Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Sub level- adjust at sub vs let Denon/Audyssey1909

I have been wanting more bass from musical selections. I was using Dire Straits, MTV demoing surrounds and my drummer neighbor said he liked more bass than my set up/ adjustments was putting out. I have plenty of sub power (Paradigm Servo 15a and two KLH 10" just as filler). I have always just left the sub level wherever Audyssey sets it, usually =/- 3dB from zero. Sometimes I would bump it up 2-3dB from the Audyssey setting. My Servo15's volume knob had always been set at about 11 O'clock, with the KLH's set about the same, but a bit lower, more to sound so they would not compete with the 15" with their less than smooth at loud levels.

So today, my drummer buddy who has the exact same Servo 15, has his sub vol knob set higher at about 2 O'clock. His smaller room with his 130w x 5 Yamaha and one Servo 15 sounded much better on the bass than my set up. We came back here and turned my sub knob to 3 O'clock, then also raised the trim in the Denon 1909 about 3 dB from the prev, Aud. setting of -3dB. It sounded good. He liked it and I liked it.

Assuming I will wanting to run the sub hotter than the Audyssey setting, the question for you guys is whether there is any sound quality difference between:

1) Increasing the subs trim at the sub, then when Audyysey sees it hot, it compensates by lowering the subs trim to say -7 in the 1909. I then manually bump the 1909 setting to say zero, or +3,or whatever to get what sounds good.

2) Leave the subs vol. knob at straight up at 12 O'clock, or what ever setting that yields an Audyssey zero +/- 3dB. then bump up the sub in the 1909 somewhere in close to the maxximum 12 setting?

Is the SQ absolutely no difference between increasing the trim at the sub before running Audyssey, or raising the 1909's setting more because it was not done at the sub before AUd. was run.
I'm repeating my self now. I'll stop.
1)

There is no difference between having the gain on the sub low and the receiver higher, or having the sub higher and the receiver lower. The point is that you want to level match all the speakers AND sub to the same SPL. Many don't use the auto setups in receivers and use a Radio Shack SPL meter to level match all the speakers and sub.

Some people like running their subs hot, some do not. There is NO room that is the same, so the settings that work for your drummer friend would not apply to your room.

Audyssey also level matches the speakers and sub. I am not sure if its goal is the exact same SPL (for ex. 75dB). Part of your issues may have to do with where your subs are placed in the room. Again, every room is different, so corner or midwall locations in one house may not work in another house.

It is personal preference on if you like to run your subs hot or not. If it sounds good, that is all that matters.

I have 3 subs, currently I calibrate them one at a time to 75dB, then once they are all turned on, they are around 80dBs, about 5dB higher than the speakers.

I see more subs in your future.

I think you are a good candidate for REW. It is entirely possible that you have some peaks/nulls in your room that are affecting the way you perceive the bass. It is very hard to say how good a job Audyssey is doing on leveling out your bass without measuring.

Fred,

Do you concur with Randy (A risky proposition all in itself ), that it makes no difference where the sub level is adjusted from (sub vs. 1909)?

Randy you lucky son of a gun... it's on order! When do you expect it?

no word yet, haven't received the tracking# yet.

Dave, the only possible problem would be if the sub output on a receiver distorted when set near its maximum. Have no idea if this might be a problem with the 1909. In general, however, it's suggested that neither the level control on the sub nor the sub trim level on the receiver be at its maximum or minimum setting.

I concur with Fred, I think you NEED multiple subs Dave. Your room is VERY large and you are just having a hard time filling it up with low frequencies. I also suspect you would be greatly benefited from a much more powerful amp after my A1400 experience, but I know that isn't possible.......yet

Dave. As usual, Johnk covered it better than I ever could.

Get ready, Dave and REW equals 10,000 post in 48 hrs. I would recommend getting happy with the system by the seat of your pants for a few months, before opening the REW can of worms. In fact, I would say the same about Audyss. You can't know if it helps if you don't know how it sounds without it. REW can make you feel that your system is not as good as you thought - even though the sound does not change. I like it, it gave me a visual of some of the sound issues i could not pin-point. It caused me to move my towers around, which did help on imaging. But a flat graph is not perfect, so it does cause even more questions than answers. Be forewarned!

Very sage advice from someone so young. I listened and did basic adjustments (level matching) in the first few months.