Getting tighter bass

iDoNtKnOe2k1

Hello,
I have the PSW 150 from polk audio i bought a long time ago.
Its doing good but i am not getting the tight accurate bass that i am looking for. Like when im listening to Hotel California on DVD, the bass is there but when the drum hits its like doomoobodbbboombodoomy (not tight, all sloppery).

So is there an option to fix this? Should i try moving the sub away from the corner of the room which is where it is now. Any other fixes?

Thanks.

edit: wroops please move this to the subwoofer forum. i havent used this forum in a while altho been registered since 2001

scottvamp

I remember your screen name - good to hear from ya. I will cut to the chase on this, I believe you are just asking to much from an old entry level sub. If you move it from the wall you will lose alot of spl. Trying different placement and proper calibration is what Home Audio is all about........... Have fun!!!

lomic

Buy an HSU sub, problem solved! From experience with my previous sub, moving it around won't help the quality of the bass, just the quantity.

It really is true - if your system needs a sub, the sub is what will make or break your system. Don't skimp or you'll be stuck with "what if".

ntculenuff

do you have it hooked up with the low level out (sub cable) or are you using the high level inputs (speaker wire from amp) ?

in playing with differant hook ups of subs i have noticed a cleaner sound from using the sub out. the high level tends to make a boomier wawa sound.

and i agree with scott a newer sub is always good

steveinaz

You can try a number of things; maybe using isolation cones under the subwoofer, and placing it on a hard paltform if it is on carpet; try reducing the subs level a little; experiment with different placement. It's difficult to achieve deep, tight bass with a relatively inexpensive sub---if it could be done cost-effectively, all subs would be cheap.

scottnbnj

if you think you have enough spl to satisfy you then calibration, placement and tweaks will probably do to get what you do have under control.

the booming is probably from resonances and/or too much reinforcement at certain frequencies. so, what you are trying to do is reach a balance where the offending frequencies are controled without losing too much of the rest of the spectrum. in the best case you want to reinforce frequencies that aren't getting enough bounce and tame frequencies that are out of control.

i don't know much about it, so i'll leave calibration, crossovers and switches to others. you might start another thread in hookup & management or search the archives. you should probably be confident that that is right first.

if that doesn't get you to where you want to be you can try adjusting your tone the old fashioned way.

while staying close to the corner, experiment placing the sub unequal distances from each of the walls near it. if nothing else is working you can try to raise a sub off the floor but this can create its own problems because the platform may be unstable or resonate itself and add its own ~sound~ on top of what your room and gear already produce.

also, are you sure the booming is entirely from your sub? do you get the boom when main speaks play alone? if the sub is played alone, is the boom not as strong or have a different character? if so mains placement experimentation in addition to sub placement is on your to do list.

for mains, maybe you need more distance from the wall behind them, or just more air around them(if, say, they are close to a large entertainment unit). as with the sub, unequal distances from the wall behind them and the side walls can help. but, as mentioned above, the further you move from the walls, the less the walls will reinforce what bass your rig does produce. the good news is that more distance between the speaks and the wall behind them will probably give your soundstage more depth.

also, the floor, walls or some other object might be resonating.

if it's the floor, patio blocks under the sub, as mentioned above, might help. blocks give subs and speaks a firm footing on an unstable or resilient floor in addition to reflecting most energy back into the room (which might help, hurt or create a new problem depending on your situation).

if it's the walls it might be worth experimenting with a similarly reflective material in different positions in the corner near the sub (maybe a couple of large marble floor tiles with double sided carpet tape to see if it helps. you could try just one wall of the corner too). if this increases the boom but also adds deeper bass that you want, it can be further tuned with different materials and placement.

if something else in the room resonates you might feel it by placing a fingernail lightly on objects like an entertainment unit, shelves, a table, their contents or something hanging on a wall close to the sub. to get the feel of what you're looking for, try touching your sub or speaker cabinets lightly with your fingernail at weak points.

if any of this gets you close but not quite there, moving your listening position a bit might help too. the sound will be different throughout the room(in 3d). you might get a feel for what is possible with listening position changes by walking around the room and noting the range of differences. if you have some flexibility with listening positions, you might try experimenting with an office chair(w/ wheels) to speed things up.

if none of this gets you there and you are up for more fiddling,.. maybe more info about your gear, setup, room and what you found with calibration and tweaking might give someone ideas(pics help too).

good luck, enjoy the journey and keep us posted.

)

Airplay355

i agree with scottvamp....consider getting a new sub.

fgr41

I don't know if it will work for your sub or not but you may try to modify the sub box itself. I had a sony sa-wm40 and there was a simple trick that helped it out a lot. I took the sub out of the box then filled the box with polyfill, put the sub back in and enjoyed. It didn't sound like a $500 sub but it did sound a hell of a lot better. Do some searches for the polyfill mod on the sony sa-wm40, it may work for your sub and then again it may not. Its a cheap and easy way to try and mod the box itself.