Re configuring the system
mantis
Posts: 17,194
Hello all,
I have so many stand alone subs and since i have built in Subs in the Mythos ST towers I never use any of them. As I was cleaning in the basement I took up my NAD DAC and love having that back in my system. Now I'm considering hooking up my Def Tech Powerfield 15 Subwoofer as a stand alone sun in the room and disconnecting the sub feeds to the Mythos ST tower speakers and letting them run stand alone speaker wire and maybe even drop them to small @ 80hz to see if I can gain some dynamic range out of the internal amps of the Sony 5000es receiver and remove my Marantz Monoblocks. With running the ST's in full range plus using them as subwoofers I felt it sucked some of the dynamic range out of the internal amps. So I added the Marantz monos to regain some of what I felt I lost. It worked great but If I run them in small and run a external sub which has a 15 inch subwoofer I'm wondering if I'll get better over all results?
Screw it over the next week I'm gonna re wire and see what happens. I'm also strongly considering going Monitor audio speakers as I really have taken a liking to them. The Silver series is what I really like and think they would work great in my room. It's been a very long time since I had stand alone speakers with no internal subs and I desire a wood box speaker. The Mythos ST's have been in my system longer then anything I ever owned before due to the sheer ability to play theater at it's best then play music with jaw dropping performance. Truly a incredible universal speaker package BUT maybe I just need to switch it up a bit.
I'll probably bring home a pair of fronts from the Silver line before I move the Mythos series as Music has to equal or better them. If they don't then the Mythos stays once again.
Should be fun.
I have so many stand alone subs and since i have built in Subs in the Mythos ST towers I never use any of them. As I was cleaning in the basement I took up my NAD DAC and love having that back in my system. Now I'm considering hooking up my Def Tech Powerfield 15 Subwoofer as a stand alone sun in the room and disconnecting the sub feeds to the Mythos ST tower speakers and letting them run stand alone speaker wire and maybe even drop them to small @ 80hz to see if I can gain some dynamic range out of the internal amps of the Sony 5000es receiver and remove my Marantz Monoblocks. With running the ST's in full range plus using them as subwoofers I felt it sucked some of the dynamic range out of the internal amps. So I added the Marantz monos to regain some of what I felt I lost. It worked great but If I run them in small and run a external sub which has a 15 inch subwoofer I'm wondering if I'll get better over all results?
Screw it over the next week I'm gonna re wire and see what happens. I'm also strongly considering going Monitor audio speakers as I really have taken a liking to them. The Silver series is what I really like and think they would work great in my room. It's been a very long time since I had stand alone speakers with no internal subs and I desire a wood box speaker. The Mythos ST's have been in my system longer then anything I ever owned before due to the sheer ability to play theater at it's best then play music with jaw dropping performance. Truly a incredible universal speaker package BUT maybe I just need to switch it up a bit.
I'll probably bring home a pair of fronts from the Silver line before I move the Mythos series as Music has to equal or better them. If they don't then the Mythos stays once again.
Should be fun.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
Comments
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Always fun to change it up a bit. Will be interested to hear your results
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Ok so I made the switch to change it up. I've been using the Internal Subwoofers in the Def Tech Mythos ST's for years and years, basically since I had them but have added subs in the past and removed them after awhile. I have probably 7 or 8 subwoofers and it's nice to have a stand alone once in a while.
BUT ,
The Powerfield 15 is a older model Def Tech sub, it's powerful low and pretty clean. I don't think however it's as fast or clean sounding as the built in sub woofers in the ST's. I re setup my system and put the ST's in small 80hz. Yeah yeah I know they can play much lower then 80hz but the goal here isn't to use what each channel speaker can reproduce, it's to create a full surround experience with maximum Dynamic range without having to use external amps. I removed the Marantz Mono Blocks and just use straight speaker wire( audioquest Rocket 44's) to the ST's.
The Subwoofer is pictured is on the left side wall as my wife insists on using the ugly stupid Mirror in the front left corner which is exactly where I wanted to put the Powerfield 15.
But I placed the 15 inch big boy correctly on the side wall and tuned it to pressurize the room.
