psw505 not much bass

cul8ri1

I just purchased a psw505 on boxing day and it doesn't give much bass. I have it hooked up via speaker level input of a Samsung HTIB. I do have the gauge of wire specified in the manual but it doesn't give much bass for that size of sub. Could the signal from the Samsung receiver not be enough? Even if I crank the sub all the way it doesn't give room shaking bass. From reviews I read it should only need to be at about 60% volume to give ample bass.

tonyb

Does your HTIB have a dedicated sub out ? If your hooking it up by speaker level, is the crossover set higher up like around 80-100 ? Are you playing anything that has low bass ? Is there settings in the receiver to change the fronts to large ? If your using the speaker level connections, the speakers have to be set to large to get the full signal. Are there any other settings in the HTIB receiver pertaining to the sub ?

cul8ri1

It has a speaker level sub out for a small sub that came with it but it is very small wires and only 2 of them. I am using the wires for the 2 front speakers and in the settings I set them to +6 dec assuming that is for large? I have tried the crossover in the middle and all the way up running bass tests on youtube but don't get any crazy pounding out of it.

tonyb

the +6 is a speaker level setting, not a determination of small or large. Being that it is a HTIB, it comes with small speakers and may not have a setting to change to large. Mainly because these small HTIB's are never meant to run big speakers and many don't even offer that setting. Many have set crossover points too to work with the speakers and sub that came with the unit. That's why they call them a HTIB, not meant to change to different speakers and subwoofers.

If that's the case, the sub won't work in that scenario. You'd need a regular HT receiver.

cul8ri1

So I have a $300 coffee table?

[Deleted User]

What is the model number of your HTIB?

cul8ri1

H5530

[Deleted User]

I read the owner's manual and there is really only one to connect the Polk sub, using the connection on the Samsung that goes to its subwoofer. Is here any bass coming from the Polk? Or, is it not sufficient?

cul8ri1

Well I used the wires coming from the 2 front speakers and it gives bass but not a huge amount. I did not try the 2 wires from the sub out because it is only 20 gauge wire and it is a molded connector that plugs to the receiver so I would have to try and solder thicker wires in the molded connector.

[Deleted User]

The thickness of the connecting wires isn't too important, at this point. The front speakers probably don't have any bass information in their signal, since the system has a separate sub. The best connection method will be the wires that are intended for the Samsung woofer.

cul8ri1

ok I will try that tonight and post results. Thanks for the support.

[Deleted User]

I hope it works for you.

tonyb

Running down the specs, it shows that it has no speaker settings available but they are set to full range. Bad thing is who knows where the crossover point is set at. You should be able to get sound from the sub using the sub connection though. Crap shoot on how well it will sound.

These HTIB things have their limits and expansion is one of them. You might be better served to sell it and get a receiver more capable of expansion.

300 buck coffee table ?? LOL....Like the analogy but if you sell the whole thing you can at least recoup some of that. It's not a bad unit as far as HTIB's go, but like I said, they have their limits.

cul8ri1

I hooked up the sub wires and sure enough lots of bass. It is only 24 gauge wires. Do you think I should try and solder thicker wires into the molded plug or does that not matter?

This also has me thinking I have an older Samsung HTIB upstairs and I hooked up the rear speakers to an amp that powers tactile transducers in the couch. It seems to give a good amount of vibrations on movies and music I wonder if it would give more if I used the sub wires from that system too.

[Deleted User]

It really isn't necessary to use a heavier gauge wire for this type of connection, there isn't much current flowing via that set of wires. Room placement, of the subwoofer, will make much more difference to the overall bass performance. If possible move the sub closer to a wall or corner if you wish to increase the amount of bass. Or, pull the sub out away from walls and corners to smooth out the bass if you notice a "one note bass" quality to the sound.

cul8ri1

Awesome, thanks for the help guys.

cul8ri1

Just an FYI I rewired my other setup upstairs with the sub out wires of a HTIB to transducers in the couch. They were wired to the rear speakers before. The vibrations when connected to the sub out is much better. I had to turn it down since deep voices would make it vibrate too, i'll have to find a good crossover setting for movies and set it there.