Drew in the desert

Merkin, I have a 5 meter Better Cables Silver Serpent that I no longer need. I relocated my sub, so I needed to go with a longer cable. I'd be willing to send it to you for $20/including shipping. PM me if interested.

This is the article I was referring to: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51.html I find it a bit more convincing than the other "large vs. small" articles out there.

BobbyT, I'm running my setup the same way. Receiver has all speakers set to small and crossed at 80Hz, but for SACD/DVD-A I have the mains set to large. As mentioned, it comes down to what sounds best to you.

Keep in mind Bron2rocku, that one of the drivers on the RSW15 and RSW12 is a passive radiator.

Every time this "Large" vs. "Small" debate comes up, I think about that article written by Brian Florian from Secrets of Home Theater. Anyone have the link to that article? Great reading and makes a lot of sense to me.

Last night I was on my way home from work and I pass this Home Theater place that sits in an office plaza. The outside looks nice but didn't seem big enough to hold alot of equipment. I decided to stop in and see what this place is all about. It turns out that its a high end custom home theater design and installation place. I walked in and only one guy (the owner I think) was working in his office. I wanted to talk to him about acoustic treatments but I got distracted by all the amazing gear sitting in there. I peered into their "reference theater" and saw a bunch of glowing blue lights. I recongnized as McIntosh. I asked to see what he had in this room, and I couldn't beleive the level of equipment. To start, he had 7 McIntosh 1201 monoblocks at 1200 watts each. Two of these amps were driving McIntosh XRT28's. I have never seen anything like these speakers, they have dual 10" drivers, 20 4" mids, and 16 1" soft dome tweeters. I don't know what center it was, but it was about five feet long. The surrounds were all McIntosh inwalls. The other big suprise was the dual sub set up. These subs were Velodyn Digital Drive 1812's weighing in at 385 lbs each. The 1812 has an 18" and 12" driver with a 2500 watt amp. The owner told me that the entire system including the video side cost nearly $400,000.00 I have never felt so inadequate in my life. Having seen this set up and thinking WTF, I know some of you have similar experiences that made you drool. Do share.

InFlux, No, the bass did not become more localized in the new position. I would eventually like to get another sub, if and when the funds become available. Compared to the original location of my sub (front left corner), the new location (back wall behind the listening position) produces a more even response (but still not great). Since the new location created a peak where the null originally was, I am guessing that a second sub in the original location will counter this peak. Tom, I agree with you in that acoustics should be more of a priority in our systems. I spend a couple of hours last night moving my sub into about six different locations and charting each response. I definately saw dramatic results between different locations (some good, some bad). Since we just moved into our house a few months ago, we are still in the process of decorating the walls and adding furniture. The room is really bare right now and this is probably adding to my problem. I do plan on acoustically treating the room in some way in the future. But until the room is furnished, I might as well wait.

I was playing around with my setup again last night and decided to chart my frequency response from several different point around the room. The good news is that I was able to cure the 40Hz dip, but in turn I have created a 40Hz peak in its place. I have permanently relocated my sub to the back wall and overall my in room response is more level. Like I said, I have created at 40Hz peak and also moved the dip to around 25Hz. The dip and peak are not as severe as my original problem, so the sub will remain in this new location. It is obvious to me that if I add a second sub (one in the original location and one in the new location) I should be able to tame both the peaks and nulls. The problem is getting the wife to allow me to do so.

Ah yes, I meant to say 67Db - 75Db.

And this is a picture of the listening position. The back corner by the surround speaker is where I get the huge bass build up.

For reference, this is a picture of my front array.

I had a chance to pay around with my setup last night to see if I could remedy the 40Hz dip I have at the listening position. I noticed that if I move the SPL meter only a foot away in either direction, my SPL jumps up to 70-75Hz. The same 40Hz tone is also generating close to 90Hz in the rear left corner of my room (which is where I think a bass trap might help). So, If my listening position measures in at 67Hz and 75Hz only 1 foot behind me, then I should just be able to move my couch back a foot. I think this will at least help the situation a bit.

