Need some help with my older Velodyne... (1 Viewer)

[John LaB]

I've been out of the HT scene for awhile, but I've definitely been bitten by the bug again.
I bought a new Mits WS55807 and realized the awesome system I thought I had was in dire need of an upgrade also.
So, I am trying to re-use what I have left from the last system I built about 4 years ago, maybe longer. And, I've run into some issues with my sub, which I thought rocked.
So, in testing my Velodyne VA1012X with Avia, I was surprised to see that bass output rolled off at about 38hz...??? It played LFE pink noise to clean (or clean enough to my ear) 115 dbs, which is more than enough for me. But, it is lacking on the really deep bass. Is this a function of room placement, or is my sub just out of shape?
I am in the process of moving it around, but I always try to corner load it.
I can feel/see the woofers moving with the sub 38hz signals, but not much sound at all, if any?
I'm kind of hoping I can re-use, but then again, part of my wants to match up an SVS to my 603's and see what I've been missing.
Any thoughts?
-jpl
Room dimensions are 20L x 16w x 15h

 

[Michael Roderiques]

John First thing is you have a good sized room at
4800 cubic feet, so it does not surprise me to hear that the Velodyne does not thunder at 20Hz. Corner placement is going to give you the best performance out of that unit.
you actually have a few things going on here,
You say that you can see the driver move at frequencies below 38Hz, but not hear anything. Again this does not surprise me. science says that the human hearing is 20Hz to 20KHz....a study done about 4 years ago by the project hear people found that a large part of the population can not hear below 35Hz. it was basicly due to the every day exposure to the noise of the world. Cars are the main culprit to this. Most people can feel 40Hz and lower
Add to this that the active component of the Velodyne is a 10" woofer in a very large room. Not enough air is being moved to provide the frequencies at an audible level. At 4800 cubic feet, not considering any other rooms this may open into, I would be looking at least for an 18" sub. Depending on what you are looking for in bass you may need to go with two 18" units

 

[John LaB]

Michael-
Yup, the room is pretty big. I never tested the sub in my old listening room, but it seemed to go deeper.
Although it still rocks at 50hz or so, I guess the old 1012 is outgunned with the high ceilings.
That is interesting what you mentioned about hearing below 35hz. I'll have to see if I can dig up some more info on it. I knew humans heard 20 - 20k, but always assumed I could hear the bottom octaves. I'll have to do some listening/testing at my local high end shop to see what the limit of my own ears are.
-jpl

 

[JohanK]

IIRC, it's 20 - 20k for hearing. Some say 16 Hz is about the lower threshold. After the lower threshold, it is down to feeling the lows.
John, I'm kinda surprised that you got 115 dBs out of the 1012 in your room. That's impressive.
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