Hi there, I have just bought the KEF 3005 5.1 speakers and a Yamaha RX-V1800 receiver (it's my first home theatre setup). I've not yet customized the receiver yet, just set the crossover to 120Hz for now, and have correctly set all speakers to small, but it didn't help that much with bass that I could really feel. I switched the phase on the sub to 180 also, but no change I could notice. I've put the sub on +6 dB too, which is the max bass boost.

My living room is rectangular and about 12 x 24 feet with an 8 foot ceiling.

My gripe is that the sub doesn't do much for me. I'd read so much about the sub being so good, so it surprises me. With 250 watts of power and a 10" woofer?! I'm thinking something must be wrong with my setup?

I've gone thru various programs, like a CINEMA DSP Program for MOVIE Adventure, which I figured must be a good one for bass, and popped in a DVD of Mission Impossible 3, and it didn't really shake, even at half volume!

Then I tried a super heavy bass CD and still not much punch.

A few things I'm wondering could contribute to this, and maybe it's too early to write this sub off?

1) Could the YPAO auto setup make a big difference? I've not run that yet.
2) Could the lack of a bass port in this sub make that much a difference? I knew I wasn't going to get the same punch out of this sub compared to a big cube one, but not this much less...
3) I've not played with the sub settings in the AVR yet, like tonal quality or changing the phase, I might try that too.
4) Could the wires I'm using make a difference? Since it's just a temporary setup right now (and I don't know the final lengths of the wires, so I've not bought them yet) I'm using a composite yellow video RCA cable for hooking up the sub to the AVR, but am only running the sound to the AVR via the same composite white and red RCA cables from my HD set top box and the DVD player, rather than the final digital coax / optical wire that I'll use to the AVR.

With my setup, I'm getting sound out of all 5 speakers plus the sub, but I guess it's not decoded properly, and I've just got stereo input I guess.

Thanks for any tips. Hoping something obvious jumps out at you.

I'm referring to these cables:

http://cache.smarthome.com/images/8350v6.jpg
.
.
.
As an aside, I would still think that listening to music with this setup (playing CD's on my DVD player) I should still be able to get good bass out of the sub, even if I'm not running true 5.1 sound in. In fact, my AVR suggests that the preferred setup for connecting a CD player to it is via these cables and not digital coax!? :confused: :confused:

http://members.shaw.ca/amiro/AudioSetup.JPG

I looked at those speakers on CNET;

So what are the KEF KHT-3005's limitations? Well, compared to a set of much larger speakers, they just don't offer the same volume capability, dynamic range, and home-theater impact. Higher-end full-size speaker packages simply play louder and deliver far greater home-theater impact. But if you're looking for a beautiful, compact, and reasonably affordable 5.1-speaker package, the KHT-3005 is as good as it gets.

Your room size deserves something 4 times that price range if you want to rock
and move that room.
Think 12 inch, down firing, 650 watt ported subwoofer, to start.

Have you tried connecting a regular CD Player to see what kind of bass you get from that configuration?

Umm, in addition to all of the above, consider the frequency response of the subwoofer that comes with the KEF 3005 system.

Per the KEF site, it only goes down to 30hz +/- 3db. You're missing alot of the really low end.

KEF HTB2 Subwoofer specifications page (http://www.kef.com/ht3000/specifications3.htm)

For what it's worth.


Tim

Thanks for the replies all. If I end up with this sub (which at this point I don't think I can return the speakers), can I keep it and add a second more powerful sub to the room, or is it best to just stick to one sub in a room?

If I was to add a second sub, could it be a totally different brand and size, etc.?

If I could go the two sub route, I assume I could take the subwoofer out signal and split it, and take one cable to each sub?

I have quite a bit of experience with this system and one thing you need to realize is that sub needs serious attention when it comes to placement. It is extremely small and you really need to move it around to get the best sound out of it. Doesn't help that it has no gain control on it.

You can certainly get another sub, brand isn't going to matter.

I have quite a bit of experience with this system and one thing you need to realize is that sub needs serious attention when it comes to placement. It is extremely small and you really need to move it around to get the best sound out of it. Doesn't help that it has no gain control on it.

You can certainly get another sub, brand isn't going to matter.

Thanks for the tip. I'll need to get a nice long cable and try different spots.

So you mean I can add a second sub to my current setup then? Would the way I described it be the right way to hook them up?

Put that sub in a corner, you will get the most output from it there. Or, put the sub right next to you, but since your room isn't huge, a front corner will work good.

As for a second sub, I'm all for it. The more the marrier, however, I am not all for mixing and matching for the sole purpose that it makes it harder to balance them all and you'll need an eq for each one as opposed to a single eq for all of them.