Good article Dr. Who. The more I think about it, I'm pretty sure I need a bass trap in my left rear corner. I have always noticed extremely heavy bass in that location compared to the rest of the room. Do you know of any quick and easy way to make a temporary bass trap for the corner of a room. I'm thinking that if I can quickly test my response with a generic trap in that corner and have good results, then I can make a more professional looking trap. Maybe there are some items laying around the house that can serve the purpose just to get a feel for how a trap might perform.

Dr Who, thanks for the response. Unfortunately, I haven't taken any readings above 200Hz. I will have to go back take readings with the sub off and then with the mains off. To be clear, what you are saying about the 40Hz dip is find a a spot in the room where the 40Hz tone is strong and then add a acoustic absorption in that location?

InFlux, the crossover in my receiver is set to 80Hz with the sub crossover disabled. I am not using any kind of tone boost.

I have attempted to chart my in room frequency response using some test tones I downloaded online. I'm not sure if I even went about the process correctly, so let me explain what I did: As mentioned, I downloaded some test tones online and burned them to cd. I wanted to know how well my crossover of 80Hz worked between my sub and mains. So, I played the test tones from 16Hz to 200Hz in "Stereo" mode. It is obvious from the graph that I have my sub set a bit Hot, but that's how I like it (Red line is compensated SPL for Radio Shack meter). But, what's up with the huge dip at 40Hz? If the crossover is set to 80Hz, shouldn't the sub be going strong through 40Hz? Any ideas? For reference, I have RF-35 mains, SVS2039PC+ sub, Denon AVR4802, crossover set to 80Hz, and all speakers set to "small". The room is 14'x19' with the front array positioned about 1.5' off of the 14' wall. The sub is located in the front left corner of the room, also about 1.5' off the wall.

Well, let's start with "How is the sub connected", and "How is your receiver configured for your sub/speakers"? I own the 2039PC+ and there is definately something wrong if it isn't tossing shingles off the roof of your house.

I think you'll be happier in the end if you went with the RF35's. Most of us around here have been building our systems piece by piece. Once you have all your speakers and equipment, you'll begin to upgrade piece by piece (its a vicious never ending cycle that seems to be fun for us). Anyway, just start with the 35's then get a center channel. Let your funds build up a bit and move on to the surrounds and definately do not skimp when purchasing a sub. Going this route will leave wanting the rest of the speakers, but you'll enjoy what you have and look forward to completing your system.

Thanks for the advice. I am a little confused as to the suggestion of a 75ohm cable. Are 75ohm cables required to pass SACD and DVD-A efficiently? I thought a decent analog cable would be fine.

Thanks Amy.

In the "Shop" section of this website, there used to be some Klipsch Advertisement posters for sale (like the one with Henry Rollins, Johnny Lang, and Billy Bob). I bought them a couple years ago and had them framed for my dad's HT. Now I want to do the same for my theater. Anyone know if these are still available for purchase? I can't seem to locate them. Moderators, can you help? Thanks.

I've actually been thinking about making my own cables. I've never done it before. Where did you get the cable and terminations, Parts Express? What should I keep in mind if I decide to DIY? Is there anything I can really mess up?

Hi there, I just picked up a Denon DVD-2200 and am looking for suggestions on analog cables for SACD/DVD-A playback. How important is the quality of analog cables versus digital cables? Since I'll be needing three pair, I'm looking for something fairly inexpensive. What are others using?

Hi guys, looking for some advice on repairing the tweeter on an RF3. A friend of mine recently bought a pair of RF3s on Ebay that were damaged in shipping. He has filed a claim with UPS, but I think the problem may be easily fixed. The problem is, the plastic that connects the tweeter to the horn is broken. It is a clean break that looks like it could be fixed using some gel type super glue or other plastic adhesive. The speakers sound great and there is no sign of the damage to the tweeter itself. Do you see any issues with just gluing the tweeter back onto the horn. Thanks in advance for your advice.

The crossover is taking place in the receiver. Turn the low pass filter on the sub all the way up to 120, or disable it if you have that option.