I just got my PSW202

Dwin1118 · August 2003

I bought this based on recommendation. I just started on this hobby so I'm not so sure about some things on speakers especially a subwoofer like this.

I just got it a couple of days ago and from what I understand I need to "break-in" the speakers before I hear it's true sound.

My question is, I've been hearing the PSW202 with some sort of clapping sounds depending on certain levels of sound. As I turn up the volume the clapping sound immediately is gone. It's also the same case with low volumes. Is this normal when it's new?

Do I need to adjust Low Pass (Hz), if I do, when?

What does Phase 0 and 180 do? Do I need to switch them at certain times?

I am a bit keen on audio, but I am not knowledgable about these things. I hope you guys can help me out.

Thank you.

Dwin1118 · August 2003

"break-in" is similar to "run-in"

I just read this earlier. "break-in" is commonly used in my country. I read "run-in" in a website.

Loud & Clear · August 2003

Can you tell us about the rest of your system, other speakers, receiver, etc., and how you have the system configured? I'm sure we'll get this straightened out one way or another.

danger boy · August 2003

You'll have fun and learn a lot in here from the people who post in here on a regular basis. What country do you reside in?

"Break In" is a term that means you "burn in" whereby you feed a low volume audio signal... over a period time a speaker, a receiver, amp, etc... for a good number of hours. this can be accomplished all at one time... or over several days, weeks.. etc.

A typical break in or (burn in) would be about 30 to 40 hours... some folks say more like 70 hours is appropriate instead. While burning in speakers.. it's suggested that you not drive the speaker to it's limits until after the burn in has taken place. You might do damage to the speaker before it has had time to properly adjust and seat itself.

good luck and post and ask as many questions as you can think of.

Al

Dwin1118 · August 2003

Originally posted by Loud & Clear
Can you tell us about the rest of your system, other speakers, receiver, etc., and how you have the system configured? I'm sure we'll get this straightened out one way or another.

I think I've figured it out now. Though i'm still trying to figure why. I've set the reciever's crossover to 80Hz and set the 202 to 80Hz now and it sounds better than it was earlier. How can I tweak the speakers better?

My entire setup...

Onkyo TX-SR600 - A/V Reciever
Mission m73 - Front L/R floorstanding speakers
Mission m7c2 - center channel speaker
Mission m7ds - Rear L/R bipolar speakers
PolkAudio 202 - subwoofer

Originally posted by danger boy
A typical break in or (burn in) would be about 30 to 40 hours... some folks say more like 70 hours is appropriate instead. While burning in speakers.. it's suggested that you not drive the speaker to it's limits until after the burn in has taken place. You might do damage to the speaker before it has had time to properly adjust and seat itself.

The one who set this up told me about that but he did turn up about 1/2 of the volume of the reciever showing me all the features when I just got it. So I thought it was ok to use that much volume.

I don't put the volume too high because it's too much for a small room too. I usually set the volume of the recievers to 1/3 the volume, 1/2 on movies with soft volumes. Will I damage the speakers at this rate?

Dwin1118 · August 2003

Originally posted by danger boy
You'll have fun and learn a lot in here from the people who post in here on a regular basis. What country do you reside in?

I hope I do enjoy here. I do have fun in forums depending on what I currently into, and home theaters is what I'm into right now. It's something I always wanted to get into. This is the first time I bought a set like this.

I have bought a Sony DAV300 (HTiB) for the living room and a Klipsch ProMedia for my PC before which doesn't tackle anything like these. I really thought I knew alot of stuff about these things but in time I'll get the hang of it.

I'm in the Philippines. Terms are "break-in" or "burn-in", but "break-in" does sound odd. Sorry about that.

dorokusai · August 2003

Hello and welcome to the forum.

If you have set your receiver's crossover(filter) to 80 hz, then crank your subwoofer crossover all the way up. This eliminates double filtering, their is no need to filter at the subwoofer level if you allready have at the receiver.

