Apology, and WOW!
If anyone read my previous posts and thought anything badly of the Seaton Sound MFW-15 Turbo SS, I owe you a big apology. Mark Seaton offered me some advice about why I wasn't feeling a physical impact from his subwoofer. Paraphrasing him, he said "Turn it up." And was he ever correct! I turned it up, and Holy WOW!
Initially I had used my SPL meter to level set all speakers and the subwoofer (I used the World Of Wonder Disney blu-ray and matched them at 75dB). On the subwoofer amplifier, the Level knob was set at "MID" (noon), and the LF EQ knob was set at 0dB (noon). My avr does not have its volume control in dB, but rather in relative numbers, so it is hard to know exactly what dB level I am listening to. I have since done some tests and I have a better idea what those relative numbers mean in terms of dB. The other day, when I was watching those blu-rays, I didn't note the relative number, but it probably was at about 70-ish dBs. And I didn't feel much from this subwoofer. Remember my room is extremely large at about 9000 cubic feet, with a tile floor on top of concrete. So I just figured that the room was too big for the subwoofer.
And then Mark Seaton suggested I turn it up.
This morning, my wife said she was going to take a nap [because she didn't sleep good last night], and she said that I could play with my subwoofer. I said 'Won't the noise bother you?' and she said 'No, I will just turn on the air cleaner and I won't hear anything'.
So I turned up the Level knob to about 2:30 (about three quarters), and the LF EQ knob to about to about three quarters. I since have learned that the Level knob at about 1:15-ish is about 13 dB hot. I don't know what three quarters is in terms of dB hot, perhaps 15-18? dB On the avr, I had the volume at 40, which translates to about 75 dB. 45 is about 80 dB. Usually when no one is home, I might listen at 40 to 45 on the volume knob.
Played "Depth Charged" of U-571 and lots of other LFE clips from my ScubaSteve Demo Disc, volume 1, and from Cloverfield, and from Pacific Rim. And I really FELT it! Sitting 12 feet away. My pants were flapping. My tibia/fibula were vibrating. An LED lamp was blinking. Felt compression in my chest. My son called me into the garage, where the ladder was vibrating on its hooks.
Two hours latter my wife came out of the bedroom, and said "Aren't you finished yet! I haven't gotten any sleep. The bed is vibrating and the windows are rattling".
So I had to stop my play time.
But oh my WOW, it was wonderful loud physical bass!
Of course 15-18 db hot is ridiculous too much. I have to find more time to dial it in. But this subwoofer in my huge room is very capable of producing a visceral feel.