b-man1 Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 i have most of my home theatre rig back up and running in the new house...now in a finished basement rather than an apartment's living room. things are good except i am noticing MUCH less bass dB. i have tried a few different locations but am kind of limited as to where the SVS can go. i suspect it is because the basement floor is carpeting over cement versus whatever the apartment floor was...but the apartment created amazingly low frequencies and dB if needed. now it is more subtle and i've turned the gain up a bit on the SVS from where it was before to no avail. does this seem typical? the basement room size is not larger than the apartment living room area (actually smaller). i'll try and take pics in the next day or so...but it's bugging me that i've lost so much LFE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 If that room is a small, enclosed room - that's why you have little bass. You are likely experiencing a "piling up" of the low frequency, or the room may not be large enough to allow the long wavelengths of the bass notes to form. I have seen this before - where a custom built audio room is sealed off, but not made large enough to accommodate the lows. We will be able to tell you more with pictures, but my hunch lies in the explanation above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoker Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Have you tried playing around with the phase switch on the sub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 b-man1: You didn't mention any room dimensions relative to the apartment room versus the new, basement room. But, I suspect that the apartment, being smaller, and perhaps more squarish, or it may have had dimensions (including height) that approached 12 or 24 feet, added to your seating position, all which was most likey throwing more standing waves at you than you are experienceing in your new basement room. Standing waves tend to over-emphasize low room harmonic frequencies, thereby allowing the listener to think there is more bass, when what you are really hearing is poor acoustics. I'm sure that artto could probably help you out with a much better explanation if he happens to pop in here to this thread soon. Best of luck and have fun tweeking your new room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancestorm Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 ...and how big of a room are we talking here? Also ceiling height? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Carpet will not affect the bass range, rather the midrange will be affected and the upper bass region. It simply will not absorb low frequency sound, as it is not fibrous enough, nor is it thick enough. Are you sure that the settings in the receiver were not changed, when you moved? Most will reset back to the factory default settings. Check the main speaker settings as well as the crossover point, and the level of boost or gain on the sub setting in the receiver. Secondly, check to ensure that the main speakers are wired in phase, I know it sounds silly, but some people forget how important this is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 thanks all. i will get pics up tonight with dimensions that should help. the basement room has a lower ceiling than the apartment did...but otherwise about the same in length/width. i have tried (very) briefly to adjust the phase, but need to dedicate some time to it to get it right. the receiver settings actually held through the move, but i verified. 80Hz crossover (the lowest the 2802 allows), bass/treble set flat, etc. the pics and dimensions will help. i just wanted to get the problem out there when i had time to post. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 let's see some pics... sorry for the dark pics...the SVS is almost invisible with the doorway in the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 rear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 more side.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 dimensions shot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 don't mind the mess...i obviously haven't picked out seating yet...and my Bell'O audio rack: is on its way later this week. the entire room is 24' across, but the support beam is the half way point. i hate that beam being in the way...but oh well...better than the house falling over. hehe the height is 88" at the highest and 77" where the support beam and venting drop down in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooseChaser Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 If you can't get the center channel up and horizontal, unscrew the horn and turn it 90 degrees. If you haven't done this already, you are sending a lot of high frequencies over the carpet and have a smaller horizontal off axis range, 30 degrees less to be exactly, than setting the center channel horizontally. And the RF-7s seem mighty close to the wall, aren't they ported at the back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 the speakers are just connected but not positioned...i'm still in the process of unpacking the entire house. the center channel will sit on top of the audio stand i posted above...it is measured to fit right under the tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 was your sub tucked into a corner when it was in your apartment? I'd say sub placement is the way to go on getting your bass back (that and checking the polarity of your speakers...I've switched up wires so often that it always becomes the first thing I check) If you have one, I would suggest using an SPL meter to test your volumes to find what frequencies of bass aren't there and to find out if you've become accustomed to over-exagerated bass. (most people turn their subs up so that the low end is 20dB louder than everything else!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eq_shadimar Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 I agree that you need to get longer cables and place the SVS in a corner. In general you gain about 6dB by corner loading the subwoofer. If it used to be in a corner and now it is not that is part of your problem. Additionally if you used to have it on a wooden floor and not on top of a concrete slab like your basement that is another HUGE factor. My friend can get 90% of the bass with a single SVS woofer in a second story room that I get with 3 SVS's on a concrete slab. One last item to consider is that the new room may just have horrible acoustics and that room treatments may be needed. Laters, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 Have you considered that the problem might be that your listening position is in a bass null? HAve you tried putting on something with constant low frequency content (a test CD of some sort) and walking around the room? If you hear the bass level changing as you walk around, with it being very loud in some places and not loud (or non-existant) in others, then you're dealing with room nodes. If you listening chair is in a null, then the only thing you can do is move the listening position. If you try walking around and you simply don't hear much bass anywhere in the room, then that's a different problem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-man1 Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 thank you all for the suggestions. i did the simplest first...move the 'ol SVS to a corner. the bass nearly shook my house apart. i had to turn it down to get it under control during the ice field scene in Titan A.E. ....aaaaaaahhhh...the bass is back. i don't want to keep it exactly as it is, so i will get a longer sub cable and test it in different areas. thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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