DSW Pro 550i underperforming PSW111

ecszone

I just got my DSW pro 550i. It sounds good. at normal to high levels its pretty impressive. But it seems to lack punch. I feel like something is setup wrong.
I had a friend plug in his PSW111 and his sounded significantly more punchy. the ultra low response may not be as good we did not do deep testing.
I have a Onkyo HT system.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OQUIIG/ref=wms_ohs_product

I wonder if I have something wrong in the settings somewhere.
I also noticed I do not hear much difference wen turning the crossover knob. My infinity 12" sub you can hear a big difference. Ie when you get to high a lot of junk comes through and it just sounds like a lot of muffled junk.

That's kind of what im getting form my 550i. All the reviews say this thing is epic. So I just assume its me doing something wrong.
Any suggestions?

rpf65

I would re-run Audessy, and if there isn't a difference, go to the set-up pabe. I'm assuming the sub is turned on, because the PSW111 seemed to be working. I had a similar problem with my Yamaha, and found the sub was set to -10db, while the mains were set at +4.5db.

After re-running set it set the sub at -6.5 and the mains at +0.5. Sometimes there can be glitches. You can also mainly change you sub volumn in the speaker set-up page.

ecszone

oh god this is going to be embarrassing... I never did the audysssey thing. I did go through all the settings though.

Maybe ill try "factory resetting" if that's possible and running this thing.
subwoofer is on, and plus 2 or 3. bass is even bumped a little.

im wondering if my speaker size settigns are wrong. im running RTi A1's for my fronts. Csi A4 Center and 2 Energy Take 5.1 for my back/surround

Im not bothering with 7.1 it wont work in my room.

I think my crossover on the fronts is set to 90. backs 100. I kind of guessed on that.

I loved the PSQ111 sound. I should have no problem matching that right? Its 8" so maybe a 10" just cant do that?

Thanks for your quick reply.

Oh and I will update my rears probably some day. When I finish my basement Ill need the energy speakers down there. the onkyo speakers that came with my receiver are nothing special I don't plan to ever use them again.

rpf65

You don't have to re-set your AVR, Just run Audessy. SPeakers should be set to small, may have to do that after running Audessy.

ecszone

ok thanks.
im going to need my manual and a task for my wife and kids. lol
ill post my results. hope to do this weekend.

oleon621

Rule of thumb is to set all speakers to small @80hz and when your running Audessy it should tell you to set the subs gain @ midpoint and then it'll run the rest of the test. Good luck

Tornado Red

Just my take...received my 550 a few days ago and it's exactly what I was expecting. This is certainly "not your father's" sub IMO. It's very tight and musical. Mine is teamed with Monitor 75t's and the transition is seemless in the low end, which is what I was hoping for. It IS loud, if I go upstairs it's amazing the low end that's travelling through the house. But in the listening area it blends very well to the point I don't notice 80hz and below coming from that particular spot, which I think is how it's supposed to be. If you're looking for boomy or sloppy, it's not here with the 550, and I think that's the way it was mapped out to be. It just takes some getting used to, compared to what some of us are familiar with....

ecszone

Im actually looking for tight hard hitting bass. Sure some vibrate your fillings out is nice in addition, which this does., but it does not seem to have the pounding clean kickdrum type of sound.

I ran Audiossy but have not really tested it as it was late.

There is my results. Thoughts?

My lowpass crossover was about straight up, which i think is 90hz. I put it at about 10:00.

ill test it tonight to see if its much better. At low volumes its not really fair. Although the PSW111 did not need all that high volume to really punch. maybe its just unfair to compare it to a 8" woofer.

rpf65

I would probably reset all those cross overs to 80 Hz to start with. Most would recommend keeping all the cross overs at the same setting, and not individualize them. If you still feel it needs a little adjustment, raise it by 10 or 20 Hz, not very familiar with your AVR.

teekay0007

ecszone wrote: »

Im actually looking for tight hard hitting bass. Sure some vibrate your fillings out is nice in addition, which this does., but it does not seem to have the pounding clean kickdrum type of sound.

