Subwoofer question

[mbr311]

Okay let me first start off by saying if this has been discussed I apologize.

Let me get to my point. I have a RW-10d and I am fairly underwhelmed with its performance. I think some of it has to do with the auto calibration that my Yamaha receiver did when I set it up. I think it really took the sub down a notch to match my other speakers, because when I was running it on my old Yamaha RX-520 it seemed to have quite a bit more punch and depth. However even at its best, it doesn't hit the lows well and to me it lacks consistency because its range isn't that great. When I say it lacks consistency I guess I mean that it doesn't deliver the entire spectrum of highs, mids, lows, etc... very well. It does some ranges well, others seem to either not exist or are handled somewhat poorly in my opinion.

I know for all intensive purposes the sub itself has many flaws if you're looking for deep, rich bass. However, I got it for a steal. My brother worked for an electronics distributor that carried the Klipsch Reference line as its "bottom" line and I got 40-50% off all speakers. That's partially...well greatly why I started building a Klipsch Reference setup in the first place. Great pricing for a great speaker.

Anyway, enough of that. Back to my problem. I don't have the means right now to go out and buy a new subwoofer that would fulfill my needs wholey. However, I'm wondering if buying an amp to run the sub would somewhat bridge the gap. I know the sub has an 260 watt RMS amplifier, but since its running through my Yamaha which claims to put out 90watts per channel isn't that ultimately controlling how much power goes to the sub? And from what I understand it is actually quite a bit lower than that (the wattage). So if its sending out 90 watts to a sub that can handle 260 watts continuously and 575 dynamic watts wouldn't it make sense to try to find an amp to run it as a standalone? Thanks so much in advance for any advice,and I truly appreciate it and I hope I didn't totally miss a thread about this very topic.

Mark

[wuzzzer]

Many people are underwhelmed by their sub's performance when they use a receiver's automatic setup. That's because they're used to running the sub quite a bit louder than their other speakers. Auto setups such as MCACC, YPAO and Audyssey try and level match each speaker that is connected so that it gives the same output. Some people have boosted the subwoofer signal on their receiver or on the sub itself after auto setups are run and seem to like it compared to the level matched automatic settings.

Also, auto setups will equalize the frequency spectrum of the speakers connected. Let's say your room layout results in your subwoofer playing frequencies of 80Hz quite a bit louder than frequencies of 40Hz. Your auto setup will smooth the output of the sub over the frequencies that it can handle so that it has a flatter frequency response instead of peaks and valleys. Not everyone's ears likes a ruler-flat frequency response from their speakers.

Your subwoofer has an internal amplifier. Whether or not you are using a subwoofer's high level inputs (speaker wire/speaker level) or low level (RCA inputs) its own internal amplifier is determining how many watts it can output at a maximum, it doesn't have anything to do with the receiver that's connected to it's power rating.

I think the best thing to do in your situation for the time being is to boost the signal to your sub on your receiver or on the sub itself. Don't adjust it too high, though.

Oh, and its "for all intents and purposes." []

[mbr311]

Thank you very much for the feedback it is most appreciated. I went into manually check my subwoofer settings through my receiver and it had auto-calibrated it to the very lowest level, I mean it basically ZEROED the sub out so as to not let it overpower the rest of my system I assume. Either that or crappy auto-calibration, I've always been happy with Yamaha receivers but I don't know much about how good their auto-calibration set-up is compared to others out there. So I went ahead and manually bumped it up. I can play with it now to see where I like it set. Thanks so much I really do appreciate the insight and the amount of time you took to respond.