Subwoofer Settings

racer4551

Could someone shed some light on setup procedures for sub in my rotel rsp-1066 preamp,i am confused on how to configure certain menu prompts,in speaker setup menu i have set all speakers to large and my question is how to set sub,the options are yes,no,max,the manual states to use yes if you are using a sub,no if not,max to redirect all low frequency information from all speakers(including large speakers)to the subwoofer.It states that the max setting will give you max bass performance with normal bass info being played by both the sub and any large speakers.Which setting would i use if i am connecting to Outlaw icbm then to seperate amp.If i select max wouldent that be double filtering?Also in the subwoofer setup menu(DIFFERENT MENU) it has choices for crossover,which i have set to off because it says when set to off it sends a full range signal to sub which is what i want for use of icbm,this menu also has settings for each surround mode that starts from 0 to10 or a max setting,this is my question,which setting would you use because for example if i set dolby to +5 and you play something in dolby and check on screen sub level it always says o no matter what,now if while on screen sub level you can change sub level but it wont show the +5 that you set in menu?So what is this menu for? .Any input would greatly be appreciated.

Dr. Spec

Why are you using an ICBM when you Rotel has such nice bass management controls?

The ICBM is for pre/pros that have limited BM.

racer4551

Thats the same question i have been asking myself. After i posted yesterday i basically eliminated the icbm by placing the controls on bypass for all channells and set rotel cross at 80 and and speakers to small and it seemed that i lost sub performance,wasnt as noticeable?I am going to do some calibration today using rotels bass management and see if calibration makes any difference or maybe i had something set wrong.Still confused a little on rotels sub settings?On speaker setup screen where it saysno,yes or max for subwoofer,what would you set this to?because if set to max they say it will route all low freq,s to sub ,just wondering at what crossover freq. that they decide its lowfrequency?and whats diferrent from the yes setting?i guess the best thing to do would let my ears decide.I am also going to try and use the bass management in the denon 2200 and see how it compares to icbm,might just have an icbm for sale soon.I really dont know why i am still using the icbm it was here before i purchased the rotel and just set it up thinking it was the thing to do i guess:o

Dr. Spec

Set all speakers to small, the subwoofer to yes, and the crossover to 80 Hz.

Make sure the filter on the SVS is set to Disable and the SS switch is set to 20 Hz and all ports are open.

Set the sub channel level to -5 and calibrate the sub volume with the plate amp. Flat for music, a bit hot for HT. Remember the RS meter reads 2 dB low on the sub tone.

The Denon 2200 BM will set up the same way with the analog external inputs for SACD and DVD-A.

racer4551

So if i follow you right when i set sub level in test tone menu setup i want it at -5 when i do spl calibration.Do i then set sub level in separate sub setup menu to o also?The menu is called subwoofer setup menu and gives the options of crossover from40hz to 120hz(Which i would set to 80hz)then it has dolby,dts,stereo,music,multi input, all adjustable from -10db to +10db and a max setting for each mode.Also what confuses me is that if for example you set dolby at +5 and when you check sub level with on the fly screen it says 0,does this mean if i would adjust the on the fly sub level to say +2 that it would really be +7?. Or lets say i calibrated with sub at -5 in test tone,(with level set at sub plate amp) and set sub menu options all at 0,and decided that i wanted to bump sub up 2 db using on the fly sub level, it would really be -3 , right?I know when i use the on the fly menu that its only a temp adjustment,it doesnt remember setting ,only if i changed it either on the test tone setup menu or on the sub setup menu.So what would you set levels at for the individual sound modes before calibration -5 or 0?

Dr. Spec

I would set them all initially to -5.

Calibrate the sub to DD at the -5 setting.

Then listen to each of the others settings, and calibrate up or down per your preference, say -7 for music, etc.

The "on the fly" settings represent a change from the "baseline" (whatever that may be). You are correct, if you are watching a DD5.1 movie and your sub channel is set to -5 and you think it feels weak for that particular movie, then when you pull up the on the fly sub level menu and bump it from 0 to +2, the actual effect would be equal to going from -5 to -3 in the permanent sub set-up menu.

It's actually a very nice method, because you don't have to remember your actual sub level in the set-up menu, all you need to know is that you temporarily bumped it up or down for a certain movie.

Also, make sure your LFE channel (.1 for DD and DTS) attenuation control is not "on". This control actually ramps down only the LFE channel on a DVD, but does not affect the overall sub level per se, which also includes the redirected bass from the surround channels.

Think of the LFE channel level attenuator as a "level control within a level control". It should always be set to the off or non-attenuated setting (usually 0 on a scale of 0 to -10).

Finally, make sure the Midnight Mode is not active when watching a DD movie (this is a DD dynamic range limiter), and also be sure to turn off any bass peak limiters, if your pre/pro has one.

Doc

racer4551

I dont think the rotel has a control for attenuation for just the lfe channel,just settings for main sub level and individual surrround modes,nowhere does it state a control just for lfe interaction?unless i am missing it,but i think i have read manual about 20 times now:D .Iam aware of the what rotel calls a dynamic setup in which you have three choices max(no compression/full dynamic range)mid (moderate compression) min (full compression/minimum dynamic range),which i guess is the same as midnight mode for controlling loud passages to soften so not to be so loud right?I would want to set this to max.Also i guess i have two choices on calibration setups,the rotel internal test tones or the new dve disk because it allows 6.1 setup tones, i also have an older version of avia but it is only5.1.I think i am going to start with rotels tones and then compare to dve?Also the new dve disk has setup tones in dd or dts .

Dr. Spec

The DVE has a problem with the sub tone - don't use it.

If you must use it, use 80 dB for the sub and 75 for everything else. According to JKP, 80 dB is "about" flat. After getting close, use your ears.

racer4551

Well i recalibrated with the dve disk and set rotel to all speakers small,sub yes, -5 on sub levels for all channels,set sub crossover to off,set all speakers to 75db and sub to 80db, and noticed that bass was sorta weak so upted sub gain to 87db and i am very happy:D .Compared to having icbm in system it sounds so much better, i seemed to have a hole between sub and mains when i had icbm in system,now the sub and mains blend super.Thanks for the great support DOC,i wouldnt know what we would do without you:D. The thing i am going to miss the most from the icbm is the lfe mix control, it came in handy for some bass heavy soundtracks.

Dr. Spec

Glad you are digging the newly calibrated set-up.

Personally, I didn't trust the JKP recommendation of 80 for the sub - my personal experiences with that disc indicated the sub level is off about 10-12 dB - which is almost exactly where you ended up.

It might be interesting to compare your current levels (75/87) to the Rotel internal test tones, just for kicks.

Also remember to experiment with the other sub inputs (for music, TV, etc.) and adjust those to taste (-7 or whatever). Often times the sub blends best for music running a little cooler than the HT setting.

And if a particular DVD or CD seems bass light or heavy, you can always use the temporary on-the-fly sub control without altering the main set-up settings. Remember the temporary menu always works off a "0" baseline regardless of the actual numerical setting in the main menu.

Doc