Volume troubles with my Sony SA-WX700 (1 Viewer)

[ChrisT]

I just purchased the Sony SA-WX700 to replace my Yamaha YST-SW215. Don't get me wrong, the Yamaha was a good sub, but it was pretty small/cheap and I was looking to upgrade to something that could handle low frequencies a little better.

I had the Yamaha located under the shelf that held my television and it was a great place for it. It was about 7' from the listening area and the shelf it sat on elevated it about 7" off the ground. The room is fairly small (14' x 11.5'). The output from the yamaha was fine, so I figured I could put the sony in the same place.

Problem:
Well, I plugged in the Sony to test it out and I can hardly hear it. The volume on the sub itself is about 3/4 to max and the volume on the receiver (Kenwood VR-806) is at max. I even used the output from the sony sub to the old yamaha and the little yamaha was out-outputting the sony. The sony could produce big sound, just not much of it.

Curious, I decided to corner located it and I discovered that the further away I got from the sub the more I could hear it. At this point it's at the corner of my room blocking the door and the volume seems acceptable if I'm sitting on the opposite corner of the room, 15' away. I can feel the sub casing vibrate like a beast when I put my hand over it; however,the closer I move toward the sub, the lower the output.

My room doesn't have any corners to offer the sub as far as location is concerned. I really needed to use the space under the television.

Question:
Why does this sub only sound good in the corner while the little yamaha sounds good almost everywhere? Is the subwoofer simply too much for this small room or is there something wrong with it? I was always under the impression that the closer you move toward a speaker the louder it becomes. I'm pretty new at this. Is there something I'm missing?

 

[John Garcia]

The Yammie probably doesn't go quite as low as the Sony, so it doesn't set up the same standing waves in your room. The Yammie was better at producing output higher up, but it was probably over-accentuated in certain frquencies. Subs don't necessarily become louder as you get closer, it depends on the room and, as you've found, the sub's location in the room. Give it a few weeks, tweak the Sony a bit and you will likely find it's just fine.