I have the following setup in 7.1 now:
NHT SB3s (front)
Energy RC-LCR (center)
Energy RC-10s (side)
Energy CR-3s (rear, side-firing dipoles)
Axiom EP-500 sub
Denon 3805 AVR
Denon 2810 DVD
Cambridge DV89 DVD
I listen to more music than HT... that's why I have the Cambridge DV player as it is absolutely silent in its transport during the quiet music moments (and the Denon definitely is not, although the Denon is noticably better for video).
Problem? Even though the NHTs are rated 39-22K +/-3db there was always a noticeable 'gap' between them and the EP-500 - in music. HT seems fine. I've set both the 3805 and the EP-500 to a 80hz xo and experimented with 60 and 100 (can't tell the diff...). So adjusting the ext-in sub level and the channel volumes in both the 3805 and it sounds 'pretty good' - but the EP-500 seems to just 'boom' (volume control is at about 65%) rather than put out defined bass. I listen to a lot of stuff such as jazz and ambient techno and the bass is usually tightly defined on my other system.
Am I missing some adjustment? Would replacing the NHTs with M80s help - and if so, how would I tune them and the EP-500? Would I need to bi-amp the M80s (I can't bi-amp the NHTs) and with what kind of power and control (xo)? Or is there a way to tune the EP-500 better?
I already tried Alan's "sub-woofer crawl" to figure out the best place to put the EP-500 so I'm fairly comfortable about its placement.
So many questions... I just want to listen to good quality music!
