Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Another Set of Sub EQ Questions

So, I've been reading related sub EQ posts on this forum, and I've done some searching over the last few days on the subject as well. I'd like to ask a few remaining questions I have to the very helpful folks here.

I finally managed to save enough for my favourite sub ever, a Velodyne MiniVee (actually, 2 years ago when it became my favourite sub ever it was the SPL-800 II, but whatever...). I really like tight bass and don't care much for ultra low extension, nor do my neighbors. It sounds great in my room with M22s, but I find I need some equalization, particularly to calm a large peak around 65Hz (which, incidentally, seems to be right about where a large portion of the bass in Beck's Hotwax seems to be).

My options at this point are:
1.) a device specifically designed to equalize a sub in home audio like the AV123 R-DES
2.) a device that, while not specifically designed for home audio, can be used for sub eq, like the BFD or similar
3.) a receiver upgrade to one which has auto-eq capability
4.) just step up to the new SPL-800 with auto-eq

First question, am I missing any options?

From a cost perspective, I like options 2 and 3. Option 1 will run me at least $400, which is the same as the cost to me of Option 4. considering it took me 2 years to get to $800 to even buy the sub, I can almost rule those options out.

I don't mind taking time to learn how to calibrate a BFD or some other parametric eq, but I don't know what the implications would be of using pro audio (as distinct from home audio) equipment to solve my problem.

Second question, in the experience of those who have used pro audio equalizers to tame their sub responses, are there any undesirable effects introduced by these units such as noticable noise or a reduction of bass definition?

Option 3 would be nice, since I would be gaining much more than just sub eq with an upgraded receiver. I currenty run a Yamaha RX-V730 which I'm very happy with. I notice that the Yamaha RX-V757 has auto setup with, supposedly, 7-band parametric eq on each channel (though still unsure about LFE).

Third question, has anyone used an auto-eq (or manual, whatever) setup of any receiver that successfully tamed a bumpy response from the LFE channel? If so, are you otherwise happy with the receiver?

Thanks to all who read this, and thanks in advance for any suggestions!

John

John, one possible option which you don't discuss is moving the sub to minimize the peak around 65Hz. You didn't mention the room dimensions and sub location, but generally a peak in that area would correspond to a dimension of about 8 1/2'. On the receiver with auto-eq, keep in mind that most of them don't affect the sub output(and this relates to all of the lowest bass, not just the LFE channel) and wouldn't do anything to that peak. Among those that do equalize the sub output are the HK435 and 635, plus Denon models which have the MultEq provision, e.g. the 3806 and the new 2807.

JohnK,

Thanks for the insight. I have tried a number of different positions, but your mention of approx. 8.5 feet plus the fact that my ceiling is 8 feet got me thinking that perhaps I could improve things by raising the sub a bit. I also just read this post and got curious. I got a piece of foam, raised the sub about 3.5 inches, and noticed an audible improvement. When I'm finally able to get my hands on an SPL meter (the whole Canadian / Radio Shack conundrum) I'll do some less subjective testing. Anyone in Victoria BC want to rent theirs to me??

Incidentally, my room is 17'8" x 14'8" x 8'. Here are pics (sharp eyes will notice the MiniVee):





If you can free view cross-eye stereo images (just cross your eyes 'til you see the image in 3d), you'll get a better sense of perspective here:
front
rear
corner

Incidentally, I don't normally let my daughter watch so close to the TV...

John, that corner location should be okay with those room dimensions, but if you didn't try it before, moving the sub about 5' from the side wall creates a bit of a suckout in the mid 60s Hz area.