PSW505 crossover lag?

XeonBAMF

Hello, I just bought a PSW505 off the Egg to go along with the Monitor II 60's I got a few months back. I have this all hooked up to a Pioneer VSX-820.

I initially tried the recommended receiver to sub to speaker configuration with speakers set to Large and no sub in the speaker config. This produced a 3 second lag between the higher frequency and the sub (the music would play normally and the bass would lag behind by 2-3 seconds).

I tried running them from receiver->speaker/receiver->sub with the same results.

The only way to have the sub hit at the proper time is with the LFE connection but it is not very loud even with it turned up to +6db in the receiver setup. This method has this sub sounding worse than a crappy HTIB Sony 10 incher I've been using.

Whats going on?

kawizx9r

I'm not familiar at all with Pioneer receivers but are there settings that allow you to setup distances for speakers from the listening position?

As for the LFE, when utilizing that input you are bypassing the PSW505's internal crossover. Some people prefer this method since it allows them to dial in their subwoofer using their receivers subwoofer settings. I'd say play around some more with your receiver.

Btw, welcome to CP!

-Freddy

Outfitter03

I have the same subwoofer, but a different AV receiver. I pulled up the manual for your receiver and have a few suggestions. First, from looking at your manual it looks like the LFE or Sub Preout is the correct connection. This is on page 18 of the manual and is in the top left corner on the back of the AVR.

The subwoofer volume (back of sub) should be set between 1/3 and 1/2 on the volume. The subwoofer cable should be plugged into the LFE connection on the PSW505. The frequency filter should be rotated fully clockwise to prevent double filtering the signal.

Your post only lists one set of speakers, the monitor 60's. In the AVR setup they will need to set LF and LR speakers to small for the low frequencies to be routed to the subwoofer. Select yes on the subwoofer. I would try a cross over setting of 80 hz first and adjust as necessary to get the sound you like. Pg. 45 owners manual.

The manual recommends rerunning the Auto MCACC Setup on page 19 again to solve time delay problems.

You should be able to reset your subwoofer output in receiver setup to 0DB and fine tune with your sub volume, just stay below a setting of 1/2.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Support/HomeEntertainment/AV-Receivers/PioneerReceivers/ci.VSX-820-K.Support

Link to owners manual if you are without

My PSW505 has no problem playing loud. You will know when you have it right.

Mon40CSMM10

I own an older Pioneer receiver, it's a VSX-517K so all manual setup. Hopefully this is still helpful.

In the Setup > Speaker Setup > Speaker Distance, each speaker can be set up with a minimum distance of 3 feet and a maximum distance of 45 feet in 0.5 foot increments. The VSX-820 may have a similar option, maybe just in a different menu location.

If that receiver has filtered and unfiltered LFE outputs for the subwoofer, try using the unfiltered instead of the filtered output.

Also, my own recommendation for using the LFE connection is based on what I ended up doing to always make sure the sub stayed powered on except at the softest volumes: start with the subwoofer dial below Min, set the receiver's Subwoofer channel level to +10 dB, then dial in the bass using the subwoofer's amplifier dial. What I ultimately ended up doing was using an inexpensive sound meter (Scosche SPL-1000) along with the subwoofer test tone from the receiver to gradually increase the subwoofer amplifier until the meter was showing numbers just around the 78 dB range. It worked out to about the 9:30 position (as one would view an hour hand on an analog clock) for the subwoofer amplifier dial. (It seemed at anything below +6 dB, the subwoofer would eventually power off even at a modest receiver volume of -65 dB, volume range from -94 dB minimum to -7 dB maximum.)

Now granted, I also don't own a PSW-505, instead I own a PSW-110. Still, the basic theory should still be valid as a starting point.

XeonBAMF

I pretty much have given up on trying to get this sub to work correctly with the speaker outs and will just be using the LFE option. Its not the sub giving the problem, its the receiver. I've run the stupid auto config many times and tried every setting on and off that I could think of.

With LFE, I adjusted the subwoofer in the receiver settings to +6db (it was being set to -10db by the auto setup) and turned the actual sub volume down to just above half way. This seems to have done the trick with it now sounding nice and loud. It still needs a bit more tweaking as it seems to be hitting its limit too often, getting that bottoming out thudding sound.

I now have to re-position my whole room to get the optimal sound from the sub. I have it in a corner now but its not filling the room with bass. Only one side of the couch is getting even decent bass.

On the upside, my wife came home from the gym last night and said she could hear it all the way out at the mailbox like she was sitting in front of the tv.

I am now addicted to having great sounding audio in my living room. I had a terrible Sony HTIaB setup for a few years and just thought it sounded excellent for all that time. HAH! The Sony head unit finally died a few years back and I've been using just the TV speakers. I upgraded to a 46 inch Sony XBR-9 and with its terrible speakers, just had to get something new. I decided on the Pioneer receiver because it got decent reviews on a few tech sites I frequent. This sounded ok with the tiny Sony speakers but I wanted to FEEL the sound.
I got the Monitor II 60's for a good price on NewEgg and now the 505 sub. I'm still using the cheapo Sony's for the rear surrounds and center. My next purchase will have to be the center as the combination of the 60's and this sub are overpowering the poor little Sony center.

I know this is tl;dr territory but thanks for reading anyway and thanks for the suggestions.

kawizx9r

Not sure if this has been mentioned but if the subwoofer is brand new, be gentle with it. Give it time to break in for optimal performance before you start pushing movie-tracks through it.