PSW 505 just arrived

jemrey81

So my PSW 505 just arrived this afternoon... I am pretty impressed with it's build quality, the sub surround is awesome I hooked it up as soon as I walked in the door and I can tell that it isn't the most musical sub, but I can tell it has a lot more overall potential than my old sub. I need to start thinking about what movie I am going to watch first......

ibewbrother

try HBO's new series The Pacific...The first shot was memorable on my SVS

wutadumsn23

Congrats on the 505, while I agree that it isn't the most musical of subs, it is hard to beat for what it can be had for these days. As for what to play, if you have The Dark Knight on Blu Ray, it is my standard for showing off my system.

-Jeff

cnh

You can improve its musicality a lot by tweaking it. Don't overdrive it for music. A sub should not be that audible when playing music. Music is not an LFE effect! Many people here don't realize that a setting that may be good for HT may suck for 'music'. I often have to turn down my sub when I'm in the musical mode. Believe me. It does make a difference. While not the most musical of subs the PSW505 can be more musical than you think. Placement is also important...play around with that too!

cnh

jemrey81

Thanks for the input guys.... I wish I had more options for placement, but it is where it is and won't move until I movet o a new place. It's hard to explain, but I have everything in a corner unit with a fireplace on the wall to the left (immediately) and a couch on the wall to the right. The sub sits between the corner unit and the couch facing an open room.... so, if that makes sense, you can see that it isn't the optimal spot. On a side note, I watched The Pirates of the Caribbean... it was a good option, I thought... I don't have HBO or The Dark Knight (thanks for the suggestions!).

cnh - by overdriving, are you referring to the volume knob on the back of the sub or the setting in the receiver... the one that adjusts the output signal for all of the speakers.

After messing around with all of the settings, it is sounding better and better... and I am sure that it is still "breaking in". I am curious though, does the XO on the sub crontrol it when it is hooked up LFE or only when hooked up with the speaker wires? My old sub had two LFE options, one for using the receivers XO and one for using the subs XO. I have the receiver set at 80 and the speakers set to small.... the past few days I didn't have a sub and set the speakers to large and they sounded a lot better than I thought they would. I read a lot about the small vs large setting on this forum and others, but I still don't fully understand what the receiver is doing differently. Is it more wattage that is sent? The XO is set the same (80), but it is so much deeper and punchier (is that a word?) in the mid bass.... I haven't tried the large setting with the sub yet. The receiver offers a large front (L,R,C) and you can set the sub to "Plus" so you get the same output from the sub as if the others were small (make sense?). I noticed a big difference in vocals when they were set to large too, which makes me want to put them back to large. Sorry for going off on this rabbit trail, just something that popped into my head!

Any thoughts on all of that? I know, I know, it's all about what I like... but seriously

polknewby

With the XO on the actual sub, it is only functional when you run the speaker wires through it and then to your fronts - if you do this you would be able to set the xo to exactly where you want and would also want to set your front speakers to LARGE. If you use the LFE line then the XO on the sub will not work and must have it set on your AVR. If you use the LFE you should also set all of your other speakers set to small. Kinda new to this as well, but from what ive read you would set to large when you run the wires to the sub then the speakers because you want to get all the signals you can sent out of the AVR - go to the sub first for anything below XO and then the rest sent to the speakers above the XO. Small setting if you just run to the speakers and use LFE line.
Remember to that Large/Small has nothing to do with the actual size of the speakers but more along the lines of what they can handle/do. I have a PSW505 (LFE) and M70s (set to small).

Good luck and congrats on your new purchase!
-Josh

jemrey81

Thanks for your input Josh, it really helps! I still don't fully understand the whole small/large thing... I just don't know what the setting is changing. It would make sense if it was a power or wattage thing, but I don't know what it is doing since there is a difference in sound but not a difference in XO setting.... if that makes sense. I have mine set to small with the XO at 100, it sounds the best like that. I went through a lot of variations to come to this conclusion, and I wouldn't have thought that that would be the setting that would be ideal. Pretty interesting stuff.

