Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners What to do??

So I just got my new axioms this week and installed in my basement yesterday. My only problem is it seems like my subwoofer isn't putting out near what I thought it would. I have an 8" Energy subwoofer in my upstairs system and it is putting out way more then my EP175 is downstairs. It only sounds decent when I have a movie playing but doesn't even sound like its putting out when music is playing. Do I upgrade to an EP350? Or maybe I have a defective sub. Everything is maxed out in my AVR subwoofer settings My room dimensions are 16x11x7.5 Any suggestions??

my system
Denon AVR2310ci
W22 fronts
W150 Center
QS 4s Surrounds
Vista 8" In Ceilings
EP175 Subwoofer

You notice no difference with and without the sub? Something sounds wrong then.

is the driver moving? If you put your hand on the surround you can easily tell if the driver is working, even at low volumes.

Did you take a walk around your room to see if the bass re-appeared? The room can have a large effect on bass frequencies and it may be that your listening position is in a large bass null.

I had a similar problem when I set the Mains to Large and the subwoofer set to Yes instead of Plus. Check this setting in your AVR and if that is the way it is, either set the Subwoofer to Plus (this is the way I currently have it), or set the mains to small.

The driver is moving.. but it seems like my upstairs sub sounds better even at low volumes. Could be room acoustics? May have to do some tweaking. Still have 26 more audition days

Can you swap the 2 subwoofers and check the difference?

Edit: I received an EP175 2 days ago and am still playing around with the settings. So far, I'm fairly satisfied with it, but I don't have anything to compare it with. My goal was to enhance what I have without drowning me in bass, and so far it seems to be doing that ok.

First thing I would do would be to check the level with an SPL meter. If you don't have one then try running Audyssey to see if that yields different results.

I would double check the settings in the avr make sure you have all the speakers set to small and the crossover set to 80hz for starters. This will ensure all the lower bass is going to the sub.

As has been stated by the others to compare the sound from the sub upstairs to the one downstairs is not fair as the rooms and sub position plays a huge part in how each will sound.

^^ Yes, that too I'm assuming he's already checked that.

I have a similar setup as bremsy. On-wall M22, on/in-wall VP100, EP175. I just tried the following combinations, mains set to small, while adjusting the cross over through 200, 150, 100, 80, 50. Then I set the mains to Large with sub set to plus.

Overall I liked the small/200 setting the least, with the sound improving a tad each time I lowered the cross-over. I like the sound with mains set to large and sub at plus a whole lot better. Although, at this setting I notice that the sub only seems to supply the lowest bass with little effect otherwise. I noticed a big difference with sub on vs off with the small settings.

Keep in mind the W22, on-wall M22 are a whole lot different in sound than the bookshelf M22, which I also have. With that setup, the small setting may sound better.

Edit: Similarly good, yes. But not the same by any means.

So I'm sitting in my basement checking all my settings as I write this, Ran Audyssey, All speakers set to small, crossover set to 80hz. Got bass when music playing sounding good (but only at higher volumes), but have to adjust volume on back of subwoofer way down when movie is playing or shakes the house to much Currently @ 10:00 position. I guess the big question is Why can't the bass be consistent between music and movie? BTW love the sound from the other speakers!!

Well he said it only sounds like it works with movies, this could mean the settings are off in the avr. If the fts are set to large and sub set to LFE only then nothing will be sent to the sub for music. He would need to set the sub to LFE + Mains as Cat mentioned to get bass from both sub and mains for music as well as movies.

Yeah, the Denon uses different terminology than the Pioneer.

I've been watching 2012 switching between small/80, small/50, and large/plus (Pioneer terminology). Again, Large/plus (same as LFE + mains) definitely wins. Small/80 has definite hole in sound. Small/50 better, but Large/plus has sound that is much more fuller.

Edit: EP175 cross-over switch set on 150. I just checked.

bremsy, have you done anymore checking/adjusting? If so, what have you discovered?

Edit 2: Concerning sub position. I only have enough cable to move sub around front 1/3 of room. I've tried all positions there and no change with increase in upper base found.

If Large/Plus sounds the best, then keep it there. The position of the woofers have a definite effect on where the standing waves built up, or get nullified. With only the EP175 producing bass you may be sitting in a null. Two more sources help even out the response.

In my case enabling Plus caused a null at my listening position.

Have you run the MCACC 3-position standing wave attenuation? That helped even bass response even more.

I haven't heard of this. It may not be something available on the Pioneer Elite STX-21THX. I'm not finding much when I check for this on Google.

Edit: I found it in the manual. It's just called Standing Wave.

Edit 2: By 3 position for standing wave, I'm assuming you mean 3 filters and not 3 mic positions. I reran the Full Auto MCACC with the mike about 6 inches lower that where I first ran it. I noticed that before this there was 8.5 db of attenuation at 50 hz for the sub. Afterwards it changed to 4.5 db.

The Elite should have it, my regular 1018 does. It's called Standing Wave Multi-Point. It'll have you place the mic in the 2nd position, then the 3rd, and finally the primary (with the primary getting the most weighting).

Found it, sort of. First I have to decode what this means. It's not being intuitive: STAND.WAVE Multi-Point (only available when the Auto MCACC Menu above is EQ Pro & S-Wave)

Ahh, it's in the EQ Professional menu. I've never been there before.

I like the "pro" menus, because you can run parts of the MCACC without having to measure the distance and trim levels again (which shouldn't change if you don't move/change the speakers).

I also use the Manual MCACC to set my sub distance by ear. Really, the test tones make it really obvious when the sub delay is the same as the left channel. There's a thump, thump, thump. As you adjust the distance it'll sound "fatter" less focused. Once it's right on, you'll hear a single, tight tapping.

Well did some tweaking and finally got both movies and music sounding great:) Now the next question is... Do the QS8's really sound that much better than the QS4's?? Because The way these QS4's sound right now listening to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert they sound amazing. And surround in movies is fantastic!! I'm really debating stepping up to the 8's just wish I could compare the two.

If you have the money, just order the QS8's, then send back the one you don't want. Or send the 4's back, and just pay the difference. As long as it's withing the 30 day trial period.

Edit: I'm glad you're finally satisfied with the EP175. I'm waiting to see what the frequency response is, but I'm having some trouble getting the cables/software to work properly. I am curious as to what settings you have chosen on your AVR for your speakers.

If you are still in the trial period and upgrade Axiom will cover shipping both ways.

I run QS4s with the M80s and VP150, they are amazing little speakers.

Bremsy if you want we could try to get together, do you make into Calgary often?

That'd be good, I try to make it to the city as often as I can, but don't go on days off till next thursday.