PSW111 Max Volume

narkeeso

First post, first setup, all polk gear

I just got:

Harmon Kardon AVR-247
SurroundBar
and a PSW111

I love my gear except I'm a little sad about the PSW111. I hope it's not because of my connections. I'm basically running just an RCA cable through LFE to the sub pre-amp on the AVR-247.

In order to get any decent bass out of it I need to set the subwoofers volume to max. That just doesn't seem right. I've also upped the decibels on the subwoofer channel and that helps a lot. However, it bugs me that I need to turn the volume to max and increase decibels just to get okay sound.

What am I doing wrong? Is the subwoofer just not that powerful? I love the size, the price, the looks.

I am considering a DSW 400 but it's significantly bigger and another 100 dollars.

Can anybody offer up some advice please?

speakergeek

Have you turned up the sub woofer level in your receiver? I don't know if your receiver has a calibration tone, but have you auto calibrated your speakers? If not do that first.

Meechsterlee

Could the issue be resolved by relocating the sub? I have no idea what the room looks like or how big it is but you could try the following to try and obtain a more desireable output level.

Place the sub where you sit in the room. Start off with modest settings...1/2 max on the sub and say -5 to -3 on the HK's output level for the sub.

From here, move about the room and listen for the spots where the sub sounds to be performing at a level that you desire. Place the sub in the location that suits you the best. Adjust levels as needed to finish the sound to your needs.

Hope this helps.

narkeeso

speakergeek wrote: »

Have you turned up the sub woofer level in your receiver? I don't know if your receiver has a calibration tone, but have you auto calibrated your speakers? If not do that first.

I have turned up the levels of my sub. I can get nice output if I turn up the levels but I didn't realize you would need to adjust levels just to get desirable output?

Sub placement is pretty limited for me, I live in a small place and my entertainment area is my bedroom. This is the main reason I went with a compact sub and a surroundbar.

Meechsterlee

Have you tried to adjust the phase control on the sub?

narkeeso

Yes, I have it set to 0 right now. I'm not quite sure what that does though? Is that telling the subwoofer to fire in a different direction? That's the only explanation I could come up with the settings 0 and 180.

Just to update you all, instead of plugging in the sub through the LFE, I ran speaker wire through the front and left outputs on the receiver and into the subwoofer line in as instructed on the SurroundBar manual and the sound is so much better! I still don't understand why I need to turn up the volume so loud to get results though even after adjusting the levels.

I guess this thing has it's limitations. I think I may have to upgrade to the DSW 400, the PSW 111 just feels limited in the fact that I have to push it so hard.

dom

narkeeso wrote: »

Yes, I have it set to 0 right now. I'm not quite sure what that does though? Is that telling the subwoofer to fire in a different direction? That's the only explanation I could come up with the settings 0 and 180.

Just to update you all, instead of plugging in the sub through the LFE, I ran speaker wire through the front and left outputs on the receiver and into the subwoofer line in as instructed on the SurroundBar manual and the sound is so much better! I still don't understand why I need to turn up the volume so loud to get results though even after adjusting the levels.

I guess this thing has it's limitations. I think I may have to upgrade to the DSW 400, the PSW 111 just feels limited in the fact that I have to push it so hard.

I think its because your subwoofer amp cant process the LFE signal coming form the receiver. I have the same problem with my Onkyo TX-SR304 sending VERY low signal to my Velodyne VX-10b subwoofer using the line-level input, and even using a Y-Splitter doesn't help a bit. So I have to run my front left/right speaker outputs from my receiver to my subwoofer speaker-level inputs...and then You HAVE to run your front channels through the speaker-level outputs of the subwoofer. That way the LFE signals are being sent to the sub, just through a different way, plus you get to set the crossover from the sub itself.

dorokusai

Narkeeso - I'm going to move this to "Troubleshooting" since it's a problem I haven't heard so far. There are more folks that view that room than this one.....hang on.

If you had improved performance using the speaker level inputs, at least the subwoofer is in working condition. I know DOM mentioned the input sensitivity, but this shouldn't be an issue at all. "Sleepy" inputs are not that common anymore and it's usually a setup issue on the AVR.

What are your settings?

narkeeso

dorokusai wrote: »

Narkeeso - I'm going to move this to "Troubleshooting" since it's a problem I haven't heard so far. There are more folks that view that room than this one.....hang on.

If you had improved performance using the speaker level inputs, at least the subwoofer is in working condition. I know DOM mentioned the input sensitivity, but this shouldn't be an issue at all. "Sleepy" inputs are not that common anymore and it's usually a setup issue on the AVR.

What are your settings?

Sorry, I should have posted an update but I bought a DSW Pro 400 hoping it would help. It fixed the LFE output volume problem. I got the power I wanted out of it. However, I noticed that I lost surround when using LFE. The surroundbar is much better off using the speaker level inputs. The subwoofer and the surroundbar blend very well together when used like this.

On another note, just for those looking to get the most surround out of the surroundbar I tend to set the Surrounds to +9 level output and the F and R at +2 and I like my center at +5. I'm very happy with my setup now. Thanks for the help guys.

dorokusai

It doesn't suprise me that you have to boost the AVR settings but the speaker level input VS the line level makes zero sense.

Hey, you're happy, enjoy.

narkeeso

dorokusai wrote: »

It doesn't suprise me that you have to boost the AVR settings but the speaker level input VS the line level makes zero sense.

It didn't make much sense to me either. However, Polk shows this as the recommended hook up for the surroundbar for best surround effect and blending.

It recommends using LFE output as an alternative method if you want to play it louder but you will lose some of the surround effect.

It may be my AVR but I think I got a decent AVR. I have the Harmon Kardon AVR-247 and it has an option to send L/R frequencies to the sub via LFE. I tried that option and I still feel the Speaker Level Input is superior, at least with the surroundbar. I think the surroundbar is the exception, for other speaker setups I imagine LFE would be best?

It would be good to know if I'm not getting optimal setup for my surroundbar.

My settings for the LFE output were as follows:

Subwoofer: LFE + L/R
Crossover: 120
SurroundBar Speaker Crossover: 120

dorokusai

It's got nothing to do with that and I'm familiar with the directions. Hey, you fixed it....cool.

dom

When i had the same problem form my onkyo receiver and velodyne sub, i called both companies. When I called velodyne, they were bent on telling me that the RCA inputs HAD to be used. If they didn't work then it was a problem with the amp on the back. Even after I told him the speaker level inputs work fine.

I called Onkyo, (great support) asking if i had anything configured incorrectly, they said no. They said that some powered subwoofers have problems processing filtered LFE singals through the line-level inputs from a receiver's sub preout. In turn you get very low signal and you have to turn the volume all the way up on the subwoofer to get any bass at all. That was exactly my problem. so they said run the speaker-level inputs and set my receiver to "Subwoofer: No". that was the LFE signals go through my front channel speaker outputs to the subwoofer's speaker-level inputs, and the sub catches the LFE signals and processes it. Therefore i lose no bass.

The only thing that I hate about it is that i have to run an extra pair of speaker cables from the receiver to the sub, then from the sub out to the front channel speakers, instead of a single subwoofer cable. but it still sounds great and runs the same channels. You wouldn't be missing anything. I read that some folks prefer to set it up that way. Glad you found a sub that works with the sub preout in the end.

narkeeso

Dom,

Everything you went through is the exact same thing I went through. Glad I'm not the only one.