Quote:
Originally Posted by
720p 
Having had my B3 for many months now I really need to propertly set it up as I am not liking the sound. I received invaluable assistance from kwkshift but still haven't been able to fine tune it.
I am no audiophile but I know when I don't like something which is the case right now. I have played with all the settings and while I can make the sound boomy or thin I can never make it acceptable. I had zero problems of setting up my old subwoofer. It was a case of plug it in, turn the dial to 10 o'clock set all speakers to small, set subwoofer output to sw only, set crossover to 80hz, connect the mic & run the wizard. I would then turn the dial and rerun the wizard until it said subwoofer level +0db (I didn't have to do the last part but I'm anal).
What I need from you is to tell me the correct settings on both amp & sw.
1) I have connected the low level input (0db instead of +12db) to the lfe output of my amp. I see that for any useful bass the dial is close or after 12 o'clock. Is this what you're getting?
2) I have also connected the high level unbalanced input to the the front speaker outputs. My floorstanding front speakers say that they go down to 40hz at -3db at a <15deg angle so I guess they should be good for 80hz. The dial is again turned at or after 12 o'clock.
3) The mode selector is on 2 which is LFE 0 phase.
4) The roll off is set to D3 which is 78hz (close to 80hz? that's why I'm using it). I don't understand where this should be in relevance to the receivers crossover. If you can explain the cutoff/octave thingy even better. I notice A1 has the least bass of all and D6 booms badly with everything else in between.
5) Receiver has settings for all speakers, SMALL or LARGE.
6) Receiver can send lfe (I think) to SW, SPEAKERS or BOTH.
7) Receiver can set crossover. I keep this at 80hz, I believe it is the "standard" it says THX as well.
8) Running the mic wizard with this subwoofer is very confusing to me. Turning the high level dial the wizard results don't change but the difference in bass output is from no bass to full bass. It is like the wizard cares only for the low level input.
The wizard must not like this subwoofer much. It compensates by +5dbs for example and I have to turn the dial to 12 o'clock. Not a problem before with my old subwoofer.
9) If I set the speakers to small and lfe to subwoofer the speakers sound really thin and underutilized. I much prefer the sound with them when set to large. The sound is fuller. With my previous setup I was happy with small as well.
10) My receiver has a setting to bypass all processing (audio/video) and when I press this, music sounds much tighter and the boominess is gone. Same for normal tv viewing. This means the subwoofer is not setup correctly.
11) Is there any way to make my subwoofer sound really strong & tight but not boomy?
If you can list the correct settings I'd appreciate it. I find myself during a movie having to adjust the sw dial as the volume is somethimes very intrusive & annoying and at other times very lacking.
EDIT: I also have the radioshack analogue meter and a couple of test disks if it's of any use.
It sounds like you have conflicting settings in your setup.
1) I think that the gain settings on the sub are relative to your setup and could easily change just by moving the sub to a different corner of your room, different position in any corner of you room, etc. (Actually, all of the settings are like that. Each location around your room will require a completely new setup.)
2)
If you are going to use the high-level input, the speakers must be set as Large/ Full Range/ whatever in your processor.
3) The phase setting is dependant upon your room and the subs position in the room. It just has to be set so it reinforces the bass of your mains, rather than working agianst them, canceling bass.
4) See #2.
5) See #2.
6) LFE to Subwoofer.
7) See #2.
8) See #2. Once your mains are set to Large, (and everything else in the subwoofer setup process is complete), the setup mic wizard will perceive your mains as a full-range set. It should then only send your LFE info to the low-level input of the sub.
9) See #2. You kind-of answered your own question, here. If it sound better with them set to Large, then even though it may not be perfect, you're on the right track. You just have to fine tune everything.
10) Correct.
11) Yes. My suggestion is to start over from square 1. Turn off that 80Hz, stuff, run the mains as large, etc. You have to follow the setup in the owners manual for the B3 step-by-step, in the order they say. If you start off setting the gains, then play with settings in the proc., then jump back to the phase setting on the sub, etc., you're going to be so far out in left field, it's just going to be one big knotted mess. I know they are more complicated to setup than other subs, but just work through it and you'll be happy. Keep in mind what the sub is designed to do: It's doing 2 things at once. It's basically turning your mains into a full-range set of towers
and it's processing your LFE bass for movies. You may have to think of it like 2 subs in one unit.
Look on the bright side....once you get this all dialed in, you can move it to another corner of the room and start all over again to try finding the perfect location for your room/ setup.
I did that with my B1 after a few months. I just wrote down my sub settings that I could revert back to if it didn't work out. But, I found that the opposite front corner of my room was better than the first location. I'm glad I decided to experiment!
