Lord of the Rings / Def Tech Sub issue. (1 Viewer)

[Kris Coffin]

Hi all,

Got a question/ issue I just ran into last night. I popped in LOTR for a group showing last night, expecting some earth shattering sound from my system, but ended up with a problem I have not had yet with any other movie.

My surround and rear speakers are Def Tech BPVX/P. They all have 2 6.5' powered woofers, which have been sufficient thus far, but I started to hear some weird noise from my left surround channel. When the bass would hit, occasionally I would get a muffled, fluffy kinda sound? I have not had this happen yet.

Did my woofer just die? Is the freq going too low? Is the bass on LOTR just that much lower than everything else I own? Or am I just doing something wrong here.

I have my system calibrated with a spl and the vid ess disk, and I was playing about 10db's below my normal listning (My friends don't like bleeding ears, go figure), so I not sure what the deal is.

I went with the BPVX/P because of the powered woofers, and the low freq rating (down to 23hz). Do / should I set my rears to small, and pick up a sub or two for the rear?

Any/all help muchly appreciated.

 

[Dustin B]

There is no way two powered 6.5" woofs are going to go down as low and loud as LOTR asked for. Even DefTechs top powered towers can't do under 30hz with any real authority.

Also LOTR was recorded extremely loud. I have no problem listening to the Matrix at 5-8dB under referecne. But I had to turn LOTR down to 15dB under reference and it was still very loud. That movie also has loads of deep bass that would be murder on powered towers.

 

[John Garcia]

The bass on LOTR is fairly low, but is also quite loud. It does sound like you are bottoming your drivers. I noticed quite a bit of punch in the rears also. Just out of curiousity, are your rears set to large or small? This disc is definitely "hot" compared to something like TPM. Like Dustin B, I also noticed that it was already loud at my average listening level.

 

[Dustin B]

John has a point there. What are your mains and can you redirect the bass from your surrounds and center to your mains?

Have you considered getting a good quality dedicated sub. Even with powered towers, a good dedicated sub has a lot to offer.

 

[BryanZ]

Like the others here have said, LOTR: FOTR is recorded at a higher volume than most movies. 10db below reference for this movie is not low enough. Try 12 - 15dbs below. At reference? Better make an appointment with the ear doctor or have some good earplugs handy.

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

That fluttering noise you're hearing is probably port noise, sometimes referred to as flapping. This happens when a ported enclosure finds a frequency where the movement of air through the port is pushed out and drawn back in such a way that it makes a quite literal flapping sound. Those speakers are just not going to be able to carry that kind of bass at that level. This is why a dedicated subwoofer is so important.

That being said, LOTR is a true benchmark disc for bass. My SVS 20-39CS+, eq'd flat +/-3dB to corrected reference level, was about to bring down my walls during some scenes, and I was at least -10 from reference.

 

[Robb Roy]

See this post regarding how deep LOTR goes.
Let's assume the Def Techs actually go to their stated depths, and that we want movies with this kind of bass. Look at Tom's post -- you will need to set those rears to small and have a dedicated (and good) subwoofer.

 

[Nick P]

All right, you guys have me salivating now! Can't wait to pop this baby in over the weekend! Twin 20-39CS+/Samson 1000 combo up to the task?

 

[Kris Coffin]

** Sigh **

Thanx all for you replies, I guess if I truly want to experience LOTR I will be looking into yet another upgrade. Kinda sux, I just finished my system Aug 1st. And now I am looking at a pair of SVS CS+ 16-46, ugh!

The Def Tech BPXV/p 's just don't quite cut it I guess, which totally pisses me off, I was going to go with the BPVX speakers for a few hunder less each speaker, but opted for the BPXV/P because of the freq rating and the powered subs. For the cash I would have saved I could have bought a pair of svs subs. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

I did a little calibrating today, and dropped alot of the Bass from the rears and surrounds, which cleared up the fluffy sound, but drastically reduced the kick in the back of the head I used to get from them.

Anyone here have any other suggestions for a good dedicated sub besides SVS, I have been watching a lot of the threads, and they seem to be what most of the users here have, or aspire to, just wondering who there competition may be?

Thanx

Kris

Is it true that cannibals won't eat clowns because they taste funny?

 

[Dustin B]

Twin Hsu VTF3 won't be quite up to CS+ levels but will come close. Twin Adire Dharmans will be about the same as the VTF3.
Either Link Removed or Link Removed can costum build you subs that will match or beat the performance level of the CS+ at around the same cost (and allows you pretty much whatever you want for a finish, but expect to pay more for elaborit finishes).