Subwoofer Not Kickin in DD (1 Viewer)

[Tim_Midnite]

Hey people! I'm new at this so don't pick on me. I'm a newbie at this home theater thing and just got my first entry level HTiB. The Onkyo HTS650. It does really well for the small space that I'm in. The only thing I can't figure out is why when I'm playing a DVD in DD does the Sub in 5.1 seem to to be playing nothing at all. It sounds good when it's on tuner or when it's playing a CD or even the TV. It's only when I switch to DD 5.1. I think I have all the cables correct. I have a digital coax from the dvd player to the receiver and the sub is connected with an AR Sub cable. Granted those aren't my only cables but I think the AR cables may have something to do with it? Low quality maybe? Everything else works fine.....Please help!!

Any input would be appreciated
Thanks

 

[Darren_T]

Couple things to check...

First what receiver do you have?

If you have your sub connected to the receiver LFE out check the settings on the receiver to be sure that you have subwoofer set to "YES".

Second thing to check is the gain on the sub... is it passive or powered? If it's powered check the sub gain.

Just a couple that came to mind right away. I'm not familiar with HT in a box so I might be missing something there.


Darren

 

[Everett A]

here's a possibility :

most htib's don't sport the highest performance subs, in fact the subs probably tend to output the "midbass" frequencies that are common in radio and tv signals.

when you're playing a dd source (from dvd) the sub may not have as much of the midbass signal to put out, and is probably not as capable at putting out the deeper frequencies that dd is giving it.

Also, the deeper frequencies aren't heard as much as felt (when produced accurately).

 

[LawrenceZ]

One more thing to check, check the 'bass peak level'. I don't know if your receiver has this setting but it caused me the same problem with me when I got my Pioneer VSX-36TX. On mine, the out of the box setting was -80db.

 

[Chris James]

Tim, take your remote while watching a DVD (DD or DTS, doesn't matter which mode), and hit the "CH SEL" button (in the blue group of buttons at the bottom). This will show you what level your channels are set to. Keep hitting CH SEL till it says "Subwoofer = +/- whatever number." This is your sub output level. Before I upgraded my sub, I had it set from +6 to +8dbs. Also, the gain on the sub was around the 3/4 mark. Let me know if upping the sub level helps, and if not I "might" be able to help more.
EDIT: I just read a few of the other posts, and the sub with the Onkyo setup is quite good for the price. It's am 8" 150 watt unit, and is slighty better than the sub included with the Kenwood 500 series HTiBs. It will put out the low notes quite well for an 8", just not like my 16-46 SVS .

 

[Tim_Midnite]

Hey...thanks for the help. I'll try that stuff tonight. I don't know if any of this matters but I have the x-over set to 100. Should it be lowered to 80 or raised to 120? I have the DVD player set to small speakers with Sub on. Knowing me, I'm probably screwing it up worse than straight out of the box.

Thanks People

 

[Chris James]

You can leave the x-over at 100, it's ok there. Let me know how it works out.

 

[Joe Meissner]

i dont have that reciever but my reciever has level adjustments for each mode. so if i adjust a movie that is in dts to -2 sub level it is only set at that for dts. my DD is set at -1 for 2 channel with sub (music) i have it set at +2. so each one is adjusted seperately. does this all make sense?

 

[steve nn]

Any headway Tim. Your 650 sub might have a defeatable x/over on the back of the sub to. I am sure you know about letting the receiver. The sub in the 650 system will crank for the money when you get it dialed in. Let us know of any progress if you can.

 

[BrianWoerndle]

What DVD player do you have? Does the DVD player have DD and DTS decoding? (Are there RCA jacks on the back of it). It sounds like that if you have the "DVD" player set to small/sub, then you might be letting the DVD player do the decoding and be sending the signal over the RCA jacks, not the coaxial. This means you might only be getting left and right and be missing out on everything else. Make sure your DVD player is set to output "Bitstream"

 

[Tim_Midnite]

Hey people....Chris had it. The receiver is not the best in the world so I guess for DD you have to turn the Sub db level way up. Oh well.....you get what you pay for.

Thanks people.

 

[steve nn]

Tim like Brian asks- "Do you have your DVD set to bitstream"? Your bass ought to perform the best in this mode. To me seems like not all is well yet?

 

[Chris James]

Actually, Tim, this receiver is just a rebadged TX-SR500 series from Onkyo. Not too bad a receiver for a $499 HTiB. Like the others said, double check the settings in the DVD player (Bitstream and DTS=Yes). Also, make sure Latenight and Cinefilter are turned off. They are on the left side of the remote, and will say on/off on the receiver screen.