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Hunter69
06-16-2009, 02:38 PM
I finished building a vented DS1500 with a H500PEQ amp. I have it working and found a thread on basic settings for home theater. I don't have much experience with subwoofers so I am pretty ignorant when it comes to adjusting and tweaking the amp. I have an onkyo 876. I ran through odessey. I found the following thread for basic setup

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...80&postcount=2

Now I want to tweak it with different settings to see how it sounds but being ignorant to subwoofers amp settings, I am not sure where to start. Currently I set the amp to the settings listed in the above thread. I want to maximize the sub for both music and home theater (or figure out the best settings to make the proper adjustments when necessary). I have contemplated finding a spl meter but am not sure if that would help or not. If someone doen't mind taking the time to help, I sure would appreciate it.

Bill

curtis
06-16-2009, 03:12 PM
Bill,

Set it for 14hz and high damping for starters, set the crossover on the amp to its highest point, and turn off the PEQ as well, and then let Audessey do the rest.

Audessey does not always do a good job, so it is best to try different things, and it is a good idea to have a SPL meter to check levels.

Hunter69
06-16-2009, 08:16 PM
So I stopped by Radio Shack because I have read people have picked up a an spl from there. I found a "Digital Sound Level meter". Is this correct or should I return it? What do I need to do to use this to setup everything properly? Thanks for the help.

One other question, I have the rumble filter on is that correct?

Bill

TooManyHobbies
06-20-2009, 10:51 PM
The Radio Shack digital SPL meter is a decent unit for multi-channel home audio setup. I've been using one for over 10 years. I use the "C" weighting as this provides a flat frequency response. "A" weighting filters the frequencies to approximate Fletcher-Munson curves for the human ear. You can select "slow" or "fast" response. "Slow" response will give a bit less display jitter, but either has worked for me. I don't have an Onkyo receiver, so can't provide first-hand knowledge there, although if you get in a pinch, I'll get a owner's manual off the web and see if I can help you. When I bought my meter, I had a JVC receiver, then a Pioneer Elite receiver, and now I have an Outlaw Audio 990 pre/pro. The technique has always been the same, as every unit I've owned has had test tones for doing manual channel level adjustments. With my 990, it's called "Channel Calibration". Before starting, make sure the room background noise is stable. An appliance or the A/C turning on in the middle of measurements will require starting over to establish a new baseline starting point. I start by checking the sound level for each channel. If your speakers all have the same sensitivity, they should all be the same, but otherwise, find the channel with the lowest SPL on the meter. This is now your SPL baseline. Then, select each of the other channels and cut each channel by the number of dBs higher in SPL it is until the SPL measured is the same as the channel you started with. You can plus up a low channel to make it equal output, but I don't like to do that as you can run out of amp headroom that way. For the sub, instead of adjusting the level in the receiver or pre/pro, I leave the sub calibration level at 0 and adjust the level control on the sub until its SPL is the same as the other speakers. Basically, that's all there is to it. Since I use the subs for music as well as HT, I then audition some music tracks and evaluate the bass level, tweaking the sub level control slightly up or down to tune the bass to my preference.

I have left out a couple additional steps that don't use the SPL meter that are necessary for a manual speaker setup. You'll have to select speaker size. Unless you have large, floor-standing main speakers, any bookshelf-sized speaker should typically be set to small. This will allow you to crossover the bass material in each channel to the sub. You'll also need to select a crossover frequency. 80 Hz is the most common, but anything 100 Hz or below will work depending on the bass capabilities of your speakers. You'll also need to set delay. This is done by providing the distance from your listening position to each speaker. I use a tape measure to find those measurements to the nearest foot. The receiver or pre/pro takes these measurements and calculates the proper delay to make each channels sound arrive at the same time. An error of a foot or two might not be noticeable, but several feet could cause what sounds like an echo.

If you have access to a calibration with different frequency tones or a frequency generator, you can use this to adjust the PEQ on the sub to eliminate any large peaks or dips in bass frequency response you might have. These are usually due to room resonances and will be a lot more pronounced in smaller rooms, those that are close to square, or have dimensions that are close to multiples of each other. Rooms that open into other rooms, are other than square or rectangle, or have sloped ceilings will tend to have fewer problem resonances. EQ should be used to take out serious dips and peaks (3 dB or more). Small variations less than 3 dB probably aren't worth messing with unless that's all you find. Without the test tones, if you listen to familiar music and the bass of some instruments seems muddy, then you could try adjusting the PEQ by ear. I've not been unhappy with the sound in any of the four houses where I've lived to bother with that, although I do try to optimize the room arrangement so far as that can be done reasonably and with spousal approval.

Curtis' recommendation for 14 Hz, high damping is how my F15s were set when I unpacked them. I did try that, but now use 14 Hz, medium damping. Medium damping is a Q of 0.7. This provides the flatest frequency response with maximum bass extension. High damping, Q of 0.5 rolls off the frequency response earlier, although the rolloff curve is somewhat shallower than with 0.7 and is easier to EQ up for lower bass response. Frankly, I couldn't hear a difference in music I've listened to. The low damping setting is Q of 0.9 which provides a small rise in the mid-bass output that I'm told some people like for rock music, but it has the sharpest rolloff of the three settings, so will not have quite the low bass response.

Hope this helps.

Another Bill