Calibrating Sub ? per FAQ on SVS website (1 Viewer)

[Greg Br]

Well I think I have finally covered the SVS website cover to cover, its seriously interesting reading material. I stumbled on your calibrating subs section and had read the following

>And finally, set your subwoofer amp’s volume control (if it has one) to at least half-way up to start. It’s a good idea to check the subwoofer level control of your receiver before you begin the test tones. Keep the receiver's subwoofer output control to about 25% up or lower than “0 dB” (or say -6dB given a typical receiver channel limits of –12 dB to +12 dB) . This will allow your amp to work with the cleanest signal possible from your receiver, while still leaving plenty of downward adjustment you can use from your viewing position (using the remote).

According to my Yamaha manual and the S&V HT tune-up disk the directions were to set the receivers subwoofer output at the highest sub output and use the bass volume on the sub to adjust, on the yamaha that is 0dB. It ranges from -20dB to 0, so in your instructions in order to get the cleanest signal I would need to turn that to -15, or 1/4 up and then calibrate using the subs volume knob to around 80dB. I have not tried it this way but if it produces the best results I will give it a try.

Also I have never heard a sub bottom out, what type of noise should I be looking for?

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

When a sub bottoms out, it sounds like it's making a flapping noise. I wish I could describe it better, but I can think of no other way to describe it.

Believe me, when it bottoms out, you'll know it.

 

[SVS-Ron]

Greg,

Much as I hate to be caught arguing with the experts at Sound and Vision (and our good friend Guy Kuo) I stongly believe our approach will ultimately provide the cleanest signal to your amp, and this will provide you the cleanest bass!

Ron

 

[Greg Br]

Ron I am definatley interested to try that out, I am not sure how my PB12 will handle that, right now I have it about midway on the volume knob at max setting on the receiver going to 25% would mean that knob is going to be pushing the max setting on the sub, not that it matters once I get my SVS soon.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Greg, if you look in the Hardware archive, in the large vs small speakers thread, the recommendation there agrees with the SVS recommendation. Set the sub volume high, and adjust for calibration using your receiver's sub level setting.
And I have to admit to spending far too much time reading the SVS site (even after I bought one); add more stuff, guys! This is fun.

 

[Greg_R]

I would mention that if you're running an EQ (like the Behringer) you'll want the receiver's sub level up high and adjust the overall volume at the subwoofer. This will help the A/D converter grab better samples...

 

[Rick Radford]

Greg,

I was wondering how you deal with a BFD between the receiver/pre-pro and the sub's amp.

If you use an EQ, is seems you have no choice but to use the gain control on the sub's amp to balance the output level with Avia/VE.

So my question is: what level out from the receiver do you use for the input to the EQ? Use the subwoofer setup part of Avia to adjust the receiver's sub trim until you reach a certain input level on the BFD?

The receiver's master volume control would also affect the input on the BFD, right?

Is there some optimum setting here since the DAC's seem to prefer a stronger signal?