Home theatre setup

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StuntCommando

41 posts

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#75327 16-Jan-2011 21:46

Thanks for the help with the TV all - I have decided to go with the Panasonic P50V20Z, just waiting for delivery!

In the meantime, and would like a bit of advice on my current amp/speaker setup. It is getting a bit long in the tooth, but will have to do for another couple of years. This is my equipment:

Amp: Pioneer VSX-515
Fronts: Warfedale Crystal CR40's
Rears: Warfedale WH 1.1's
Sub: Wharfedale Powercube 12+

My question is I have always been disappointed with the bass output from the system as was wanting to check if my settings were correct.

I have the crossover on the amp set to 80kHz and the crossover on the sub set to max (85kHz).

The specs on the CR40's Frequency response is 30-20 kHz

The fronts, rears & centre speaker are all set to small.

I have the sub at the front of the setup in a corner.

What do you guys think of these settings? Does it look right, or have I got it all horribly wrong? Would appreciate any advice you could give.

Oh and is it worthwhile upgrading my Amp and keeping the current speakers, or am I better to replace the lot when the time comes?

Cheers,
Glenn

Dunnersfella

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#427798 16-Jan-2011 22:40

First up - what do you like listening too / watching?
What are the room dimensions?

Can you define what you mean about being disappointed with the bass output?
Putting a 12" down-firing sub in a corner (corner loading) will often lead to the resulting standing waves 'muddying' up the bass performance.
To help set up the best position for the 12+, put on some bass heavy music, then move the sub onto the chair in which you sit...

Sounds odd I know...

Now crawl around on your hands and knees, ignore the sniggering of anyone else in the room, and figure out what part of the room gets the best sounding bass. That place, is where you should place your subwoofer.

Next up, play with the phase on your sub, flick it between the settings and decide what one sounds the best. If your amp features a decent setup microphone, re-run it and check out the results to see if it suits you. This will make for a good start point, from where you can tweak it.

Also, how does your system sound without the sub attached?
Are the speakers close to the wall? Or are they out, away from the gib?

Other ways to get a better bass response from your system...
1: Better floor standers with increased bottom end response.
2: A better, more powerful amp.
3: A twin sub setup (for a more even response, with less dead spots in the room).
4: A better sounding sub-cable.

And that's just scratching the surface...

Nety

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#427839 17-Jan-2011 06:44

Everything listed by Dunnerfella above will help a lot and should be your first steps. However if after that you are still not impressed another suggestion may be to replace the Powercube. I have not owned or even heard one but I have seen it described as at best average or worse sub in various places.
I have a Velodyne sub and find that to be good bang for your buck. Tight controlled base which is good for music or movies.

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Jaxson

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#427864 17-Jan-2011 09:21

All the above comments +1. All good valid points there.

The power cubes were ok, and matched well to the rest of the system you own. As Nety says though, if you want more bass then it may be time to upgrade.

Where are you in NZ by the way?

The crystal speakers are not very bassy at all. I've owned them. But you might want to set them as large in the receiver though. One receiver, can't remember if it's the pioneer though, has a 'double bass' setting where you can route bass to both the front speakers AND the subwoofer. Might pay to look into options like this.

What are you playing, is it music or movies you are not happy with?

StuntCommando

41 posts

Geek

#427896 17-Jan-2011 10:30

Thanks for the comments so far.

Some movies have good bass in them at times, but music (from CD) and some music DVD's seem to be lacking.

A new sub is probably out of the question right now.

Have I got my crossover settings correct as stated above?

Will try some of the other suggestions and see how I go.

Jaxson

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#427899 17-Jan-2011 10:37

Set the fronts to large.

Crossover seems ok, can't say that it's optimised. Have you tried turning the sub volume up?

Also, when playing music you need to ensure your receiver is in a mode that sends some bass to the subwoofer. Music is typically a 2 channel source, so there are lots of options for receivers to guess at what sounds they should send to the other speakers. Have a play with those options to find one that works well and sends bass to the subwoofer, or the front speakers and the subwoofer at the same time.

Does that receiver have an auto tune microphone? Run is as mentioned above.
If not, take the time to measure your room and input fairly accurate values.

Check out the bass and treble settings on the receiver. Turn up the bass setting if you are not happy with the sound.

What is your source for audio and how is it connected to the receiver?

StuntCommando

41 posts

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#427979 17-Jan-2011 12:40

Yes - it does have an auto setup feature.

Source is a DVD player connected via optical cable.

Jaxson

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#427980 17-Jan-2011 12:42

Ok that should be fine then for what you want to do.
Just make sure (obviously?) that in the first place, the source is a retail CD and not a lower quality mp3 rip.

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Dunnersfella

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#428168 17-Jan-2011 19:31

Basically, I'd try tweaking your setup.
After that, you'll know if you have to fork out some more cash to achieve what you want... but be warned, audio perfection is something you can spend many, many thousands on - yet never come close.