Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Sub/AVR Volume and dB level settings?

To further confuse the issue, this was added to Gene's article, as an edit, at a later date.

"In our investigative studies we actually discovered that there really isn't a true auto off on any powered subwoofer which doesn't have an independent DC trigger line. In reality most subs simply remove the connection between the power output devices and the subwoofer driver during the auto off state. But the power transformer and associated amplifier electronics are still active."

Hopefully, someone will translate THAT into English for me.

(There are some people I know that I wish had an "auto on/off switch." . This coment is directed at NO ONE on this forum. Honest Injun! )

John, Ajax, Wid, and everyone else, thanks for the info, it is starting to make sense.

So I have a few questions to see what is the norm for most people:

A) Sounds like it doesn't make a difference, but I'm curious if most people keep there sub volume(gain) lower with their AVR's levels higher(for ex. 0dB) OR have the sub volume set a little higher around 9 o'clock, and have the AVR very low, like -10dB's. Not that it wonders, now that I understand things a bit more, I was just curious.

B) Does everyone attempt to calibrate the sub to 75dB SPL with the other speakers, or a little higher? Where did this 75dB norm come from anyway?

Thanks troops...

This is from A Quick Overview of Home Theater Calibration on HTF.

"In a nutshell, Dolby specifies an ideal playback level for their theatrical soundtracks and for the mixing envirinments in which those soundtracks are created. So, unlike music, movies are technically created with a standard playback level in mind. Based upon this intended level, dialog and effects are mixed at very specific levels to offer similar sound levels across various dolby soundtracks.

This playback level is basically defined as 105db peak level from any single speaker in the dolby playback system. By using tones on VE or Avia- they are specifically defined to give you this playback level.

Since VE's test tones are exactly 30 steps below the maximum level - calibrating that tone to 75db of SPL in your room means you have calibrated your system to playback 105db when given a peak signal.

Similarly, since Avia's test tones are exactly 20 steps below the maximum level - calibrating that tone to 85db of SPL in your room means you have calibrated your system to playback 105db when given a peak signal.

So, if you calibrate using those tones, and their intended target level (75db for VE or 85db for Avia)- that position on your volume knob will be dolby's ref level, providing you with a system that is now calibrated to offer 105db peak output.

Most home users don't listen at dolby's specified levels- but often it is a good point of ref when seeking help or advice on forums such as this one."

-Vince

I have my sub set up at -3 on the receiver and the gain on the sub at the 9 o' clock position.

Thanks Rick, man I bet your system really rocks!!!

Randy, my H/T system is pretty much a budget system with the Hsu Ventriloquist a Hsu VTF 2 and an Onkyo 502. For what it is and the money spent it sounds pretty good. Now the stereo system is another story, I must say it indeed does rock pretty darn good. You can see my list of equipment (stereo) in my profile.

Owning a 350 and then going to a 600, the auto-on/off feature was one of the first noticeable items I detected...besides the physical differences, of course.

Where my 350 would automatically shut off when not in use and the power indicator light would glow red, the 600 stays green constantly, except if I manually turn the power switch off. The manual says to turn the 500/600 off only when going away for extended periods of time, which I take it as vacation or similar. It also states, 'The LED Power indicator glows green when it's on and Yellow indicating a fault'.

The power indicator light on my 600 has been green since the day I received and it has never failed to turn on once, whereas with my 350 I did notice a time or two I would turn the volume up a tad to 'excite' the power to the sub. This 600 is a very remarkable sub in all respects, indeed.

Brother "Rick" Bob, can you provide your settings on the volume on your sub and AVR or seperates?

Right off the top of my head Randy I do believe the AVR is set to -10db and the sub is set to 7:30 - 8:00. I'll have to double check the AVR though.

Actually Randy I have the sub setting on my AVR set at -7 DBs, I had to go look.

Thanks Rick, I appreciate you going out of your way to check that for me, especially during this freezing weather. Wid can relate... brrrrrrrrr