How do you Calibrate a Subwoofer? (1 Viewer)

[William*E]

I have a Pioneer 814K....as we all know the crossover settings don't leave much room (or much choice)...100, 150, 200.

I have two 15" pyle driver subs...powered by a peavey 4-c 500 amp.

Should I select 100, 150 or 200?

My front speakers are two Peavey's hc 115.

Thanx.

 

[GregBe]

Great Kevin!

I am glad it worked out for you. There are pros and cons to moving the sub where you want it. You are correct that it is usually best to locate your sub in an enclosed corner away from open spaces. In some cases I think in a large open area, it is ideal to locate the sub close to your listening position. The con with your setup, is that your crossover is set so high. Many people feel that once you start moving above 80 Hz, you will be able to locate the sounds coming out of your sub. In my personal experience, if you have a clean sub (which I believe the Dayton is), you can cheat this a little. I had success as high as a 125 Hz crossover in the rear of the room. I would try it in both places, and listen which tradeoff sounds better for you. Better impact of being close to you, or better blending with the mains with it up front. If you could get it in the corner away from the loft up front, that may get you the best of both worlds. Only trial and error will really be your answer. Have fun playing with it.

Greg

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

I'm a fan of a lower crossover setting on a subwoofer. Even if you do miss out on a little bit of 100hz.. it's going to be a little bit of the deep bass scenes during movies, which arn't too common.

To me, I'd rather hear quality deep bass, than hearing the full spectrum with slight distortion. I'm not saying subwoofers can't be crossed over high without sounding good. I just wouldn't trust most subwoofers playing as high as 200hz.

Another reason not to cross over a sub so high, is because of the way it will interact with the room. Frequencies in the 100hz range can hit some big dips and peaks affecting the frequency response.

Peaks are a lot more noticeable than dips IMO.. so by crossing over the sub slightly lower than your satellites.. you will be purposely creating a slight dip instead of possibly creating a noticeable peak.

Basically, all I'm saying is that even though you might be achieving the full bandwidth of sound by setting your mains and subwoofer accordingly, it might not "Sound" the best.

As for subwoofer positioning... if the sub is in a corner, it will be able to get the loudest due to the corner loading. The subwoofer will also "generally" become louder the closer it is to the listening position. I'd suggest placing the subwoofer in the front corner of the room away from the open space. If you don't like the way that sounds, then move the subwoofer along the front wall towards the middle until you get a "balanced" sound that you like.

Oh, and be sure and adjust the phase so that the subwoofer and mains don't cancel eachother out.

And when you do find a decent compromise, stick to it.. trying to make a perfect bass response can be tough without acoustic treatments and equalization.. I've seen many times that the quest to achieve perfect bass can drive somebody nuts. (not me of course )