 3, 4 hundred down to well, well into the low bass region.

Ok....so I don't really know what I've got, numbers wise, but at least I know I don't have any gaping holes or lofty peaks in my subs output

And it actually mates well with the rest of the system and sounds good too

That is funny Rick, I find myself doing the same thing on my 350. There is not a lot of light in the corner where it resides so it is hard to see the white line as you mentioned. Currently I have the volume set at 12 o'clock on the sub, and at 0 dB's on the receiver. For movies this seems a good overall setting, however, for some CD's I find my self turning up the levels on my receiver with the remote. I have the receiver set at 80hz crossover and all speakers set to small.

Randy

Axiom M60's vp150 ep350 4-Qs8's
Denon 2805
Sanyo Z2 Projector
Panasonic S97S DVD HDMI

Well now....this is one of those rare times when us DIYers have a very slight and unusual advantage.this dosen't happen very often.

In the area of convenience(and who, at MY age wants to be crawling around in a corner, in the dark, with failing eyesight, trying to adjust a sub?.....Not ME!!)Luckly, my sub box is two years younger than I and I didn't wish to do any excess surgury on its frail carcass. So instead of hacking a big hole in the back of the box for the plate amp, the amp sits out in the air, and in plain sight of....only me, when I'm in my listening chair. And that's cool cause I can see the red light turn to green when the amp leaves standby and goes active(which isn't as often while listening to music and just watching TV cause I'm crossed at 60.) Plus it's very easy to make amp adjustments in the light, and within easy reach.(which I don't do very often with my current set-up, but it's nice to know that I can!)

So anyway.....you guys have a performance advantage on me when it comes to deep and loud(although I think I've discovered a new, larger driver that will fit the box with the proper electro-mechanical properties that will help me close the gap) But when it comes to convenience and keeping track of what mode the amp is in...I Have Seen The Light

One of the advantages of EP600 (and the SVS cylinder subs) which nobody talks about is having the electronics further off the ground, so you don't have to bend down so far to twiddle the level controls

Now why didn't someone point that out to me before? I am quite happy with my EP500, but this may have been grounds to have gotten the EP600 instead

Hey Rick,

How about using some glow in the dark paint in lieu or next to the white-out so it glows when the lights are out?

Just a thought...

on my SVS 20-39 PC+, i keep the volume at about 30% for movies, and then kick it up to about 40% for music.

it also depends a lot on which 'mode' i am in.. on my Onkyo 701, the 'all channel' mode tends to put more kick in the bass, while the phantom DTS and pro logic modes tend to not have as much kick..

i guess it depends on my mood most of the time..

bigjohn

>>Now why didn't someone point that out to me before? I am quite happy with my EP500, but this may have been grounds to have gotten the EP600 instead

Fear not... I actually got to see an EP600 today and it turns out I was wrong... the electronics are at ground level on an EP600 just like a 500.

Be happy !

Actually with the bright white mark on the dial along with the red/green glow of the light on the back of the sub bouncing off of the wall close to the sub I do not have any problem seeing the mark in the dark. Cool idea though!

On another note... and as mentioned by Montclair in another post regarding the Denon 2910 (just hooked mine up today and played with it) universal player and the lack of bass management on the DVD-A and SACD side I do believe an Outlaw ICBM is the way to go.
The only question I have regarding the ICBM is whether or not the cost of the component ($250) would justify bass management just for DVD-As and SACDs since my collection of these consist of one SACD and two DVD-A's that I just bought today to try out in the new player.

"Fear not... I actually got to see an EP600 today and it turns out I was wrong... the electronics are at ground level on an EP600 just like a 500."

Thanks for the info bridgman. But what about using the EP600 upside down?

The air blowing out of the port would make it fall over...

Did a little calculating......CG about 65% "up" when inverted....airflow about 75ft/sec.....on an average day in Canada with cold, dense, high humidity air, the corrected thrust level from the port acting upon a 103lb speaker in the inverted orientation if operating 180 degrees out of phase with the woofer cone giving an accumulating force on the cabinet(without grille)and if the cabinet is oriented(aimed) >7degrees "up" creating a slightly unstable.......

