Setting up MicroPRO 4000 properly

mn12

Hey all, I have had a pair of the MicroPRO 4000 subwoofers for some time now, and I am just getting around to setting them up properly. I got a great deal on them a few months ago, and never did anything with them until now.

I should start off by saying that they are going to be in a second floor room with fairly large open spaces downstairs. One is going to be in a corner, which is also the corner of the house, with the other one about 10 feet away. There are some larger cabinets in the room, and a carpeted floor.

I already have spikes for them, solid machined brass, although I am debating whether these are best simply due to the fact that this sub has the power to move around on its own.

My tv cabinet is about 3 feet long, and its surroundings are RT-20P towers right now. I have a pair of LSi25s, but I'm skeptical to put those as my mains, simply due to matching the tweeter of the CS350-LS. Currently, the LSi25s are acting as my surrounds. I plan to change this a bit when I get a 7.2 or 9.2 receiver.

My question right now is, what is the best way to run and calibrate both of the subs, based on what I already have? I still have my Pioneer 5.1 from about 4 years ago, with 1 sub output. How much will sound quality diminish if I run a splitter in there and run both at the receiver? Will it overpower my receiver and fry the amp board in there?

It's a temporary room, as I plan to purchase a house in the coming 18-24 months.

JimAckley

I don't know anything about calibrating them, but getting spikes was probably the best move you've made so far. They're a must-have for any subwoofers, IMO.

You're not going to fry your receiver's circuitry by driving two subs with a splitter. The signal that's getting to the sub will be slightly lower in amplitude, but that's about it.

As far as location, I'd play around a little bit. There are a few webpages and articles out there about different placements to consider. A lot of people do both up front. I use a PSW1000 and LSi25s as the fronts in my HT, and use all of those subs without any problem, and that's essentially 4 10s up front. Try setting one in your primary seating location, and go around the room to see where the sound transfers well. That'd be a decent place to start.

DVOuSS

Initially I started with the subs up front on either side of the TV inside of the LSi25s. I thought this sounded awesome, but with some more research I saw that putting them at opposite corners of the room sounded much better. Finally I located both subs directly beside each other between the rears. I ran 1 36 foot monster cable from the LFE out of the Onk to the line in on one sub, then 1 cable from the line out of the first sub to the LFE in of the second sub. This produced a SOLID distortion free, room shaking bass that I did not think the mp4k was capable of. I do not claim to know the science behind SPL or room pressure, but what I do know is that the opening scene of Star Wars II shakes the walls in my media room as well as the living room down stairs now that the subs are side by side in the back of the room.

mn12

That's the effect that I'm aiming for. Right now I have one of them hooked up via LFE, and just with a pretty quick crossover adjustment on the receiver, the sub seems to do very well, but I know there's a lot that I'm not getting out of it right now. I guess my main concern would be temporarily running both off of a splitter from the receiver (Pioneer VSX-517-K). As far as running the line level out from the first and into the second, that will not present any problems of any sort at all?

I'm trying to learn as I go, and it just so happens that I find good deals on everything from Craigslist, except for the receiver, which cost $60 new on sale from Best Buy. I know it's nowhere near what I should be running this equipment at, that's why I'm trying to piece it together and figure out what's best for my home theatre.

JimAckley

You can use the splitter and it will be fine, in which case run it to the LFE ins on the subs. If not, you can run a cable to the line-in of the 1st sub, the from the line-out of the first sub to the line-in of the second. Then, set the subwoofers' crossovers all the way up so that you can adjust your receiver to whichever crossover frequency without the sub's crossover blocking anything out.

mn12

If I am running the sound out of my LCD right now, how much will it it affect sound quality based on my tv output and cable choice? I have a Samsung LN32A550 with optical out, running into my kind-of crappy Pioneer VSX-517-K receiver. I know the receiver is in need of an upgrade, and when I can afford it, I will most-likely consider a more high-end Onkyo. I guess my thoughts now are, if I run a splitter between the two subs, how much will I lose over the splitter, or will I drop enough sound quality initially to make it worth selling my equipment and purchasing new equipment right away?

I'm also considering selling my new most new MicroPRO 4000 subwoofer, based on whether or niot it will add enough to my system

dhart86

how much?