B&K Gear = No Base

andrew_mac

Hey All,

I'm having some troubles with my set up. I've checked everything I can think of but can't seem to get to the bottom of the issue. The problem is I'm not getting any bass from My B&K gear. I have great interconnects, went through all the set stuff i.e. front speakers set to large. I turned the base up as high as it goes and it helps a little bit but not much. Shouldn't it almost get distorted on max bass?

BTW home theatre sounds great. The issue is with 2ch music.

I have a NAD system that pounds bass though my speakers and its only a little 60 watt stereo amp.

The highs and mids sound great but the bass is almost non-existent, muddy at best. Could there be a problem with my B&K amp?

Any suggestion would be great. I have no clue where to go from here. I realize I spelled bass wrong in the title.

tcrossma

Are you using a different receiver / processor when switching from the B&K to the NAD gear? I don't think it'd be the amp, but it could be bass management or a setting in the receiver. Of course, if the only thing you're switching between your tests is the amp then that shouldn't be the issue.

Perhaps you could post the specific models of your gear?

And just as an FYI, it's "bass", not "base"

andrew_mac

tcrossma wrote: »

Are you using a different receiver / processor when switching from the B&K to the NAD gear? I don't think it'd be the amp, but it could be bass management or a setting in the receiver. Of course, if the only thing you're switching between your tests is the amp then that shouldn't be the issue.

Perhaps you could post the specific models of your gear?

And just as an FYI, it's "bass", not "base"

The Gear I'm using is in my sig but just to clarify its a B&K ref 50 series 1 and an B&K av5000 series 2 amp. I have been switching between that and a nad receiver/stereo amp. So yes I have been switching between the processors as well as the amp. let me try using the nad pro and the b&k amp. I'll get back with results shortly.

tcrossma

Do you have a sub hooked up to the B&K? Maybe it's a setting in the B&K processor for bass management. It could be set to cross the bass over to the sub at 80-100hz and never reaching your speakers.

andrew_mac

tcrossma wrote: »

Do you have a sub hooked up to the B&K? Maybe it's a setting in the B&K processor for bass management. It could be set to cross the bass over to the sub at 80-100hz and never reaching your speakers.

Yeah, I checked all that stuff. Co is a 70hz but front speaks are set to large so that co should be bypassed. Sub is set to off. I want bass only coming from the 2 front speakers. Like I has set up with the NAD.

Anyway, You were right its not the amp. I hooked the NAD prepro up to the B&K amp and the bass was there. It sounded great. I could get way more than enough bass. So, that being said it must be related to the B&K ref 50. Hmm... like i said I've been through all the settings on it and can't get any real solid bass. Maybe B&K processors aren't for me. I'm at a loss here.

polkatese

What setting on your input setting you have on your B&K? I have REF50S2, and you have the choice of Flat, Variable, and Loudness. Have you tried these out? Change it from Flat to Variable or better yet, Loudness (although, in my case it resulted in too much bass at this setting).

andrew_mac

polkatese wrote: »

What setting on your input setting you have on your B&K? I have REF50S2, and you have the choice of Flat, Variable, and Loudness. Have you tried these out? Change it from Flat to Variable or better yet, Loudness (although, in my case it resulted in too much bass at this setting).

Good suggestion; however, I have tried that already and found that loudness sounds the same a variable with the bass on max. Which still sounds lacking in bass. and flat sounds like no bass at all.

polkatese

hmm, doesn't sound right. One last troubleshooting before you may need to call B&K for further troubleshooting, is doing a factory reset as follow (this is for S2, but I am about 99% sure it is the same:

To perform a Factory Reset on a Reference 50 Series2, simultaneously press and release the ON/STANDBY, DOWN and MENU buttons. Once you see "Reset Preset" on the front panel you can release the buttons. Areset will take approximately 60 seconds.

Just be aware that it clears your EEPROM settings too, so you may have to recalibrate your B&K if you have notches filter been calibrated.

andrew_mac

polkatese wrote: »

hmm, doesn't sound right. One last troubleshooting before you may need to call B&K for further troubleshooting, is doing a factory reset as follow (this is for S2, but I am about 99% sure it is the same:

To perform a Factory Reset on a Reference 50 Series2, simultaneously press and release the ON/STANDBY, DOWN and MENU buttons. Once you see "Reset Preset" on the front panel you can release the buttons. Areset will take approximately 60 seconds.

Just be aware that it clears your EEPROM settings too, so you may have to recalibrate your B&K if you have notches filter been calibrated.

Interesting, I did a restore from the menu setting but maybe that just restores it to whatever it was set manualy set to (not the actual factory settings). I'll try what you suggested. Thanks for the help guys! I'll let you know how that works out.

bikezappa

Andrew

I understand your problem with B&K. The equipment sounded nice but trying to adjust anything usually required time with the manual or calling them up. They were always nice on the phone but some of the simplest things were just way to complicated for me.

I sold the unit.

andrew_mac

polkatese wrote: »

hmm, doesn't sound right. One last troubleshooting before you may need to call B&K for further troubleshooting, is doing a factory reset as follow (this is for S2, but I am about 99% sure it is the same:

To perform a Factory Reset on a Reference 50 Series2, simultaneously press and release the ON/STANDBY, DOWN and MENU buttons. Once you see "Reset Preset" on the front panel you can release the buttons. Areset will take approximately 60 seconds.

