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These must be the first few black speakers to be posted Thanks to jakewash who convinced me on the axioms! They sound really really good! a big step up from my Athena Point Fives...

I followed the golden triangle rule for the front speakers... I have them tilted towards the sofa. They are about a foot away from the wall. Is this the right way to go?

I'll play around with it a little more today... but I remember setting the receiver to 80Hz and leaving the subwoofer at the highest level. The bass sounded overpowering. That to me indicated a large overlap between the speakers and the subwoofer.

That could be because the sub is running too hot (loud). Calibration is really the only way to go.

I ended up messing around with the controls and found out how to adjust the levels... had to do it via the remote as the buttons on the receiver did not allow it. I have both the surrounds at +2 dB. Also increased my treble to +2dB. Have my subs at full crossover and I don't get any boomy bass I thought I was having. Have the sub set at about half the volume level.

I have questions about my sub:
What's 0degrees vs 180degrees phase?

Also, what's Normal vs LFE? (I have it at LFE now)

Speaker drivers vibrate in and out to reproduce audio and move air. Sub drivers move more air as they are larger and the drivers move further in and out (called displacement). If your sub is up front along side your M60s, you want the drivers moving out and in together. This is called being in phase. This is to provide maximum volume and air pressurization of the room.

If your sub is 180 degrees out of phase in respect to the other speaker drivers (it is moving in when the others move out and vice versa), then the sound waves created will fight each other (called cancellation) rather than build on top of each other like when they are in sync or in phase. You could think of a rowboat with a person on each side. If they row in phase they travel efficiently in a straight line, if they are out of phase they will zig-zag along losing some of their energy.

The adjustment is on the sub to ensure the sub is matched in phase with the other speakers. Depending on placement (sub facing to the rear, side or forward, at the back of the room or front the phase may need to be reversed to match the other speakers. Speakers can be out of phase also if the polarity on the wiring is reversed (black and red connections should be consistent).

Sending a test tone to all channels at or near the crossover setting (typically 80 Hz) can help you determine if your sub is in phase. Use an SPL meter to measure the tone as it is played and compare the reading between the sub at both 0 and 180 degree phase. Typically the louder setting indicates the woofers are in phase (minimal cancellation).

As far as the LFE, that stands for "Low Frequency Effects". The LFE channel only contains lower frequencies, recorded and mixed specifically for a subwoofer. It does not contain the midrange and treble part of the audio spectrum which is contained in the other front, center, and surround channels.

the phase switch on the sub determines whether the sub is in phase (9 degrees) with the rest of your speakers, or out of phase (180 degrees). Putting it in phase or out of phase can help if you have boomy bass (where the bass frequencies of your main speakers pile up on those of your sub). Switching the phase helps to "unload" this piling up.

While there is some serious science to this stuff, since there is only one variable (in phase or out of phase), try them both and see what you like. If you find your bass to be weak or boomy, try switching the phase switch and see if your problems are mitigated.

Edit: What he said was more scientific ... and better.

Thanks for the replies!

So should it be at normal or LFE?

I'd say leave it on LFE (which basically disables the sub internal crossover and lets your receiver do the job. Refer to the manual page 6

While in the manual, page 8 talks about phase.

clearly, I should have read the manual...

thanks!

If everyone read manuals, there'd be a lot of people out of jobs.

like Google.