Then as your source or media is played, you will have to adjust your "volume" in order to get the right sound. I always have to adjust one way or another for music or movies, this subwoofer just isn't that hard core to be played at the highest volume, all the time. It will distort and become very boomy if you have the volume to high. Find the volume level that offers bass impact but not a boomy sound.

I have the same sub, Sony ES receiver, so the setting we would use are going to be similar.

I have a couple tweaks that I have personally done to this subwoofer, that have helped with response and sound. Spikes and a granite slab under the sub, 15" x 15". Both have helped alot with the boomy sound that the 202 is common for.

Good luck!

JohnnyCanEHdian · August 2003

Congrats on the new purchase... i just bought the 303 myself about a month ago. When i first hooked up my sub, i had a cheap **** RCA wire connected and it sounded like SH.. crap...

I went out and spent 100 bucks on a good monster cable and the difference is night and day. This cable will filter out all unwanted noise from your receiver.

Maybe not the answer to your problem, but definately worth looking into. If you don't already have good wiring, spend the extra, you won't regret it.

VR3 · August 2003

hmmmmm........a Lighter possibly?

The only thing that makes that monster cable sound better is the 100 dollars more you put into it. Its a mental thing. IMO

JohnnyCanEHdian · August 2003

Well, to each his own, but i was getting crackling noises and static in my sub before i bought this new cable.

Maybe you don't need to go out and spend 100 bucks, but i'm sure if you are using cheap cables and compare them to any half ways decent cable, you WILL notice a difference.

Dr. Spec · August 2003

Exactly my post elsewhere today. The quality sub cable is built better and won't have loose connections or be susceptible to interference and noise. Will it improve the actual sound quality? Probably not majorly, but it can definitely rid you of other problems caused by **** cables.

Dwin1118 · August 2003

I've had my share of good and bad cables. I've spent alot on them already before I got my HT set.

My experience was cheap cables are pretty bad. Monster cables are nice (I bought some too) but I realized that the prices were too much. I can just buy a good quality cables without paying THX certification and get the same quality output.

That's what happened with me.

dorokusai · August 2003

THX is overrated. DTS is not. Buy a better cable and stay with it until it explodes.

LiquidSound · August 2003

dorokusai, I'm sporting a 202 as well. I take it you have the sub spiked onto the granite? Or the granite on top as a weight?

dorokusai · August 2003

LS - I am using the block as the surface, not the weight. I experimented with granite weight + granite surface, but found nothing extra, as of yet. I am not expecting much else.

I figure that, I have tweaked as much as possible out of this little sucker. The 202 does allright once tweaked, and how can you beat the price?? Those of us on a budget must do what we have to, to get 100%.

I picked up my spikes from www.oregondv.com

They are probably more high speed than my sub.

goingganzo · August 2003

thx has its place. the olny thx piece of equipment would be a pre. you actuley get sothingout of the cert. most everything elese is a waste of money. aka they can sell it for a few hundrad less.

dorokusai · August 2003

GG - Yea, I am certainly being silly, but I didn't find THX amazing enough to spend the extra money. I am a simple person, DPL sounds pretty damn good to me you know?

Ceruleance · August 2003

I abhor DPL. It sounds terrible to me, the levels for each channel just dont sound good on my system, DPL2 on the otherhand is awesome, I love the way that sounds

Loud & Clear · August 2003

Do you have to drill into your sub to insert these spikes? Isn't there a way to adhere the spikes to the bottom of your sub? I'd like to remove the rubber feet from my CT-120, but I'd rather not drill into the sub to get brass spikes. It's irritating that Velodyne couldn't have provided for this situation with their CT series subs.

dorokusai · August 2003

Cer - I agree, DPL2 is great. I havn't noticed the things you have with DPL. I will listen closer on the next couple movies, and see if I like one over the other. My absolute favorite is of course DTS and DTS-ES.

LC - Yes, you can glue or attach them with an adhesive if you wish. I drilled mine, they come with inserts that are threaded into the sub box. The spikes then screw into the inserts. It works either way I guess.

I just got my PSW202

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