Anyone think that the power cable on these subs seems really small? It's nice how long it is (gives a lot more options), but it doesn't seem like the kind of power cable that would typically come with a sub of this power rating. My Boston that had a 200 watt amp on it had a lot thicker power cable... just has me thinking.

Mon40CSMM10

Large means all frequencies sent to the speakers--full range sound, no frequency cut off except for what the speakers themselves cannot reproduce.

Small means only the frequencies above the crossover setting are sent from the receiver to the speakers. (*)

In the case of a 100 Hz crossover setting, that means only the frequencies that are at or above 100 Hz are sent to the speaker. Anything below 100 Hz would be sent to LFE/Subwoofer if one is connected.

(*) Technically, the crossover is not outright blocking the frequencies below the crossover setting, but will gradually roll-off those frequencies.

cnoat

Try We Were Soldiers.The mortars are incredible.

polknewby

No problem...if you want some great sound I think Independence Day on Bluray sounds great - you can tell it was totally shot on a green screen - but the sound and surrounds are fantastic. Couple others - Transformers 2, Hurt Locker....
Hope the speakers are working well for you!

cnh

jemrey81 wrote: »

Thanks for the input guys.... I wish I had more options for placement, but it is where it is and won't move until I movet o a new place. It's hard to explain, but I have everything in a corner unit with a fireplace on the wall to the left (immediately) and a couch on the wall to the right. The sub sits between the corner unit and the couch facing an open room.... so, if that makes sense, you can see that it isn't the optimal spot. On a side note, I watched The Pirates of the Caribbean... it was a good option, I thought... I don't have HBO or The Dark Knight (thanks for the suggestions!).

cnh - by overdriving, are you referring to the volume knob on the back of the sub or the setting in the receiver... the one that adjusts the output signal for all of the speakers.

After messing around with all of the settings, it is sounding better and better... and I am sure that it is still "breaking in". I am curious though, does the XO on the sub crontrol it when it is hooked up LFE or only when hooked up with the speaker wires? My old sub had two LFE options, one for using the receivers XO and one for using the subs XO. I have the receiver set at 80 and the speakers set to small.... the past few days I didn't have a sub and set the speakers to large and they sounded a lot better than I thought they would. I read a lot about the small vs large setting on this forum and others, but I still don't fully understand what the receiver is doing differently. Is it more wattage that is sent? The XO is set the same (80), but it is so much deeper and punchier (is that a word?) in the mid bass.... I haven't tried the large setting with the sub yet. The receiver offers a large front (L,R,C) and you can set the sub to "Plus" so you get the same output from the sub as if the others were small (make sense?). I noticed a big difference in vocals when they were set to large too, which makes me want to put them back to large. Sorry for going off on this rabbit trail, just something that popped into my head!

Any thoughts on all of that? I know, I know, it's all about what I like... but seriously

Yes, to both....I tweak both settings. First I set a standard position for the volume knob on the sub--usually at about 12 o-clock or 1. And then I tweak the sub volume from the AVR up a few db for HT down some for music...depending.

As for small or large settings...the main purpose, as has been mentioned above is to provide more power to your surrounds and let the sub do the LFE (for the small setting). However, if you have a power amp or enough AVR power that's really not as necessary with your speakers. I have my L/C/R set to Full Range and everything else to cross over at 80hz. But I also have a 51 pound AVR.

cnh

over50

I bought MY PSW505 a MONTH ago. I agree its awesome, such a difference from my psw10. Movie, i like 300 in surround sound .This sub made a big difference .

ikolbyi

cnh wrote: »

You can improve its musicality a lot by tweaking it. Don't overdrive it for music. A sub should not be that audible when playing music. Music is not an LFE effect! Many people here don't realize that a setting that may be good for HT may suck for 'music'. I often have to turn down my sub when I'm in the musical mode. Believe me. It does make a difference. While not the most musical of subs the PSW505 can be more musical than you think. Placement is also important...play around with that too!

cnh

I absolutely agree with cnh, but I have the opposite effect with my DSW Micro-pro 1000, when I configure my sub for movies, music is underpowered and when I set it for music, then movies has the sub actually levitating in the air (not exactly, but you get my point - it jumps off the floor)

It took me a long time to find a happy medium.