Just be aware that it clears your EEPROM settings too, so you may have to recalibrate your B&K if you have notches filter been calibrated.

OK I tried that. It doesn't work on the series 1 I guess. I did try a restore the series 1 way I believe. Anyway it did reset all my settings so i'm assuming I did it right. sound still sounds the same. "lacking solid bass".

Oh and I did call b&k about this the other day but I got rushed off the phone. Which I thought was strange cause everybody says they are great to deal with.

The conversation went like this, Hey I'm having issues with bass here's the equipment i got blah blah blah. He says, are your speakers set to large? - yes, well then your speakers are receiving all frequencys. So i ask him if there could be a problem with the processor and he replies with no no no if it was something wrong their it wouldn't work at all. Run the tones that's the only left to try. I'm like huh? the tones? so then he gets impatient with me and i'm rushed off the phone.

polkatese

Andrew,

it is different, my bad. Here is the factory reset command for REF50 S1:

FACTORY RESET

Should you ever need to completely reset the processor to the original factory settings from the front panel press the SLEEP, DOWN, and MENU buttons simultaneously. The processor will perform a complete reset and erase all user-programmed presets, menu settings, and the memory backup if you have performed one.

See if this one work.

andrew_mac

polkatese wrote: »

Andrew,

it is different, my bad. Here is the factory reset command for REF50 S1:

FACTORY RESET

Should you ever need to completely reset the processor to the original factory settings from the front panel press the SLEEP, DOWN, and MENU buttons simultaneously. The processor will perform a complete reset and erase all user-programmed presets, menu settings, and the memory backup if you have performed one.

See if this one work.

Dude I think that did it! I still find I have to have the bass on max but I seem to be getting some bass now. I also realized that I had the left and right IC's mixed up. I'm sure that wasn't helping SQ much either. haha Thanks!

polkatese

while you're at it, double check the polarity of + and - from your amp to your speakers.

Glad I can help.

andrew_mac

polkatese wrote: »

while you're at it, double check the polarity of + and - from your amp to your speakers.

Glad I can help.

Yeah I checked those a 100 times. I think the IC's got mixed up when switched back and forth from the NAD so many times. Thanks again.

lakesailor

A friend of mine had the B&K ref. 30 – It was awesome as a processor but massively sucked at 2-channel. My only advice is to try using some of the secondary zone pre-outs on the back as I believe they bypass processing on the front pre-outs you are likely currently using.

If the secondary zone pre-outs do not solve the problem I say get rid of the unit. I seem to recall reading a review somewhere where they also concluded the 2 channel performance was lacking.

shawn474

I have the same amp hooked up to an Outlaw 950 pre. I love the combo.......but i set it to 5 channel stereo when I am listening to music. The outlaw has a bypass for the sub that sends all signals to the sub. I am wondering if the B&K has a similar feature that is sending all bass to a sub?

Also, have you checked your LFE settings and checked to see whether the dynamis range limited option has been enabled? These may not matter in the 2 channel setting, but just thought I'd check.
Shawn

andrew_mac

shawn474 wrote: »

I have the same amp hooked up to an Outlaw 950 pre. I love the combo.......but i set it to 5 channel stereo when I am listening to music. The outlaw has a bypass for the sub that sends all signals to the sub. I am wondering if the B&K has a similar feature that is sending all bass to a sub?

Also, have you checked your LFE settings and checked to see whether the dynamis range limited option has been enabled? These may not matter in the 2 channel setting, but just thought I'd check.
Shawn

Yeah looks like it not my bass issue is not fixed I was just listening to a different cd at the time. I will try the zone 2 preouts to see what that does.

I have the sub set to off and fronts set to large and all LFE and dynamics are normal. I may have to sell this unit which is a big bummer cause I thought this thing was supposed to be great for music and HT. That's the main reason I went for separates, to get the best of both worlds. Ugh... not happy. Oh well live and learn I guess.

I'm noticing that voices are really clear and pronounced but the instruments have less volume and sound muffled.

polkatese

It doesn't sound right. Both my S1 and S2 REF50 never have that problem. Part of REF50 strength is in 2 channels sound quality (Of course HT is where it shines with its notch filtering strength). Now that REF70 is out, REF50 should be a great bargain. I would have trade-up to REF70 in a heartbeat for its touted HT capabilities, if not for the missing DTS-HD features and the sorry state of the economy.

bikezappa

Andrew

I would phone B&K again. Also try a test CD to determine where you loss the bass.

andrew_mac

bikezappa wrote: »

Andrew

I would phone B&K again. Also try a test CD to determine where you loss the bass.

A test CD hey? I've heard of test DVD for sound and video calibrating. What exactly do you mean by test CD? Any recommendations? And I will try B&K again.

andrew_mac

polkatese wrote: »

It doesn't sound right. Both my S1 and S2 REF50 never have that problem. Part of REF50 strength is in 2 channels sound quality (Of course HT is where it shines with its notch filtering strength). Now that REF70 is out, REF50 should be a great bargain. I would have trade-up to REF70 in a heartbeat for its touted HT capabilities, if not for the missing DTS-HD features and the sorry state of the economy.

I know, I thought I did enough research and picked out the gear that would be great for two channel as well. I bought the ref 50 s1 for $600. If I can't get this straightened out it will half to go back up on the market.