RF3 II's low end performance

[Iceman]

I have a pair of RF3 II's and they sound like they have very little bass at all. I was at my buddy's house, and he had a pair of JBL floorstanding speakers, and they put out a ton of bass. Are these speakers capable of decent low-end performance. I have an SVS, but I'm very curious. Could it be that my reciever is cutting the frequency off and sending ALL the bass signals to the sub? Does anyone with the RF3 II's have anything to say about how well they perform in the low-end?

[love_hertz]

could possibly be the reciever- try playing with the bass management to tweak your towers. also after playing with my system for a while speaker placement is everything, i'll move the towers toe in or out makes a big difference. let us know how it works out. good luck.

[Deang]

What are you saying, that a set of RF3's and a SVS can't compete with a set of JBL floorstanders? Which JBLs -- S38's?

RF-3's have a nice tight, controlled bass, and so might seem a little lean compared to something that booms and shakes. Remember, there is a difference between low bass and more bass. +10db at 40Hz will sound like more bass than +3b at 40Hz, though the latter many actually be able to play lower and stay closer to flat response.

You mentioned your receiver -- what is your friend running? If he's running a 70lb monster, then this would also need to be factored in, as HT receivers typically have rather wimpy power supplies.

Then of course there is the room and placement issues. How are your RF3's placed in relationship to how your buddy has his JBL's set up. Corner placement will accentuate the bass in a big way.

Since I don't know anything about your receiver, or how you have it set up with the sub -- I can't answer that specific question.

[michael hurd]

In my room, my rf3II's have response down to 30 hz. I checked with my radio shack spl meter in 10 hz steps from 30 - 170 hz. I found that I had a bump in response near 70 and 80 hz with a small dip near 55-60 hz. The level at 170 hz was 3db above the response at 30 hz. I would check the receiver settings and also the source material will also differ in the amount of low frequency content.

[rmgvs]

In my room and circumstances, the RF-3 gives a lot of bass. There is very deep but controlled bass on the one side, on the other hand I guess there is some 'warm' midbass in the higher segment of the bass (around 150-200 Hz I guess). Some of the other replies on this forum has confirmed this phenomenon by making in-room measurements.

The SF-1 sounds quicker and is less coloured in the midbass, goes a rather long way to the deeper bass too.

My RF-3's have not played long enough though, only 50 hours or so, to make definitive judgements.

[Audio Flynn]

per Dean;

as HT receivers typically have rather wimpy power supplies.

You must buy an HT receiver at least in the middle of any companies preduct line to get a decent power supply.

I learned that the hard way with a Kenwood HT receiver several years ago when Dolby Digital 5.1 came out(and pre DTS).Sometimes audio mistakes cost us money.

[3dzapper]

Make sure that your front speakers (RF-3) are set to large on your Yamaha in the set up menu. If the front is set to small all signal below 80Hz is sent to the SVS and there will be no low bass output from the RF-3s.

Rick

[Dylanl]

Freak, how did you measure your speaker down to 30Hz with your SPL meter? Do you have a DVD that put's out a specific sound wave?

Thanks