I've read through this forum, and the speaker forum, and in the reciever forum, but I have not found a good guide on how to get a sub set up "correctly". Now, I understand that a lot of it has to do with room accoustics, and the other equipment. That being said, what I'm trying to achieve is a seamless blend of my sub with my other speakers, such that I can not tell that there is a sub working with them. I do NOT like boomy sound. My preference is a crisp, clear, full range sound for 2 channel stereo music, and authentic reproduction of my movie sound (in 5.1 DTS or DPL). Yes, I like the shake with some movie scenes, and the low rumble of thunder.
So a little background. I have a new Pioneer VSX-84, and Definitive Mythos 1's, 4's, and 8 center. I have a M&K VX1250SFX sub. My room is a typical split level house living room/dining room and open to the stairway - @30' x 15' x 8', fully carpeted. The entertainment center backs up to the stairway, and has a wall on one side and fireplace on the other, so my sub is sitting behind the entertainment center and is effectivly blocked off from the sitting area, but is open to the stairwell. Make sense?? I didnt think so!
I'm connected via sub pre out on the reciever. I also use the Pio's MCACC for setting the speaker levels.
There are three adjustments on the M&K - Phase Control, Low Pass Filter, and Bass Level. When I first run MCACC, what do i set these dials to? My initial try, I set them to the middle setting. But the bass ended up being boomy (this was also set up using THX mode, with 7 speakers set to small, cross over freq was 80hz) for listening to movies and shows, and the sound with stereo was somewhat flat. I removed the extra two speakers, set the subwoofer phase to about 80, and ran MCACC again. I noticed that the reciever reset the speaker settings to large, which flies in the face of everything I've read about home theater set up. Now, the sound through stereo sounds much better (more full range). When watching movies, it lost some of the punch, but it is not as boomy. I feel like I'm just going down a road of trial and error, rather than proceeding with a plan. My criteria is obviously very subjective.
I dont know if what I'm looking for is guidance on the reciver set up, or on the subwoofer, so I'm posting here initially, then I'll try over in the Pioneer thread (everyone there is stuck on some firmware update issue).
So in a couple of summaries:
1) I want good stereo sound and good 5.1 sound. Any tips on how to do this?
2) How valid is the "set speaker size to small" guidance? Or maybe a less subjective question would be, what do I lose by using speakers on Large? Do I lose all of my LFE bass?
3) What should the dials on the sub be set to when utilizing a recievers auto set up feature? My gut is telling me that the bass level should be set to high so that I can get maximum capacity at higher volums/bass levels....but I have yet to try that.
So a little background. I have a new Pioneer VSX-84, and Definitive Mythos 1's, 4's, and 8 center. I have a M&K VX1250SFX sub. My room is a typical split level house living room/dining room and open to the stairway - @30' x 15' x 8', fully carpeted. The entertainment center backs up to the stairway, and has a wall on one side and fireplace on the other, so my sub is sitting behind the entertainment center and is effectivly blocked off from the sitting area, but is open to the stairwell. Make sense?? I didnt think so!
I'm connected via sub pre out on the reciever. I also use the Pio's MCACC for setting the speaker levels.
There are three adjustments on the M&K - Phase Control, Low Pass Filter, and Bass Level. When I first run MCACC, what do i set these dials to? My initial try, I set them to the middle setting. But the bass ended up being boomy (this was also set up using THX mode, with 7 speakers set to small, cross over freq was 80hz) for listening to movies and shows, and the sound with stereo was somewhat flat. I removed the extra two speakers, set the subwoofer phase to about 80, and ran MCACC again. I noticed that the reciever reset the speaker settings to large, which flies in the face of everything I've read about home theater set up. Now, the sound through stereo sounds much better (more full range). When watching movies, it lost some of the punch, but it is not as boomy. I feel like I'm just going down a road of trial and error, rather than proceeding with a plan. My criteria is obviously very subjective.
I dont know if what I'm looking for is guidance on the reciver set up, or on the subwoofer, so I'm posting here initially, then I'll try over in the Pioneer thread (everyone there is stuck on some firmware update issue).
So in a couple of summaries:
1) I want good stereo sound and good 5.1 sound. Any tips on how to do this?
2) How valid is the "set speaker size to small" guidance? Or maybe a less subjective question would be, what do I lose by using speakers on Large? Do I lose all of my LFE bass?
3) What should the dials on the sub be set to when utilizing a recievers auto set up feature? My gut is telling me that the bass level should be set to high so that I can get maximum capacity at higher volums/bass levels....but I have yet to try that.
