Jump to content

Still not impressed with my PB2 ISD


HeywoodJa

Recommended Posts

I got my PB2ISD 2 weeks ago and I still am underwelmed. I have tried moving it aroung the room in the corners away from the corners still not having much luck. I was told that it should rattle the windows and shake the house but I can barely feel it. I can hear it so I know it works but there is not a huge difference when I have it off vs. on. I have it tuned to 20 and crossover set to 80. The room is 12 x 14 with a Denon 3805 as the reciever. Does it matter which port I plug? I don't have an SPL meter and maybe that should be my next step but any suggestions would be helpful. I think SVS may be having some email problems because I never seem to get a response from them other than the sales dept.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you sure the crossover is enabled? The switch may be set for the crossover to be disabled meaning that the frequency dial would not be operating. Try crossing at a higher frequency like 100 Hz. Play music to tune it, not movies.

Are you using "line out" of an amp to get a signal of respectable level into the sub? If you have a variable output into the sub is it turned up enough?

That sub should be making a difference more than you are saying here. As you can see below I had to go back and get a second sub to fill the room correctly. I am not even using close to the output capabilities of each. For me it was a room fill issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, if you're using a receiver's "Sub Out" line level connection, you want the cross-over disabled. Cascading cross-overs is a VERY bad idea.

An SPL meter should be used to properly calbrate the sub.

What source material are you using? I have a 25-31PCi tuned to 22Hz and it literally hits me in the back (it's behind me) if it turn the sub about 4dBs w/ the Star Wars movies.

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the suggestions - I am trying the pod race on star wars and a scene in behind enemy lines where Owen Wilson runs across the mind field, darla on Nemo as the source material. Does anyone know if there is a difference in the port that I leave unblocked - i.e. leaving the the top port open vs the bottom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

----------------

On 9/30/2004 2:31:26 PM HeywoodJa wrote:

...Does anyone know if there is a difference in the port that I leave unblocked - i.e. leaving the the top port open vs the bottom.

----------------

It really shouldn't matter which port is blocked, from what I understand. However, in the meantime, why not unplug all the ports and see how you like that sound? I've got the "little" 25-31PCi and I can't believe that your sub won't relocate your wife's china.

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

----------------

On 9/30/2004 12:29:06 PM HeywoodJa wrote:

I can hear it so I know it works but there is not a huge difference when I have it off vs. on.

----------------

If this is the case then something is very amiss. You should be able to easily make stationary object mobile with your PB2-isd. Check your bass management settings, especially your LFE as others have suggested. Unless your room is cavernous or your mains have amazing floor shaking capabilities then there should be a great difference.3.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not read this thread, buy try bypassing your receiver temporarily to test the sub.

grab your ipod or walkman whatever you got, run a stereo cable and split it to rca directly into your sub. put the gain on the SVS on 50% and but the crossover to about 120hrz. All you should hear is bass at this point. Keep the volume low on your music source and then turn it up almost all the way SLOWLY, by that point your room should be shaking apart. if not, your svs has a problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the suggestions - I redid my auto setup last night on the Denon 3805 the Klipsch RB75,Rc75 abd RS35 sound awesome but not much coming out of the sub. If I crank the gain I do get boomy sound but it does not really match anything that is going on in the movie. If I leave the gain set at 1/3 to 1/2 it does make some noise but not much. I don't know if the Denon has an LFE that can be adjusted so I will check that out tonight.

I sent a note to tech support so I will wait to see if they respond.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If tech support hasn't responded in a couple of hours, they must be having some sort of problem. Usually their responses are more like IM's than e-mail. Rest assured that you are in extremely good hands with SVS. They won,t rest till they have gotten to the cause of your problem. As far as performance in your room, it looks like you have about 1344 cu.ft. (assuming 8' ceilings). Your ISD should have no problem pressurising that space. Properly set up, "underwhelmed" will quickly turn to "overwhelmed" or OMG! Carl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your Denon 3805 has set the level of your sub to -10db during automatic setup. Try setting it to +5db with the gain on the sub at 50%. All of the automatic setup receivers turn bass way down. Minus 10db is one tenth of the level at zero db, so the good news is that you will get big bass output with a minor tweak of the Denon.

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just another thing to look into, what are your speakers set to on your Denon? LARGE or SMALL? If they are set to LARGE, switch them to SMALL, I will almost gaurantee your bass will increase 2 fold! With that good of a sub, let the SVS handle the low frequencies, and set our main speakers to SMALL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well all I can say is that I run RF-7 mains, RC-7 center and RF-5 rears, and when I first got them, I set the fronts to LARGE, and the rears to SMALL, then tried ALL LARGE, and the bass response I was getting was the same, crap, the bass seemed dead, not a lot at all. I took the advice of some other board members, set everything to SMALL, and VOILA, INCREDIBLE bass response, MUCH more pronounced, and what I wanted. It was calibrated both times, and with the speakers set to LARGE, there was barely anything there, at SMALL it was all there!

Just my advice, he can take or not, it's not going to hurt to try it. 2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do have all speakers set to small - when I redid the auto setup Denon set them back to large. I switched them back and saw huge decrease in bass. Tom V thinks Denon may have defaulted the Sub to LFE + main so I will check that when I get home. I was totaly blown away with the sound when the fronts were set to large (I finally had some bass). When I set them back to small it was really tempting to set them back to large but I will wait till the SVS starts to work for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn post didn't go through last time.

Heywoodja - That's weird dude, it should be the exact opposite with the large and small bass repsonse. I would follow what Tom and crew have to say.

Frz - Yep, I am using a Pioneer Elite VSX-53TX (100x7), definitely not enough power to make the RF-7's shine in all aspects, plenty for the highs, not for the low. 7.gif I have been told that I will need a seperate setup with 200watts to make them shine, which I will eventually. But in the meantime, the sub will have to carry the load, and I think my new PB2-Ultra (when it arrives) will have PLENTY of nuts for that job 9.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...