That air must be moving pretty fast! The 600 has a bit of mass to it, and F=ma right?

I liked your post F107plus5. I hope the sudden stop wasn't from the 600 falling over on you? Guess you found the right conditions to make it tip. I hope all is okay.

I guess the best and safest scenerio is to wait for the future Axiom electronics to allow us to remote control all of our sub adjustments and provide auto room EQ. One day.

Yup....F=MA alright, and Newton tells me that an inverted 600 falling over from where I keep my sub, would most likely take out my fireplace

But alas, it's all theory, as my sub is a bit smaller and sits very stabily low to the floor.

But I like your idea of Axiom electronics controlling our subs!!

Lets see now....if we could just use a laptop to plug "our" sub driver parameters into the Axiom amp....


(I use an external plate amp to drive my sub, so it would be EASY!!!...just swap amps!)

Wouldn't it be a lot more simple if you just positioned the sub in this manner...



...sure would save a few brains cells from getting destroyed during all of that calculating. 'Ones mind is a terrible thing to lose'.

Isn't that about the prettiest thing ya ever saw!?

My youngest Grandaughter saw thar pic just before I took her to school, and She thought it looks like a "Bandaid"

But WE know better

It sure doesn't sound like a band-aid (not that I have heard the 600). But I do see the visual similarity.

Oh...speaking of subs and kids and stuff......

A funny thing happened

I had been doing lots of research trying to come up with just the right driver to replace the 10" Peerless I'd installed in my sub cabinet while we lived in the old house.

The driver worked just fine in the old house...would put out about 100db before bottoming(according to the new plots I ran a couple weeks ago)But it would bottom too readily in this new larger listening room when I tried to give it more than about 85W. It also didn't go quite low enough to be really fun in some action flicks(the neighborhood sub wars are still under truce, and I don't wish to cause a problem; but I CAN go somewhat lower without a complaint as long as I'm cool about it-I went outside during some rousing scenes and it ain't as bad as I thought it would be) Anyway; found a driver that will fit the cabinet perfectly and give me a 3db down point at .707 of nine db lower than I had, and give me a safe 105db at 250W with a headroom of nearly 6db. So bottoming will never be an issue with my anemic little 250 watts

Whatever!....I was talking to the Wife about it(She wasen't listening cause She really dosen't care)but She knew I was studying the plots and had it narrowed down to....one.

She mentioned it to our oldest daughter(no....not the one who gave us the Kids; the one who's house we stay at during hurricanes)and she snuck over and scoffed up one of the website coversheets for the driver I'd decided upon.

Birthdays are a double edged sword

Monday morning I'll have my nose to the front window glass watching for the truck But there is a downside

The fun part....the research....is over!!!!!!!




I must add, however, that I am very much appreciative of her act of kindness in getting me this little monster. Watching her little Sisters' kids would have put the purchase off til at least after the Holidays

>>the neighborhood sub wars are still under truce, and I don't wish to cause a problem

Remember that you are expected to keep testing and improving your equipment between wars. Sounds like your family understands that

Ah.....but unfortunately, it's the neighbors families that are the potential problems.

We came close to a break-down in the truce last year around the 4th of July when one of the neighbors brought out a coupla guitar amps and proceeded to have somewhat of a wild little get-together.

A few other neighbors threw open their windows(air conditioners be damned)and brought their subs up to speed. It almost got nasty, but there were no casualties.

Apparently a year or so before we moved in, the subs were getting a little outta hand a couple streets over, but it's been kinda quiet for the last year or so.

Our homes are fairly close together in our community, and some of the older ones were built before air was popular, and so actually can live(survive)through the summer with open windows(and subs)

But now....after monday next....if the sub wars recommence....I..Am..Able..to ........ESCALATE!!!

Wow. So what did you guys breathe before air became popular?

Just went over and read the "EP600 review thread"

Think I'll just sit here and sulk for a while


Oh....the early Floridians were anaerobic.

Does anyone else have the image of someone looking something like Dumbledore or Gandalf pumping his hand in the air, index finger upraised? Sort of mad scientist-esque, I guess...

Yeah...but only if they were about...oh....a decade younger


Ok...make that half a decade.