speaker bass and sound management

sachinsood

Hello,

I have my HT set up in the living room. The HT is next to the wall separating the bedroom and living room. I have Bass Extension turned on on the Yamaha and Bass set to +3, with Treble set to 0.

While sitting in the bedroom, I have noticed the bass sounds deeper and more powerful than when I am sitting in the living room. Is this because the bass could be reflecting off the living room wall opposite the speakers and into my bedroom? There is a noticeable difference in bass in the living room from that in the bedroom.

I have the front speakers (don't have any other speakers/subwoofer yet) about 1.5 away from the wall, 3 feet away from the TV stand and angled toward the center of the couch.

Also, since I just got the receiver, I have to browse through the manual in detail and I believe there is a way to enter the room dimensions, so that the receiver can direct the right "power" to the speakers to get the best effect. Also, something like setting up a few ms delays to get the right sound effects. Anyone ever done this?

Thanks.

Receiver: Yamaha HTR 5590
Speakers: Polk Audio R50
DVD Player: Denon DVD900

John K.

Sachin, I'd suspect that it isn't that the bass is stronger in your bedroom, but rather that the mid-range and especially the treble is weaker because the wall blocks it. The bass penetrates the wall to the bedroom and sounds relatively stronger since everything else is weaker. You imply that you'd like more bass, but you're already using the bass extension which gives a 6dB boost at 60Hz and the bass control is set for a 3dB boost, so if anything you're already too high. If you get a good sub this will give you a lower bass extension.

In your last paragraph you may be referring to the ability to set a delay to compensate for different distances to your listening position from the main, center and surround speakers. However, since you're only using main speakers at this time, there's no different distance to compensate for, so you have no adjustment to make. In short, your system appears to be operating normally, possibly with the bass set a little bit high.

sachinsood

Thanks for the input. I'll play around with the bass/treble controls and get a better midrange and high frequency output.

I do like deep, rich bass. Next in line for my HT is a Polk sub.

rs159

Polk subs are nothing spectacular. What price range are you looking at? We'll hook you up.

sachinsood

Polk subs aint that good? Hmm. I was thinking of either getting Polk or Yamaha subs. I could spend spmewhere around 500$ for one.

rs159

Dr. Spec, we have a situation here...

I'll do all the first aid I can...

The options are limitless...to narrow it down tell us some of your goals. Do you prioritize home theater or music? Do you want the ultimate ex-lax replacing bass or something thats deadly accurate and precise?

If you 100% must stay under $500 (excluding tax), Velodynes aren't bad. http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&catoid=-8023&qp=0372037063708&bookmark=bookmark_11&oid=37965

For just $50 more (excluding shipping) http://svsubwoofers.com/subs_pci_25-31.htm

Also, http://www.hsustore.com/vtf2.html

And if you're comfortable with a simple kit and a few cuts of the saw http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&User_ID=15516740&St=6284&St2=38022870&St3=-85438909&DS_ID=3&Product_ID=14733&DID=7

Like I said, there are just too many options to list without knowing your goals...but one thing is for sure you can cross Polk off of your list. Their regular speakers are great for the price but the subs aren't that cost effective.

sachinsood

Oh boy!!! Thanks so much for sending in those links!!! I loved the SVS subs!!! 32.5" tall..thats almost as tall as the Polk R50s...geez that wud be sweet to have as a sub!!! Now you really got my mind changed...I am seriously considering SVS. It looks totally amazing too! Looks are second to performance specs for me. (That's the reason I chose the Yamaha HTR 5590 later over the HTR 5660 receiver - no messy front panel). The HTR 5590 is the same as the Yamaha RX-V1300. They didnt have anything in the HTR line to match the RX-V2300/3300 (and those were too expensive for my budget also). The HTR line has gold lettering on the front panel that matches the gold lettering on my Denon DVD player - yeah I'm kinda eccentric too.

Back to subs...I was myself not very sure about Polk subs. They seemed fine to me. I was initially more impressed by the Yamaha sub (well their high end model for 999$, which is twice my budget ).

Nevertheless, a friend of mine recently set up his HT..rich old guy..spent abt 6000+ bucks on it (i've attached a pic of his system)...thats not including the $$$ he spent on the special HT room he got built as an extension to his house...in the pic is the new RCA HDTV DLP 61 inches, the high end Yamaha sub, Harman kardon high end receiver and ceiling speakers and a Velodyne center speaker. Honestly, I was not too impressed by that high end Yamaha sub either...but with my somewhat limited budget I was prepared to get a normal yamaha/polk sub for starters.

I'm giving serious thought to the SVS...I could never build a sub or anything by myself...I suck at that stuff. But I highly appreciate your suggestions.

Oh well..and then there's the Bob Carver amps.... the list of wants goes on forever....

sachinsood

Oops...the pic didn't get attached in the previous mail...it was more than the max limit specified in the forum...here it is a lil cropped up but still showing my frnd's HT entirely. Hope it gets attached this time (it cud also be my Zone Alarm firewall preventing...I'll know in a bit)

BTW. I was also reading a question in the Bass Management topic forum here and someone mentioned SVS subs causing vibrations in the TV screen. I got an itty bitty Sony 27 flat tube tv...certainly wud love to have everything shaken up tho

sachinsood

hmm wierd...turned of my firewall too...image size is 254kb. in attach file, i browse to the file and it lists up there in the text box...and then its just a submit reply button - nothing like an attach button like there normally is in yahoo or hotmail...

oh well no biggie

rs159

The SVS I linked you to is tuned to 25hz. It goes the loudest within the range above 25hz, but has more limited extension than others in the line.

The 20-39PCi, http://svsubwoofers.com/subs_pci_20-39.htm, is only $50 more, and is tuned to 20hz. In most rooms you will see good extension to below 17hz. But, becuase of its slightly lower tuning, it looses a dB or two of raw output capability. IMHO, it's the best compromise between SPL and extension.

The 16-46PCi, http://svsubwoofers.com/subs_pci_16-46.htm, is tuned to an ultra low 16 hz. In some rooms you will see extension to around 10hz. But as with the 20-39, you give up a few more dB of total output to achieve this. If you listen to tons of pipe organ and other material that has powerfull bass that low, it might be worth it, but most of the time its SPL capabilty would be its limiting factor, not extension.

IMHO, the best of the bunch is the 20-39. If you only listen to mainstream rap, and want the most SPL, go for the 25. If you need those last few hz of extension, go for the 16.

reeltrouble1

There is alot of support in this forum for SVS, I have never heard one but trust the people who say they are great and have often thought about getting one in the house to demo for a month.

That said I like my polk 450's the 450 is a kickin little sub which you might find for about 250.00 since they were recently closed out. I also saw the psw650 for 499.00. I belive it was at crutchfield.com. Lots of people like the 650 for 499.00 its a bargain.

Well, there you go, and good luck.