Before and After with Mr Andrew Jones

I finally got the bass response out of the UF5.

The bass isn't perfect, but it is better.

The magic spot, in my room, is 8" from the back wall.

Surprisingly, the highs and mids are still focused in the center even with the speakers way back there. Must be the concentric mid/tweeter design. Soundstage isn't wide.

I've never seen anything like this.

From what I've been reading, the UB5 like to be close to a wall for bass response as well. So weird. Well, I'd say it's just my room but others are posting close proximity to the wall as well.

madmax wrote: »

Here are some reviews on Amazon to enjoy while you wait for the bookshelves. http://www.amazon.com/ELAC-Uni-fi-Bookshelf-Speaker-Black/dp/B01CRYWVG2?ie=UTF8&keywords=elac unifi&qid=1465428438&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

lol. I will judge them when they arrive and I can put them through their paces! My bedroom has great acoustics. All the speakers sound great in there. Too bad that they don't all fit!

Is the sub crawl meant to be with the sub at ear level, playing bass heavy music, while crawling on the floor to locate the best bass response?

Am I looking for articulate bass or where it has the most presence?

Sadly, the UB5 didn't work out for me either. They didn't work in the living room, even with the SB-1000 sub.

I ended up going back to the Energy RC-10 bookshelf speakers in the living room. They lack detail compared to the UB5/UF5 but the Energy speakers have a "fuller" sound to them. I don't think the Energy speakers are really "lacking" anything but the ELAC speakers were lacking a lot.

The ELAC speakers made a brief appearance in my bedroom set up and they did quite well but I cannot justify the expense for a pair of speakers that sees use seldomly.

I want to give a HUGE shout out to @dromunds for selling me back the RC-LCR that he bought from me. Once I'd made up my mind that the ELAC speakers were a mistake for me, in my environment, I wanted to get back to the Energy set up that I was pretty happy with before the upgrade-itis. Don got me back to where I wanted to be and I am very grateful if you ever have a chance to deal with him, he's a stand up guy.

I sold the RC-70 floorstanding speakers to pay for the UF5s so I was on the lookout for those as well. As luck would have it, a set in excellent condition popped up on Craigslist along with a RC-LCR. I had wanted to try an RC-LCR front stage so I grabbed that from the seller as well.

I cannot thank my family and my wife enough for putting up with all the speaker swapping that went on recently. People dropped what they were doing to go to BFE, IL to pick up the RC-70 + RC-LCR, to box up and ship back the ELACs (HUGE shout out to ELAC CS for taking back the speakers and for trying to make me happy with a swap of the UF5 for the UB5).

Now, about the SVS SB-1000, what a DISAPPOINTMENT! I ran a pink noise tone through the mains and got them set at 74 db. I ran the same tone through the SVS, starting at 12 o'clock on the volume with the X-over set at 50Hz and I heard NOTHING. I gradually increased the volume level until I was at maximum and it was barely audible. I started to turn the crossover up higher and higher and I was getting sound output now but it wasn't matching the mains. It couldn't even get to 74db. I did the sub crawl and all that, trying to find the spot where it was loudest/louder. The best spot for sound is very inconvenient as is the second best spot.

I'm talking with SVS now to try and figure out what to do. I was just going to return it but they believe that there's an error in my calibration. I'm willing to work with them to try an figure it out but I don't see this sub working for me.

mikeyb128 wrote: »

Glad to hear you got your old speakers back. In regards to the SB1000 I have to 100% agree that you may have it set up all wrong. I sit at least 15 feet away from mine and it pounds enough to feel it in your chest. Volume is maybe 3 clicks over half, I haven't even took it to full volume yet, as it has that much bass. Please keep in mind these subs take some break in. My PB ultra was flat out disappointing until I put some hours on it, once the driver loosened up I had to dial back the gain at the sub.

How is this sub hooked up? Using a stereo pair of RCA's? Or just one in the left channel, LFE hookup?

Stereo RCA from the 2nd set of variable outputs on the Jolida preamp.

This was an outlet purchase from SVS so it's not new.

msg wrote: »

Glad you're on your way back to being settled, Victor. I'm sure it's a relief to be able to get back into what you were comfortable with. Bummer about the ELACs, though, I had high hopes for those. What a deflating experience. I really thought those things were going to work out for you with everything I'd been hearing and reading. eh well [shrug]

Re: the sub - kinda gotta stand alongside Mikey on this with the SVS for a bit. Seems a little unusual for SVS, doesn't it? Unless there's truly something wrong with it, I can't imagine how you're having such a disappointing experience. Curious, have you checked to see whether the driver is actually moving and what kind of action it's seeing? Do you notice bass anywhere at all in the space? Still though, right to bring SVS in on it and see what they have to say. Definitely don't want to be running it with the volume cranked. Does sound like your system's pulled the calibration down on the sub. I have minimal experience with those things, but man, they always seem to draw my sub level waaaaay down. Have you tried running it all manually with the xover set at 70Hz or 80Hz, just to see? There's also a Q setting on some subs. I can't remember which way affects the tightness, but one of them makes it loose and flappy like some ex-gf's from high school who had too many kids with different dads, and the other one makes it tight. If it's too tight, it may be sounding scant for you. Does the PB-1000 have this control?

There are three knobs for adjustment on the back. From top to bottom they are 1) Volume/Gain 2) Phase 3) Crossover (50 Hz - 250 Hz). There is also a power switch and a receptacle for the supplied power cord (you cannot upgrade the cord alone on this model). LINE level and Speaker level inputs.

OK, talked with Ed Mullin @ SVS and we figured out the issue with the SB-1000.

The Jolida vacuum tube preamp doesn't have a strong enough output signal for the sub. He had me run the output from my CDP (Ya folks, still a good idea to a CDP w/ analog outs in your set up or, at the very least, your audio closet) directly to the sub with some bass heavy music (N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton) and set the x-over to 80 Hz so I'm just getting low bass (not midbass + low bass) and voila! Hardly even moved the volume knob and there's the bass output. I don't have time to set it up today but, at the very least, we know that it works. So, I will run speaker level outputs to the sub from my amp to get the signal there or I'll have to buy a line level booster from amazon. I already have speaker cables so I'll go that route first and it's what Ed recommended anyway.

Thanks for all the input folks!