Too much bass?!? (does anyone really listen at 'reference volume'?)

[twistedcrankcammer]

Your math does not compute for me. It takes twice as much output to go up 3 dB...Am I missing something here, or is your math in error....

It's a matter of phase/coherent sources.

95dB + 95dB = 98dB when the sources are out of phase/random.

but....

95dB + 95dB = 101dB if the sources are coherent/in phase. Since I'm talking about summing the bass from all channels (LFE + satellite channels) to the subwoofer, we're dealing with a coherent source.

Thanks for clarrification.

So your saying 2 speaker mono will play as loud as 4 speaker stereo?

Roger

[StephenM]

Thanks for clarrification.

So your saying 2 speaker mono will play as loud as 4 speaker stereo?

Roger

The potential exists, yes. For example, stacking a pair of subwoofers theoretically yields a 6dB gain. Another example is wiring two woofers in parallel, which theoretically yields a 6dB increase in sensitivity in return for a halving of impedance (doubling power for a given voltage).

[derrickdj1]

No, I do not listen at reference level because it will eventually kill my hearing, lol. As far as getting rid of the boomy sound from the bass, that is why it is recommend to set all the speakers to small. The crossover control for the receiver is digital in most case and analog at the speakers. Digital is faster than analog so phase problems occur when setting your mains to large for some rooms. Also the LFE is a separate channel in your system and also handles the bass from the other speakers. Some people think the LFE channel is the same as bass and this is not entirely true. The LFE channel carries frequenceis below 120 Hz. What helps, especially with music is to turn down the crossover on the subwoofer down. Some bass is directional above 60 Hz. Also turning up the crossover on the sub to 180 or all the way to the max can cause some midrange to also be sent to the sub. Remember this is AV sicence, so time to do some tinkering. Room placement is a critical factor, that why some people are better off with one sub and not multiple sub. If you use more than one sub, that is why people recommend using two identical sub to help with phase issues. Also changeing settings to far from autocalibration will throw the system off balance and using to loud a volume.

[mustang guy]

No, I do not listen at reference level because it will eventually kill my hearing, lol. As far as getting rid of the boomy sound from the bass, that is why it is recommend to set all the speakers to small. The crossover control for the receiver is digital in most case and analog at the speakers. Digital is faster than analog so phase problems occur when setting your mains to large for some rooms. Also the LFE is a separate channel in your system and also handles the bass from the other speakers. Some people think the LFE channel is the same as bass and this is not entirely true. The LFE channel carries frequenceis below 120 Hz. What helps, especially with music is to turn down the crossover on the subwoofer down. Some bass is directional above 60 Hz. Also turning up the crossover on the sub to 180 or all the way to the max can cause some midrange to also be sent to the sub. Remember this is AV sicence, so time to do some tinkering. Room placement is a critical factor, that why some people are better off with one sub and not multiple sub. If you use more than one sub, that is why people recommend using two identical sub to help with phase issues. Also changeing settings to far from autocalibration will throw the system off balance and using to loud a volume.

You should turn the LPF on the sub to as high as it will go, or disable it if you are using Audysey or any other in-receiver filtering. As you stated above, "set all speakers to small" causes the LPF to occur. Setting the LFE to 120 simply lets the recorded LFE channel to get to the sub as per the digital studio standards like THX, DTS and Dolby. Do not use a LPF on the sub itself. As far as directionality above 60Hz, I think it is more like 80 Hz. I recon frequencies between 80 and 120Hz will be directional, but it needs to be there, or you are missing part of the recording.

If you want to change the sound when playing music, then you need to disable or reduce the processing you have the receiver doing. For instance, turn off Audyssey or auto eq, and go into stereo mode. Or turn the gain on Intellivolume way down (like -10db), which removes a great deal of the processing. What that does, is keeps the processing from manipulating eq levels at difference volume levels. You simply hear the music. The sub will catch the stuff below 80Hz, or below whatever you set your speaker size to. When you go back into movie mode, just turn the processing back on.

[derrickdj1]

I am fairly new to the forum and welcome the opinion of other member and thank you for your comments. I tried the LPF as high as it would go and like it set lower. I have not tried disableing it and letting the avr do all the work. I will try this for music, HT is not a problem since I am not looking for the same type of fidelity which I notice more with music. I will let you know how this works and thanks for the advice.

[derrickdj1]

Thanks mustang, I turned the LEF in the avr for zero to minus 10 and turned the x-over to 180. This improved the fidenity of the sound. The overall volume stayed the same! This will be nicer for jazz and classical music.

[psg]

Remember this is AV science, so time to do some tinkering.

Wrong forum. []