Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater movie scenes for subwoofer

You say you calibrated it, but how? 75dB for all speakers? Also, how do you have your settings in the receiver for the speakers? Small, Large, Crossover? Do you have your crossover on the sub set to bypass or turned off? etc...

I have found that in some instances, with certain test tones, you need to calibrate the sub 10 dB higher than the other speakers. Don't ask me why, someone else will tell you...

The helicopter crash near the end of The Matrix is one of my favorites. Also try the bombing scenes in Pearl Harbor.

These are a few that I remember.

“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” when the robots march through the city.

LOTR FOTR in the mines of Moria fighting the cave troll and later the Barlog at the Bridge of Khazad-dum.

Lots of bass in the movie Titan A.E.

“Band of Brothers” episode “The Breaking Point” when they get shelled in the woods.

The very first scene in Star Wars Episode II where Senator Whats'er'name's ship is flying in, only to be sabotaged on the landing pad. There's some major LFE going on while the ship is on approach, plus there's a beautiful explosion to top it all off. I find that scene odd though. Her ship emits much more LFE than any other ship in the movie, even the big ones.

Did you calibrate it to 75db?

I've found many calibration guides suggest calibrating the sub at +3 or +5 over the mains. Therefore, your sub should be nearing 80db when your mains are at 75db. The reason for this, at least to my understanding, is that most SPL meters are a little less sensitive to low frequencies, and that boosting the LFE a bit over the other channels adds a little more visceral impact to a system. Don't be afraid to crank up your STF-3 a bit more. That's a great sub (so I've heard) that should be able to produce loads of bass for you.

My SVS is calibrated to be about +6db over my system, as that suits my room and my tastes. In the opening M&C scene, when the French Acheron fires from the fog at the English Sophie ("INCOMMING!!!!"), on my system at 'demo' volume, you can actually feel the various cannon concussions in your chest.

Movie scenes are great, but you could also try some bass-centric music like dance or trance. That will give you a repetitive beat to which you can tinker with the calibration. If you really want to go nuts, you can go buy a 'Bass mix' CD, the kind that annoying teenagers use with their uber-watt car systems to rattle other people's rear-view mirrors.... ahhhh memories. Just don't toast your sub, as it can happen with those.

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I did calibrate it with the spl meter but somehow it just doesn't feel right. It's sitting about a foot to the left of my left main speaker. So about 8ft away about 6 inches from the wall. The sub isn't even turned up a quarter of the way. I don't find exlosions to be a very good test. I need something that rumbels deep that I can really feel. For ex if someone says a certain scene from a specific movie makes their bones rattle etc then I should have a good idea if mine even comes relatively close. Obviously there will be some differences due to better placement and or sub. Just looking for a simple comparison.

I did try the first scene from Master and Commander but while the explosions sounded good and clear, I didn't see any windows shaking...

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I'll throw in the ice field scene in Titan: AE for long, sustained rumbling. And the Blue Man Group audio dvd (not the concert DVD) has some songs with amazing sustained bass.

Rich

I calibrated my sub to 73-75db on the SPL meter with c weighting and slow response with the internal pink noise of my receiver. The peaks hit 75 db, while the lows hit 73. I found this to be a good place on the physical dial on the sub.

Now, when I watch movies, i put my receiver at +5db on the sub. when i listen to music, I put it back to 0. Its all a matter of personal taste. There is nothing wrong, like others have said, to run your sub at +5db more than the rest of your speakers.

Watching Underworld the other, there were things buzzing that I have never heard in the room, I pinpointed it as the grill on my left surround...it was a little loose for some reason. Not coming off, but it WAS vibrating. Sheesh!

I also noticed some vibrations from the sub itself, from the back of the EP500, I had no idea where to look for it, anyone have any suggestions? I really didn't feel like hauling the sub out from the wall now that I have the spikes on...