Ou8thisSN Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 Okay, so about a couple of months ago, I posted that I bought a Denon 1803, which is the same as the 3803, and that i was having issues with the bass section of the reciever. Well I had that reciever exchanged with another one from the same company. This one also seems to be having the same sorts of issues, which leads me to believe there is some setting or something i'm not setting right or maybe i'm just not used to the way Dolby Digital/ DTS sounds.... anyway, this is the first time i have been able to setup the RF7s in conjunction with the PB2+, and with the RC7, and some bose crap in order to get 5.1 I have tried and really havent noticed much difference between setting the speakers to large or small. The crossover settings on the subwoofer section of the 3803 doesnt seem to matter either, so as of right now, i have all front and center speakers set to small, and the sub set to 80hz. that seems to be the configuration most people here have, right? now there are a few things i cant figure out, which i'm hoping some of you can help me with. 1. what is that "Analog" button for? the manual is extremely vague on this. when i push the button, all the sound goes dead, i dont hear anything. The ONLY things plugged into the back of the denon is 1 SPDIF cable into coax1 for the cable box. 1 SPDIF cable into COAX2 for the DVD player. 2. What does Ext Subwoofer level do? it has a few settings like 0 +5 +10 +15 or something, i didnt hear much of a difference setting them to anything, so i set it to 0. I dont know. On the Onkyo reciever, I had the RF7s hooked up with the PB2+ and there was plenty of bass, on stereo bypass mode. That reciever is like 7 years old and didnt have all these digital controls and what not. There was a simple bass/treble/variable loudness control and a subwoofer on/off control and you can turn the LPF/HPF crossovers on/off. So it was a very easy interface and i got plenty of bass from all my stuff. Am i doing something wrong, or Am i expecting something I shouldnt be getting? Does Dolby Digital have less bass than just plain stereo mode? I know this was the case when i used the onkyo in dolby pro logic mode, it would automatically select "tone defeat" mode and the bass and treble was "muted". With the denon, it doesnt matter if its stereo/dolby/pure direct or anything, it refuses to hit the low notes and i cant seem to figure out why. would there be a way to use the subwoofer's crossovers instead of the denon and wire it in somehow like that? I really hope you guys can help me troubleshoot this thing. Besides that, the sound is great, i just miss my thumps. I even tried moving the behemoth of the sub around to different places, just not the same as the Onkyo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiob Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 Is the subwoofer a powered unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou8thisSN Posted July 26, 2004 Author Share Posted July 26, 2004 yes http://www.svsubwoofers.com/subs_pb2_plus.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 Well,for a start,if you only have input in coax 1or2 you have no analog cables hooked up,thus no analog signal when switched.On the sub set up you really should read the book carefully.I think the various 0 5 10 15 apply to bass compensation on 5.1,dvda/sacd etc.Remember,any setting you make may not be heard(X vs.Y) unless you have other settings correct,in correct mode etc. I can't say for sure but I think some settings are wrong,I could be wrong.For all I know it could be the room.I had a 3802/03 w/7's and an SVS and bass was strong.Try every combination of settings possible,good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIbor Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 HI Well ignore that ext sub level. That is for something else. I would suggest that you get a audio/video calibration disc..like digial video essentials or avia. Run the FULL bandwidth pinknoise and use a rat shack sound meter and set your tones to 75db and the sub at 80-85db. I Have a denon 2803 and a svs powered sub and there is no problem on bass. Are you having this problem with just music, movies, both? Most likely you are missing something, yes the Denon takes some time to figure out, but it is great. I called them once and they were a great help Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rckpls Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 "The ONLY things plugged into the back of the denon is 1 SPDIF cable into coax1 for the cable box. 1 SPDIF cable into COAX2 for the DVD player." Do you have a cable running from the Denon's subwoofer output to the SVS input, or are you using the speaker wires to run the sub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 ---------------- On 7/26/2004 9:18:06 PM rckpls wrote: "The ONLY things plugged into the back of the denon is 1 SPDIF cable into coax1 for the cable box. 1 SPDIF cable into COAX2 for the DVD player." Do you have a cable running from the Denon's subwoofer output to the SVS input, or are you using the speaker wires to run the sub? ---------------- Great question - and I bet several of us know the answer. If it is speaker wire connection (you run the speaker wires to the sub then to your speakers), you can only adjust the subwoofer output on the sub amp. Further - if your front l/r speakers are set to small it gets worse cause so little info is sent through them there wires for the sub to thump with. Otherwise - that being if you are going from the pre out for the sub - you need to check the level to the sub. Denon manuals are a bear to figure out but once it sinks in you should be able to solve any operator issues. Lastly - you have a great sub from a great bunch of folks. Call Stimpson (the S) or Tom V. (the V) at SV Subwoofers and let them walk you through things. They will want to be sure it isn't their sub. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou8thisSN Posted July 26, 2004 Author Share Posted July 26, 2004 yeah, the subwoofer always has been hooked up through the pre outs on the denon. i dont know how to hook it up in series with the rf7s. i mean, the bass is there, its just not there like it used to be on the onkyo, but then again i always ran the onkyo in stereo mode... i have the avia disc, perhaps tommorrow i'll run a frequency sweep, see what that does. thanks for reading/responding, will let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 We are getting there. What happens when you adjust the output level to the subwoofer? Is there a noticable change in the output. With your denon you should be able to do this with on screen display while listening/watching if you are connected to the TV through the reciever. That is a good starting point and may simply indicate you need to set the level. The Denon will remember the level setting by effect - therefore you can have two separate settings for stereo and the Dolby/DTS stuff. How is the sub set up? Since you want the reciever to manage the frequency stuff you need to be sure to take the subs bass management out of the picture. This is generally done either via a switch on the sub or by setting the frequency allowed to its highest setting (at least one octave above the Xover point - for 80hz that would be 120hz). Also - the sub has a control for the amp - I think most recommend the halfway position then let the reciever manage out put. Lastly, and the most obscure (it should not have a wholesale effect on sound), is to be sure you haven't gotten some sort of conflict in your DTS/Dolby bass boost segments of the reciever. It offers the ability to attenuate/boost either DTS or Dolby signals to compensate for the differences in decoding. Many will tell you that dolby bass needs to be around 10 -15 db hotter than DTS bass. Let's keep trying things and go for each subsequent step. An spl reading with the AVia is a great place to start. My experience with Denon is that Bass management is definitely OK and should not be your culprit - although stranger things have happened. Your sub should be able to thump you into the floor as well - you have the reasonably right stuff to make this work. I have Denon and SVS and am very pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickB Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 I use a Denon 3803 as a pre-pro and one of my subs I use with it is a PB2+. I get loads of bass out of it, so I have to think it's something in the way you have it set up. You definately need a SPL meter and your Avia disc to get set up right. If you want to give it a quick check to make sure your getting output from your sub set the gain on the back of the sub between a third and half way, and set crossover on sub to bypass. Go into system setup menu on your Denon, go into channel level setup, set test tone to manual, move down to test tone start and push left arrow to start test tone. A screen will come up with all your speakers and subwoofer on it. Move arrow down to SW it should be at 0 to start. You should be hearing something out of your sub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rckpls Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 First.... "yeah, the subwoofer always has been hooked up through the pre outs on the denon." Do you really mean "pre outs", as in the receivers preamp outputs, or are you referring to the actual subwoofer output? You should be using the subwoofer output.....just want to be sure. Now..... "Go into system setup menu on your Denon, go into channel level setup, set test tone to manual, move down to test tone start and push left arrow to start test tone. A screen will come up with all your speakers and subwoofer on it. Move arrow down to SW"......and adjust the subwoofer output level. "What happens when you adjust the output level to the subwoofer? Is there a noticable change in the output." Try this and let us know what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 Is that a real poncho or a Sears poncho? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rckpls Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 ---------------- On 7/27/2004 11:19:28 PM Fish wrote: Is that a real poncho or a Sears poncho? ---------------- I got it from a fur trapper, who was strictly from commercial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 Wherein it is written (on whatever it is that they write it on up there) that: If anything bad happens to your eyes as a result of an encounter with someone named Nanook, the only way you can get it fixed is by trudgin' across the tundra (mile after mile) to the Parish of St Alphonso's.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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