Denon Bass Peak Limiter? (1 Viewer)

[William Lee]

I own an SVS PC16-46 and a denon 3802 A/V component. Everything sounds great, but I just played Jurassic Park 3 and hoo boy, it annihilated my current setup! i had to turn my subwoofer down to 50% and it still bottomed out at one point. I was wondering, is there any function on the Denon that allows a bass level limiter, to prevent bottoming out? Is there any kind of *cheap* device that would accomplish this feat if the denon lacks the option?

Thanks!

 

[William Lee]

desperation bump?

 

[Myram]

Have you calibrated all your speakers using a Radio Shack SPL meter?

If you have done that, then I don't see how you bottomed out your SVS unless you had it at max volume. I have a SVS 16-46pc also, and everything is calibrated with Avia and a SPL meter, and I push and push the volume and never have I bottomed out the sub.

But in your Denon's setup menu, you should see a Bass Limiter setting. I have a Denon 4800 and I have it, but I am not sure if the lower models have it or not.

So, your first step is the calibrate all your speakers using the test tones of the receiver....and you must use a SPL meter to do it. They are like $40 from Radio Shack and they are worth every penny.

 

[MarcVH]

I also own a 3802, but don't know of such a feature. The manual (page 53) mentions a "subwoofer peak limit level setting", but I don't find any such setting in the setup menu. I suspect this is yet another instance of the manual being wrong (possibly this text was copied over from the 4800/5800 manual.)

Out of curiousity, how loud was it when it bottomed?

 

[William Lee]

it was quite loud, i have all my speakers calibrated ~85 db through AVIA, but if i use the machine generated test tones, everything sounds really off.
I have the sub at around 87-88
and it bottomed :frowning:
So are you saying to not use the avia test tones, and recalibrate at ~75 each through machine generated test tones?
Thanks for the help!

 

[William Lee]

Also Myram, do you set your settings at -6DB for the Subwoofer channel, and then use the volume knob on the SVS accordingly to get the right amount of DB?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Rick Radford]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that Bass Peak Level Limiting is a function of a THX certified receiver.

Anyone know for sure?

 

[Myram]

Rick......I think you are right. That is why my 4800 has it, it is a THX certified unit. I remember hearing that before in previous threads....but even though I have it on my 4800.....I don't use it.

William......I used Avia and calibrated everything to 80db (found 85db to be a little too much), then I put the sub at 85db. I set the volume knob on the sub at 1/2 volume....then I use the receivers settings to adjust it. It is alot easier this way since you don't have to move the sub everytime you want to adjust it.

You will get better results using AVIA for your calibrating, so you should stick to that.

What part of JPIII did you bottom out the sub on? Is it the water part when they lose the boat?

 

[ToddJoseph]

William,

I have the Denon AVR 3300 and in the OSD for DTS or DD their is a setting for D.Comp (Which is your bass limiter) It has 3 settings, low High and OFF. Im sure the other Denons receivers have it.

Additionally, you may want to turn down your volume knob on your sub, and adjust your trim on your recevier to about 5 or 7. What kind of sub do you have? Are playing at reference levels? This information would help us.

 

[Myram]

Actually D-comp is not the same as Bass Limiters. D-comp reduces the output across the whole frequency sweep and is more for watching a movie at night or other times when you can't rock the house.

Bass limiters are used to set the maximum output in the LFE so to protect your sub. But at the sametime if you watch a movie at lower volumes you might lose some bass that otherwise would not be hurting your sub.

The best solution is to fully calibrate everthing to either 75db or 80db and put the sub 2-4db higher (with the sub volume knob at 4 or 5). This is how I have done mine and I have pushed the volume to +10 on my Denon 4800 and have never bottomed out my SVS.

 

[Matt Parsons]

William,

for what it's worth, I have a 3802 matched w/ a 20-39. My sub is calibrated to 83db using VE. When I watched JP3, I think my volume was set at -7 or -5 and my house was rockin', but I never bottomed my 20-39 out.

 

[John H]

Have you calibrated all your speakers using a Radio Shack SPL meter?
If you have done that, then I don't see how you bottomed out your SVS unless you had it at max volume.

Doesn't the size of the room play in the equation? A larger area to fill requires you to push the subwoofer harder to obtain a given SPL reading.
John

 

[William Lee]

Ah, thanks for the help guys. I have a fairly large room with a cathedral ceiling, and am using a PC16-46 SVS. I do have the subwoofer tuned a little "hot", i'm going to drop it back down to 85 dbs. The sub made a huge resounding "POP" during the water scene.

I am going to take Myram's advice on the new calibrating technique, and for the record Myram, you play it at Reference levels?

I'll keep you guys informed, thanks!

 

[Myram]

I have pushed my system to almost the max to try to bottom out the SVS.....but I have yet to do it. You can see my system at the link below....it really rocks the house.

The pod race scene and THX intro from TPM didn't bottom out the sub, Pearl Harbor attack scene didn't do it, but I haven't watched JPIII at reference levels yet.....but I do know the scene you are talking about.

Good Luck