Sub settings and dead spot (1 Viewer)

[TimBr]

I am a newbie to the world of HT. I just recently purchased a 5.1 capable DVD player to hook into my older Sony DD "ready" receiver. I know it's not the ideal situation but...

I am running Klipsch KG .5's as fronts and surrounds. Freq response is 60Hz-20kHz±3dB. I have a KV 1 center - 85Hz-20kHz±3dB. My most recent addition is a Velodyne DLS 3500 - 34Hz-140Hz (living in an apartment sucks).

I have some questions on setup between these speakers and the sub. My DVD player (Mitsubishi 8040) has settings for large and small speakers. They (instructions) define large as being able to play sub 100Hz. So I set my fronts and rears to large and left the center on small. I set the DLS low pass at 80Hz. Does this sound correct or should I set all the speakers to small? If I change them to small, do I need to readjust the crossover on the sub to about 100? I couldn't find any specific info on the DVD player that tells me what the crossover is when they are on small - I'm guessing 100Hz.

Second. I seem to have a bass dead spot and it is, lucky for me, right where I sit. I know that it is most likely a factor of room/furniture. The odd thing is the sound really comes alive when you stand up. Everything seems smoother and deeper. The best response seems to be in about a 5-7 foot arc from in front of the sub, only while standing. The sub is on the floor in the front of the room. I linked to a drawing of the room- more info is better than none, right? Light Blue are the KG's, pink the KV, red the Velodyne. In its current spot, it is aiming at a couch. I moved it to the yellow circle in front of the fireplace and oriented it every way I could and it never cured the problem. Sitting the sub on its side seemed to help a little. Changing the phase didn't make any difference to my ears. I just can't believe how great it sounds 3' higher!

The room is on a carpeted slab with another unit above, 8' flat ceiling. I still have some spots to try it in - and some furniture to move around but I thought I would toss the question out to see if it's something glaringly obvious.


home.hiwaay.net/~lbrewer/images/setup.JPG

Any help on either of these issues would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ned]

Set all the speakers to small. Large is really only for people without subwoofers. Even huge tower speakers still perform better as small with a good subwoofer covering 20-80hz. Just doing that may improve the response at your seat. You can also try the sub at the top right corner near tv or the bottom left behind the sofa. The sub crossover should be set to it's highest value. Your dvd player should already be doing the sub crossover at whatever frequency option it has.

 

[John Garcia]

The null is a room mode and speaker size setting is not going to change that. Put the sub in your seating position and listen from the spots where you might be able to place it, and place it where it sounds best. This may not be able to cure it either. My room is ~19x20 and I have the same issue. What you may need is a BFD, or consider adjusting the seating position.

 

[TimBr]

Thanks for the quick replies.

A few more questions though...

I had read about putting the sub in your listening spot and then moving around to find the best spot for the sub. Do I need to place the sub on the floor or ear level?

My sub has a subwoofer direct and an internal X over setting. I'm guessing when you say let the DVD player handle it, it needs to be on direct?

Again, thanks for the info

Tim

 

[ChrisWiggles]

I suggest placement as the easiest band-aid solution, but room treatment is necessary if you have poor acoustics in a space, combined with EQ. If it's a heavy null, then EQ won't help it much, though combined with proper room treatment, EQ can be very beneficial.

 

[John Garcia]

If using a digital connection, the receiver is taking care of the x-over, if using the multichannel analog connections, the DVD player is handling it. In either case, the signal passed from the receiver to the sub is already crossed over so you can use the direct setting on the sub.

The sub does not need to be at ear level (could be difficult), you should be able to get a good enough feel for room modes just by putting it where you sit.