tillercraig Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 hi, i just got into this home theater and have blown it wide open from what i started with. but to me my rf3's dont put out hardly any bass is this normal? to me when listening to music i would like to here a little bass coming from my fronts? the sub does'nt seem to keep up with hard hitting bass at loud volumes can someone point me in the right direction? denon 3803 rf3 II's set to small sub set to 80hrz lfe+main Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I feel your pain. I had the RF3IIs. In my opinion they do lack bass. I even think my RF7s lack some good hard hitting bass. This is why I have use my subs with listening to 2 channel stereo as well as theater. Speaker placement seems to play a huge factor here which is a science that I have still not come close to mastering. I would suggest trying to position them in different locations to see if you can pull some more low frequencies out. Where do you have them now? Good luck and welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillercraig Posted October 2, 2003 Author Share Posted October 2, 2003 right now the mains are about about a 1 foot away from my entertainment center and about 1 foot from the back wall. i think the room is to small for all my system 12' buy 16' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 You need to set them to "LARGE" when you set them to "SMALL" you are cutting the frequencies from 80Hz and down from reaching them. You need to set them to "LARGE" and set the receiver's bass management to LFE + Mains. That should improve the bass response some. Speakers need to be at least 8-10 ft apart to provide good imaging and soundstage and the ports in the rear need to be an adequate distance from the rear wall. Best positioning for those speakers would be in corner's toed in towards the listening area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 Frz said it,the 3's aren't small,try cut at 40hz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I agree with Frzninvt and Moon. The speaker just does not produce copious amounts of bass but it does well with mids and highs. Try setting your RF3IIs to Large and listen to them at some high volumes. Even with some decent subs, I sometimes switch over to Large for my RF3IIs when listening to HT/music at lower levels to get a fuller sound (RF3IIs are in front of my room, subs in rear). At higher volumes, it just does not matter because the subs take over for the entire room. The other thing is distance from the wall. Klipsch recommends placing RF3IIs three to four feet from the wall and slightly toed inwards. Prior to purchasing my first SVS, I relied on my mains for part of my bass up front, and I found that they produced the tightest, clearest, (and loudest) bass with them set to Large and placed about three feet from the walls, toed inwards. You may have space constraints, however, where that is not possible. Currently, my RF3IIs are twenty inches from the wall, set to small, and the subs do all the work (even on 2 channel). Good luck. They really are not a bad speaker once you play around with them a bit. You could always upgrade your sub? . . . . . . Harmon Kardon AVR 525, Mains: RF3II, Center: RC35, Surrounds: RS35, Rear: KLF-C7, SVS 20-39PCi, SVS PB2-ISD(on order) Yamaha RX-V1300 Mains, Center: Onkyo SKS-HT500 Surrounds: Axiom QS-8 HSU VTF-2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillercraig Posted October 2, 2003 Author Share Posted October 2, 2003 i will try to rearrange this weekend and try all the great advice i have gotten thanks guys Mitsubushi ws 55" hdtv Denon AVR3803 Denon dvd-1800 RF3 II MAINS RS3 SURROUNDS RC3 CENTER RSW10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 the 3's are a really good speaker, and 1 more thing yopu might try is situating the speaks along the long wall. my room is not that much bigger than yours, and in the begining i situated along the shoryt wall and the sound was narrow, and lacked in soundstage, i brainstormed and changed my walls and walla! the speakers just opened up, by your description your front channels are plainly to close together, plus what the other guys said is true as well, the rf's sound much better in large, setting to small cheats the speaker, it was designed to play much lower than you are allowing it to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLL Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 Hi, I have original RF-3's and my speakers put out huge amounts of bass. My definitive 15" pf15tl+ can't keep up with the klipsch, the sub also sounds muddy even on low compared to the bass of my RF-3's. This is why I keep sub off for 2 channel music but not home theater. Anyways since your speakers are so revealing it could be the material you are listening to for instance your cd's. Alot of CD's do not have that much bass recorded in them. I thought the same way with my speakers until I started buying better recorded material. But what hit me the most was when a friend of mine let me borrow his bass cd and WOW these speakers SLAM with deep fast tight bass. I suggest you go out and buy or borrow a bass only cd and try them out on your RF-3 II's it would not hurt. If they still fail to impress then u may very well have a room or placement issue. Just my .02 Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 mOOn, "I even think my RF7s lack some good hard hitting bass." !!! What amp do you use a Sony Walkman? I have two pairs of RF7's and when paired with the ATI2505 amp(for front mains and center)the bass hits hard when needs too and has awesome punch. I think your fragile H/K lacks some pedal to the metal drive of a large ATI amp. I also tried the RF7's in my main system with my Celste MOON and Krell,well... awesome snap,kick and heft when called upon. RF7's lack good hard hiiting bass. I think the best compromise would be to use a Bryston 4B then nobody would complain of high price or lack of bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickB Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 TheEAR is right, you put a nice amp with some good power on your RF-7s and you'll be surprised at the amount of bass you'll get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandern Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 I would just like to complement TheEAR on his dis to the m00n, even the m00n is a good guy, but the whole "Sony Walkman" for an amp was funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 Dis and this I heard one time too many times RF7's dont have great punch and bass drive,PLEASE.I dare(I challenge)anyone to use a real amp(at least a Bryston 4B) and find the RF7's are lacking in the bass departament. RF7's will only be lacking when very deep synth or pipe organs play,only below 40Hz do the RF7's need real help(still some usable bass down to 30Hz). My two cents(worth much more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilMays Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 In my second system I have RF-3II's and I think the bass is incredable. I have them powered with an AMC 150 watt amp. In many respects I think they are tighter than my RF-7's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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