My results are a mixed bag. I think it sounds pretty good and at times I feel the deep impact of it's sheer low end output. BUT I still think the system sounds better and cleaner with just the ST's handling the low end extension. I'm gonna rock it for a few days and see if it's Different forming my opinion or is it truly not as good with a larger sub vs 2 smaller in my room.
Just remember if your reading this and comparing it to your room, you can but results may vary room to room as in some rooms 1 larger sub pressurizes better then 2 smaller ones. This is placement and room configuration that dictates. I firmly believe 2 subs are better then 1 due to I can tune a room better. With the ST's I can't quite TUNE the way I can with independent sub's as they are restricted to placement due to being built inside the main left and right speaker. Technically speaking the placement is not exactly correct being int he left and right ideal main position. Ideal in a perfect world is centered on each wall or corner loaded for sheer maximum output. 1/8 positions on the front wall works well as well and I'm probably in the 1/4 position with the towers.
Either way it's fun to play and I like playing. Tomorrow the Powerfield might just make it's way back to the Subwoofer pile in my basement.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Sounds like you have at least a weeks worth of subs to try out.
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It's nice to have all those options and it's fun switching things up to see which way sounds best. I also have an older def tech powerfield sub (pf1800) and it blends in well with my 1.2tl's. I tried a pair of pf1800's but I felt that just one corner loaded sub sounds best. For an older model sub I think those old powerfields are great sounding.
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I didn't corner load mine yet but I'd like to. My wife setup our Mirror after the tree came down which is where I wanted to place the PF15.motorstereo wrote: »It's nice to have all those options and it's fun switching things up to see which way sounds best. I also have an older def tech powerfield sub (pf1800) and it blends in well with my 1.2tl's. I tried a pair of pf1800's but I felt that just one corner loaded sub sounds best. For an older model sub I think those old powerfields are great sounding.
On the side wall it's working. It's been working quite well and I'm enjoying my time with it. I do like how the ST's are sounding being in small and only going down to 80hz as most Def Tech owners would probably freak out with that configuration as it goes against what they are designed for. But I like thinking outside the box once I fully test and live inside it.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
You know it's funny how you get use to things and they don't point themselves out after a while. The PowerField 15 Subwoofer has been in my system for awhile now and I really don't notice it anymore. I've played Star Wars Battle Front 2 many times which has hard hitting bass and excellent surround effects not to mention 4k so I enjoy it even more. I've watched Football and plan on watching the games today. I've watched a few movies and TV shows both streaming and on disc and the Powerfield 15 just plays nice with everyone else and blends right into my system nicely.
I'm wondering if I just got use to how it responds and I except it or it's a damn fine older model subwoofer that can still play nice? Either way my system is performing great. One thing I have not done enough is listen to music. I'm gonna run some high Rez stuff with my computer connected to the NAD DAC VIA USB today and study the low end effects. Since my ST's are set to small the Sub will be joining the party. It's going to be a line level response which Speaker wire is a better choice for music reproduction in my opinion. I think this is where the ST's on their own really shine as the built in Subwoofers really integrate perfectly as they are matched and tuned to the SAT part of the speaker( The mid range drivers and tweeter) which is a sealed design.
I'm also going to stream more from Sonos since it's also connected to the NAD DAC and I have been wonderfully impressed with the overall performance of my Sonos Connect in this configuration. I usually connect the Coax out of the Connect( Audioquest Carbon Coax Cable) directly to my AVR( Sony STRZA5000ES) and let the AVR do the D to A conversion and it doesn't suck, it's just not as warm and detailed as the NAD DAC. I have A B them against each other and the NAD just sounds more pleasing for whatever all the reasons are. It's connected to the Sony with a pair of Audioquest Mackenzie analog RCA cables.
Winter is my time to play with my system as I don't want to spend any time in the garage rubbing my RT HEMI as it's just to damn cold out there even with the door down. Sucks as detailing my Truck is one of my therapy sessions lol.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Interesting observation and I think it's your old pf just being a damn fine old sub. I feel the same way about my pf18; it sits there in the corner never drawing attention to itself but doing it's job of helping out with the lowest notes. I've had a few other subs and they all seemed to draw attention to themselves no matter how or where I set them up. It's nice when things just blend in and work as they're intended.