I ran Audiossy but have not really tested it as it was late.

There is my results. Thoughts?

My lowpass crossover was about straight up, which i think is 90hz. I put it at about 10:00.

ill test it tonight to see if its much better. At low volumes its not really fair. Although the PSW111 did not need all that high volume to really punch. maybe its just unfair to compare it to a 8" woofer.

OK, if I'm reading your Audyssey screen right, you're asking way too much of your Fronts and Center channel, and consequently, not enough from your sub. You have the crossovers set for the fronts and center at 40 Hz which is way too low. With it set like that, you're only asking the sub to take everything below 40Hz, or in the case of the 550, that's just the very narrow band of about 25-40 Hz. You should never have the crossover set below the Lower-3dB Limit of the frequency response of your speakers. Most people here won't even set the crossovers down to 40 Hz with their large tower speakers that may have a lower-3dB limit in the 20s. Your Fronts (RTiA1s) and your Center (CSiA4) have Lower-3dB limits of 60 Hz and 65 Hz, respectively. Therefore, step one for you to try would be to manually adjust those crossovers on your Audyssey to a minimum of 70 Hz - I would start with 80 Hz though first and maybe even go up to 90 Hz. Leave the crosssover for your surrounds at 120 Hz. Then, set your Low Frequency Effects channel (LFE) to 120 Hz and give it another try. Hopefully, that will sound much better for you.

Also, for best results, your receiver should be connected to your 550 via one RCA subwoofer cable - running from the subwoofer preout on the receiver to the LFE input on the 550, and make sure the LFE toggle on the sub is set in the "yes" position. Further, when the sub is connected this way, the low pass filter (knob on the sub) is overridden, so it doesn't matter where it is set.

Initially, before running the Audyssey, set the voume on the 550 to 20 (half power) and the phase to 0 degrees and the PRO (Polk Room Optimizer) to the setting that best describes your sub placement. After the Audyssey is run, you can adjust the volume to your personal taste with different media inputs and give some of the other phase settings a try to see which you prefer from your most often used listening position.

Hope this helps.

teekay0007

Tornado Red wrote: »

Just my take...received my 550 a few days ago and it's exactly what I was expecting. This is certainly "not your father's" sub IMO. It's very tight and musical. Mine is teamed with Monitor 75t's and the transition is seemless in the low end, which is what I was hoping for. It IS loud, if I go upstairs it's amazing the low end that's travelling through the house. But in the listening area it blends very well to the point I don't notice 80hz and below coming from that particular spot, which I think is how it's supposed to be. If you're looking for boomy or sloppy, it's not here with the 550, and I think that's the way it was mapped out to be. It just takes some getting used to, compared to what some of us are familiar with....

T-Red: Sounds like you're pleased with your DSWPRO550wi. I was going to check in with you, hoping that you'd be happy with it and that I didn't give you the oversell on it in an earlier thread of yours. :biggrin: Hope you think it's plenty enough for your listening/viewing space.

Tornado Red

teekay0007 wrote: »

T-Red: Sounds like you're pleased with your DSWPRO550wi. I was going to check in with you, hoping that you'd be happy with it and that I didn't give you the oversell on it in an earlier thread of yours. :biggrin: Hope you think it's plenty enough for your listening/viewing space.

It suits my style these days to a Tee, thanks TK. Just got back from the US border, picked up the Monitor 25c center I had ordered to complete things. I need to build some new isolation wedges to fit, hope to have everything tuned in this weekend so I can resume the position in my big a** easy chair and enjoy...will drop a note to let you know how it all sounds...

Tornado Red

Back to this thread...haven't tried this on mine yet, but it came with rubber feet extensions (about 3/4"), that pop onto the rubber feet that are already there. Using this method to raise the bottom firing sub higher off the floor, what effect will this have, if any? Also, the 550 can be oriented to a front firing position, which also might be worth trying just to see if gets the thing a little closer to your liking...