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

Seems to me I have to options to achieve the 75dB SPL for setting up my 500 sub.

a) Set the Denon 2805 to 0dB for the sub channel like others and Alan have recommended. However, then the volume on the 500 has to be very low, around 5-6 o'clock position. The min setting is about 3-4 o'clock, so this seems like a waste of a setting for a 500 watt amp?

b) Set the volume on the sub around 7-9 o'clock, but then I have to turn the AVR down to about -10 or more to achieve the same SPL.

I would think the lower the AVR setting, the less strain and makes more use of the subs built in Amp. I guess I just don't understand the point of having a volume knob on the sub if you can't use it, what is the point of having the 500 watts then if you can use all of the potential.

Am I understanding all of this calibration stuff?

Sir Randy Quack

No matter what the seting is in the sub and AVR you will be using the the amps full potential. The signal from your AVR is no different than a signal from preamp to amp. The gain (volume) setting is there to match the multitude of different signals from different AVRS

The trouble with that is that if you set the signal on the receiver too low, then the sub will not get enough signal to auto power on. Perhaps a compromise, say -5 or something.

That is not an issue with the EP 500, it does not have a auto on feature. It is either always on or off.

Thanks guys, maybe one of these days I'll get this stuff. I just got back from calibrating everything again. I think the norm for SPL is 75dB's? Anyway, I put my meter on the 80hz position, and calibrated everything to about -4 on the meter, which would be 76dB's. With the EP500 volume on about 7 o'clock, the AVR has to be at -5dB to achieve SPL. Anyway, everything sounds so awesome, I can't wait to get carpeting and furniture down there, right now I have picnic chairs (the ones with cup holders) and some carpet remnants thrown around, it sounds sooooo good guys I can't believe it. The bass I'm getting out of my 60's matched with the 500 is unreal. I just went through both of my Queen greatest hits cd's at -5 to -10 dB's. I think I'm going to cry it sounds so good.

Now off to shop for last minute Xmas presents. Later

ps: anyone is free to make additional comments on this post, I can always learn more...

Well, whether it does or doesn't, I've seen this issue with an EP500. Maybe they have changed the design.

Aside from the "turn on" function (no sexual inuendos, now!), which, as you say, is not a factor with the 500, I believe it's desirable to have a reasonably strong signal being fed to the 500 so there is a satisfactory signal to noise ratio on that feed. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find that -10 on the receiver's sub setting provides just that, but I just don't know.

Hey Randy,
I'm right there with ya. I have my PB12 barely to the 3rd notch and it shakes the room but I think I'm wasting all that power because it's set so low. Doesn't make sense to me but I can't imagine it being any stronger or louder!! But all that knob is being wasted.......

Charlie

Randy(and Charlie), as Rick mentioned, the setting of the level control on the sub(or a receiver too, for that matter)doesn't indicate what percentage of the available power is being used. It simply sets the desired sound level during calibration, in coordination with the sub output level setting on the receiver. Loudness is loudness, and an identical amount of power from the sub amp is being used, regardless of where a control setting happens to be. A given level can be reached either with a high setting on the receiver and a low setting on the sub or vice-versa. It generally doesn't make any difference which way it is(again, the exact same amount of power from the sub amp is being output), except on a sub with auto-on, a too low setting on the receiver might not output enough voltage to keep the sub amp "awake". On the other hand, some receiver sub outputs distort if set too high(e.g. above 0); so the general idea is to not have either control near one of their extremes, but otherwise don't worry about it.

Hi. I would like to relay my experience, although I don't have any answers. I bought an EP-500, 2 M60ti's, 2 QS-8's and the VP150 last April. At the time I had an inexpensive SONY 100W AV receiver. I was happy with the system over all. However, I was quite disappointed with the EP-500. For the amount of money I paid for it, it just didn't seem worth the price.

Now, I had the very same experience of setting the EP-500 to 75 db and the receiver SW channel at 0db; the volume on the EP-500 had to be turned way down (6-7 o'clock)to acheive this. But the worst part was that at these settings there was very little bass produced. I played with all the settings, but when the bass levels got higher the sound became somewhat distorted, if that's the right word. I was expecting a gut wrenching, window shaking experience for the money. Well, I got the windows to shake but, like I said, it was not a very satisfing sound.

More recently I purchased the Denon AVR-4806. Well, let me tell you my whole world changed. Everything is fantastic! But the reason I am writting is to tell you bout the EP-500.

I ran the Audyssey setup and it set the subwoofer to 24 ft (it is actually about 8 ft away from the sweet spot but I left it at 24 ft) and it set the level to -8db with the EP-500 at 9:00 o'clock. Still, no earth shattering bass. But to make a long story a little shorter, when I manually set the subwoofer channel to +2 I finally got the sound I had expected. Unbeilevable! The windows still shake, but somehow it just all mixes in as part of the overall awsome effect (at least for movies). I also changed the crossover frequencies for the VP-150 and QS-8's to the upper frequency of the "Freq Resp +/-3db (Hz)" given in the Axiom specs and I set the crossover for the 60's at 80 hz. By-the-way, I have an Iso-max Sub 1-RR transformer in between the AVR and the EP-500 (for ground loops).

Now I have some ideas, but I am not sure how to explain all this. One thing seems certain though, when it comes to the subwoofer, a soundmeter is worthless; use you ears!

I do have a very strong warning for anyone considering purchasing the EP-500: when the EP-500 is used to its fullest potential, you risk alienating everyone else that lives in your house. My system is in the basement of my house. The EP-500 makes noises upstairs that I do not hear downstairs. And it can make some serious house-cracking noises. My wife and son are not very happy with that. Oh well, you can't please everyone :-)