Subwoofer Questions - novice (1 Viewer)

[Gau]

this may sound like a noob question, which it it, so laugh if you want to
I bought my very first subwoofer and it arrived yesterday. (Dayton 10" 100w from partsexpress.com) - i have a separate thread about connecting it etc.
I have it connected to a yamaha htr5740.
now, having never listened to a properly setup subwoofer system, i dont know what it is supposed to sound like...
I'm guessing, while watching regular TV, unless the broadcast is in dolbydigital, i wont notice a difference?
while watching dvd's the sub should only kick in during a LFE effect right?

I have my front speakers (my only speakers - paradigm minimonitors) set to small
receivers bass goes only to swfr,
A/V crossover at the default 80,
the subwoofers crossover at 80 also,
phase-default (whatever it came with),
volume on sub - about halfway between min. and max.

i have the Lotr-TT dvd and the SW-trilogy dvd set to play with, and from what i've heard they have good effects. Are there any scenes from those two movies that you guys distinctly remember has having a tremendous bass effect, or is there a decent test dvd i can buy for sound?(nothing outrageously priced)

thanks for helping a novice!

 

[JohnSmith]

You've got pretty much decent enough DVD's...you don't want to buy DVD's just for "demo" discs, as many are rubbish films (ie Titan AE DTS R1)and just buy DVD's as you want them.

Buy a radio shack sound pressure meter and use it to calibrate your 5 speakers + subwoofer. You'll probably have the subwoofer way too loud by trying to adjust gain by ear.

Ramp up subwoofer crossover knob on the subwoofer itself though (your current xover settings mean you've got cascading crossover) that's bad. Leave the crossover setting on the av amp alone- fine at 80hz.

 

[Aaron_Mum]

Check out this thread. Edward JM posted the info you are after:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=212767

Go easy on the gain on your new sub. I'm not familiar with Dayton subs but the gain set to half could bottom it out if you turn the reciever up really loud. Like John said in the previous post, you have to calibrate with an SPL meter it to get it set right using a calibration DVD like Digital Video Essentials or Avia.

A properly set up sub will not draw attention to itself or overpower your other speakers. You are looking for a nice blend that will still deliver punch without getting annoying.