PSW-12 Sub Setup Help

RTICWOLF

Hi there!

I have the following in my setup:

1) JVC RX600 5.1 100 watt/channel receiver
2) Polk R50's for the front channels
3) Polk R15's for the rear channels
4) Sony C100 Center (looking to get a Polk CSi25 or CS1 when I can find the best deal)
5) Polk PSW-12 Sub

All of this is in my living room and the entertainment system is against the wall that has stairs behind it. There is also an open doorway just to the right of the speaker placement that goes into the large kitchen with hardwood floors (the only place to set all this up actually). I have the sub on the far right of the entertainment center, with the R50's on either side and the sub just to the right of the right speaker. All speakers face forward into the room with the main seating area directly center of the TV and speakers equal to the left and right (except the sub is further right). The sub has the doorway immediately to the right of it as its the only place I can put it (no room on the left).
Ok, now my question is this....I just do not seem to get much bass from that sub and I know I should (replaced a cheap KLH sub that actually sounded better in the same spot...wierd, I know). I switched to a Monster Bass 400 sub cable from a cheapo I was using (standard A/V cable) and it did not seem to make much of a difference. I have the volume at about half level and the phase set at 0....and there is another setting on the back (can't remember what it is) and its about half way too.....

So, what I need are some suggestions on how to set this sub up properly to get that good home rocking bass...settings or otherwise.....without moving it as I have no place else to put it right now. I mainly watch movies, so that is my main concern....thanks for the help!!!

danger boy

sounds like you have everything set up right.. what is the volume level set up on your JVC recevier set at? You may need to raise that level some.

RTICWOLF

danger boy wrote:

sounds like you have everything set up right.. what is the volume level set up on your JVC recevier set at? You may need to raise that level some.

I have the volume set at 8 out of 10 for the sub output (subwoofer set to "yes" and LFE is on)....tried bumping it up but it actually did not sound as good so I turned it back down. I have the all the speakers (except for the center) set to "large", but the bass just does not punch like my old KLH $100 cheapo sub did.....one difference is that the old sub was down firing and the new one is front firing. I did read out here that if your sub faces the same direction as the front speakers to set the phase at 180, but I am wondering how that would help at all and I would think I would loose more bass (tried it and it did not seem to make a difference, at least not to my ears).

I just expect that sub to rattle my house even more than the old one since its much better quality (it does not distort at all like the old one sometimes would) and is a 12" sub where the old was only 10". I do not listen to movies extremely loud, but I do pump it up to about 55-60 on the volume which is a little more than half way.
Does Polk monitor these forums? Maybe they could help?

RTICWOLF

Ok, I just read the Polk Home Theatre handbook and I believe that I should set my rear channel (R15's) to "Small"....they are set to "Large" now. I set them that way based on the manual from JVC saying that if the main driver speaker was over 5" in size to use "Large"...and somehow I personally thought that was not right and according to Polk its better to set them to "Small"...so that is something I will change.

So, that might help a little....I hope....

Also, what should I set the crossover frequency to on the sub? 80Hz? Higher/lower? I believe I have the JVC set to do 80Hz for the LFE output (only have 80, 120, and 160 for choices). I believe on the sub its now set mid way (whatever that setting is). I am just wondering why its so hard to get this thing to sound good? I am well past the break in period for it and I was very easy on it over the last 6 months when I was using it with my old Sony front towers and no rear channels. I just purchased the R50's and R15's recently and love how they sound, but I am being easy on them too right now for break in....but my issue is how to properly adjust/setup the sub. Or do I have a bad sub?

danger boy

set all your speakers to small. even if they are floorstanding ones.

Zen Dragon

+ 1 Set all speakers to small. This should ensure your speakers are not overlapping your subs in any of the frequencies.
I'd start with the crossover set at 80Hz, and set the subs setting well over 80Hz. You can turn the sub frequency setting up all the way actually.
Your Polk sub is good quality, but it may not shake the house to the level you want. You have to get into some of the higher dollar units for that earth shaking bass.

Eric W

Hi, lots of good advice given here. Yes try setting all the speakers to small, when the speakers are set to large, depending on the programming material some of the information may not be sent to the subwoofer, thus the low output. You also want to play with the positioning of the sub as well. Room position is very important in subwoofer performance.

The phase adjuster is also very important, particularly when used with floor standing speakers. There is no rule of thumb such as which direction the woofer points. The best way to set this up is this- put on some music that has a fairly repetitive bass note that has a variety of notes in it (i like using techno/trance style stuff because of the repetitive nature of the bass line). From your primary listening position, listen closely at the lower midbass/upper bass region of sound. Then try flipping the switch, whichever setting sounds fuller, louder and more natural is the correct setting.

Using the LFE input, the sub's "low pass" section is bypassed, so it does not matter where that knob is set to. On the receiver's setup menu, a good starting point for the "crossover frequency" is 80 Hz.

Further keep this in mind too- a cheaper, lesser quality sub may have a tremendous amount of distortion, which equates to a "punchier" sound. A more musical sub with less distortion will not have a cleaner sound to it, but may not sound as "punchy" or "loud".

AzN_plyR

I got some advice, take that sony center outta there and use a phantom center