Get an exclusive sneak peek into our new project. >>> Click Here
Our native mobile app has a new name: Fora Communities. Learn more.

WAF strategy issues

1296 Views 23 Replies 19 Participants Last post by DMF, Mar 1, 2005

andyz

Discussion Starter · Feb 25, 2005

My current speaker setup is Paradigm Monitor 9's in the front, a CC270 in the center, and ADP170's in the rear.

At the time of initial purchase we went for floorstanding spekers with no sub as a comprimise since my wife does not like bass.

I would like to add a sub to the setup. My current thinking is to get any kind of sub via open box special from a B&M store, set it up and allow my wife to get used to it, then return it and buy a good one. The deal is that if she does not feel like the new subwoofer, I don't get one.

The good part about this strategy is that I have agreement.

A couple of questions:

Is this a good idea?

If not, got a beter one?

Any setup hints??

I'd like to be fair about this and still maximize the chances for acceptance.

Thanks,

Andy

See less See more

Status: Not open for further replies.

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

ixion

· #2 · Feb 25, 2005

I think many of us here will sympathize with your plight.

I suggest you buy a top notch small sub, set the volume low and gradually increase it over time until you get a complaint. Call it the WAF SPL meter.

Eddie Horton

· #3 · Feb 25, 2005

Get an SVS PB12-Ultra/2 or a B4-Plus or an ACI Maestro or two. That way, if she starts bitching, you won't be able to hear it. Seriously, my wife thought my VTF-3MkII was waaaaaaaay to big, but she liked it after hearing it set up and properly calibrated. Maybe your wife has a bad preconceived notion of what it will sound like.

sequimalan

· #4 · Feb 26, 2005

Go for the Sony SA-WM 250 (100 watts). It's on the small side physically but delivers good bass. I don't agree that you should buy a heavyweight sub and gradually turn it up. Marriage is compromise and true compromise leads to a happy marriage.

Woodrow

· #5 · Feb 26, 2005

I'm not kidding here...this is a tried and true method.

Decide what it is you want and then DO NOT SHUT UP about it. Talk about it in the morning, on the phone in the afternoon, and at the dinne table. Talk about it in your sleep. I promise...she'll get so tired of hearing about it she'll let you do whatever you want if it means she doesn't have to hear about it anymore. It was suggested to me once here at AVS and it has worked like a charm. No BS.

LessisNevermore

· #6 · Feb 26, 2005

Woodrow speaks the truth.

It absolutely works. Every time.

John Robert

· #7 · Feb 26, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by andyz
with no sub as a comprimise since my wife does not like bass.

That's not a compromise, that's an ultimatum. If you wife did not like speed, would you drive 35 mph everywhere you go?

I understand the negative WAF involved in an over-the-top 4 big-black-boxes sub set-up in someone's family room, but to say "no sub" is the same as saying "no HT". Carefully chosen and placed (behind the couch, as an end table, etc.), a sub can blend in as well as any speaker...

John

Prozakk

· #8 · Feb 26, 2005

I bought my wife her own system...without a sub...problem solved.

TrojanHorse

· #9 · Feb 26, 2005

Woodrow, that's exactly what I did... just because I was er, focused, not because it was a plan.

Maybe the OP's wife doesn't want the living room to sound like a Honda Civic, which is perfectly understandable. However, a good sub set up correctly will be reasonably unobtrusive.

Get her involved, help her make an intelligent decision with you rather than simply settling for some POS half assed solution. A little education goes a long way.

Jack Keck

· #10 · Feb 26, 2005

I told my wife about the sub I was thinking about building. Now it's in teh basement, but I asked in case we move to a place wihre it would have to be in the living room. She said it would be ok, but onlly if I could keep it in a corner.

I ask you, who puts a sub in a corner??

DMF

· #11 · Feb 26, 2005

Quite a few people, actually. But if she's averse to bass, that's probably the last place it should be.

Woodrow

· #12 · Feb 26, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by DMF
Quite a few people, actually. But if she's averse to bass, that's probably the last place it should be.

I think he was making a funny with the "who puts a sub in corner" question.

mailiang

· #13 · Feb 26, 2005

Maybe you should contact DR. Phil and see what he thinks!

Cheers.

Ian

Eyleron

· #14 · Feb 26, 2005

She probably doesn't like the bass that she hears in MOST systems, where the bass is way too hot, it's boomy because of room modes, and it's boomy because when a 20 Hz note is called for, it also produced 40 Hz and 60 Hz notes as distortion harmonics.

With that in mind, getting a better sub and setting it up better is the answer, not a cheaper sub.

thebland

· #15 · Feb 26, 2005

She needs to focus a little less on bass, and a bit more on mopping essentials and kitchen skills. Buy the sub, install it, and let that be the end of it.

Blood Simple

· #16 · Feb 26, 2005

Every time I begin to consider the possibility of getting married, I can always count on one of these threads to set me straight again. My Uncle had a line he used to use on his wife when she tried to boss him around " I already have a Mother, I don't need another one. "

Quote:

Originally posted by thebland
She needs to focus a little less on bass, and a bit more on mopping essentials and kitchen skills. Buy the sub, install it, and let that be the end of it.

Finally a voice of reason !!!

Tack

· #17 · Feb 26, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by thebland
She needs to focus a little less on bass, and a bit more on mopping essentials and kitchen skills. Buy the sub, install it, and let that be the end of it.

LOL

You left out "shutting the hell up"

Jack Keck

· #18 · Feb 27, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow
I think he was making a funny with the "who puts a sub in corner" question.

I was. I simply believe that too many emoticons ruin the subtlty of written expression.

Murunga

· #19 · Feb 27, 2005

Gotta love my wife, she turns it up louder than I do! when we went demo'ing speakers, she even fell in love with the butt kicker, LOL! I'm very fortunate : ).

Murunga

ps, and this of course is a joke, maybe if you added a crossover so that it filtered out anything above 20hz, she wouldn't hear it and only feel it, hehe : ).

DMF

· #20 · Feb 27, 2005

Maybe she found that buttkicker ... stimulating.

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

Status: Not open for further replies.