Trigger pulled - PSA 15V

[Dentman]

Seems like not long ago when you moved to Houston in a not so safe apartment as a single man.
You deserve and should enjoy the "you suck" status.

It's been a long time since I've hit suck status in A/V. I'll take it.

 

[bmwuk]

Seems like not long ago when you moved to Houston in a not so safe apartment as a single man.
You deserve and should enjoy the "you suck" status.

I'm not sure I'll get it setup tonight. My new receiver is arriving tomorrow so I am debating waiting and besides the wireless OAM4 is coming tomorrow. Either way I'm excited for all of it

To add, my wife signed for it and she didn't think the box was holy shit big so I may be good

 

[bmwuk]

It's out. I love the texture of the cabinet. I just put it here temporarily until everything comes in (cables, wireless transmitter)

 

[bmwuk]

The back of sub-Vader

 

[Dentman]

Nice. Look forward to your thoughts.

 

[Zing]

You haven't connected it yet? Not even temporarily just to whet your appetite?? YOU'RE KILLIN' ME!

 

[bmwuk]

You haven't connected it yet? Not even temporarily just to whet your appetite?? YOU'RE KILLIN' ME!

That's tonight

 

[Towen7]

Congrats. I am insanely jealous.
This is the motivation I needed to make some changes to my living room system.

 

[Zing]

This is the motivation I needed to make some changes to my living room system.

Hmmm. I don't remember my dual PSA subs motivating you to do anything. Come to think of it, my Contours didn't motivate you either.

I must be doing it wrong.

 

[bmwuk]

Hmmm. I don't remember my dual PSA subs motivating you to do anything. Come to think of it, my Contours didn't motivate you either.

I must be doing it wrong.

It's called local town peer pressure. Now granted I don't know if you would call Houston a town. More like a massive city

 

[Towen7]

Hmmm. I don't remember my dual PSA subs motivating you to do anything. Come to think of it, my Contours didn't motivate you either.

I must be doing it wrong.

So needy
I’ve told you before that I lust after your speaker setup but if you insist that I say that in front of your friends ... fine ... you suck too.

But yes, if you’re setting up your HT solely to drive me to improve mine... you are indeed doing it wrong.

 

[bmwuk]

So I got the sub hooked up to the new receiver and used the YPAO microphone to calibrate the speakers.

First, the sub is not in its planned final destination since I'm still awaiting USPS (don't trust their tracking, absolutely worthless) for the wireless Outlaw OAM4.

I also just got the new Yamaha receiver.

That all said, I like the balance of the speakers but I noted when playing a movie with mains set to large, it sounded as if the sub wasn't playing. I had the crossover set to 80 Hz and the sub crossover all the way up to avoid cascading.

Now I did hear the sub once I switched speakers to small. But I'm not sure if it is at the right level. It blended in and I don't know if I expected some more monstrous thump but I could sense a great depth to the movie, if that makes sense. I only had 20 minutes to play with it since I've been dealing with a sick child.

Any help is welcome on what I should expect from the sub. I set the gain to half, not sure if that's right. Ypao took db to -2db I believe after. Room size large currently, delay 0,

 

[Towen7]

What was your source and what was the listening level?

Was it something that had a ton of low bass?

 

[Dentman]

If possible feed "welcome to the Machine" to your system either by disc if you have it or by your phone. It should rattle the pictures on your walls. My second floor feels like it's ready to fall through.

 

[bmwuk]

What was your source and what was the listening level?

Was it something that had a ton of low bass?

Blu-day OPPO. I'd have to measure the volumes but it seemed up. I was watching Dark Knight Rises beginning with the plane takeover. It sounded good but by no means feel it. I threw on Finding Nemo for Darla tapping on aquarium and I increased sub 2 db on receiver and moved sub room size dial to almost small.

Definitely could hear the bass but not sure it was chest thumping.

 

[Towen7]

Assuming no problems with the initial setup run with YPAO my first guess is that it’s a sub placement issue.

 

[Flint]

What I like is this...

A subwoofer should blend in so when listening to most music and common shows it doesn't call attention to itself. In other words, most of the time you should never be saying to yourself "man that's one killer subwoofer!" because it is extending the bass, not standing out.

Then, when the content calls for it, like the cannon blasts in the "1812 Overture" or the explosions in your favorite action movie, you hear loud, clear, booming, solid and tight bass which is only as overpowering as the recording demands.

I use a handful of stereo recordings to judge good subwoofer tuning (which the stereo speakers are set to small), and those are:

• "School" by Supertramp from Crime of the Century - The bass drum and bass guitar should be clear and apparent, but not boomy or phat at all. The recording is tight, so the sound in your room should be tight as well. Near the end of the song the bass guitar slides from a higher note down to a low note and back up several times. That sweeping sound should stay steady in tone and feel and not shift to boomy or thin.
• "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel off the So album - When tuned properly you hear bass unlike anything ever recorded. That bass line, which runs through the song, spans the entire bass range across both the main speakers and the subwoofer, and it is easy for it to sound boomy if the sub is too loud, muddy if the sub is performing poorly, lacking depth if the sub is too quiet. When done right, the experience is magical and it is hard to imagine the song was ever captured on media and sold.
• "Penguins" by Lyle Lovett off I Love Everybody - This is the most dynamic drum and upright bass recording I have ever heard. It is one of the only recordings where a drumset actually sounds like a drumset in real life - no compression, very loud, and very tight. The bass is mixed realistically quieter than the drums, but the gaps in the dynamic sound of the drums is where the bass lives. The backing singers are also not processed. Only Lyle's voice appears to have EQ and compression applied to smooth it out (or he has a surprisingly smooth voice). You should play it loud to sound real and the bass frequencies will pound you from the drums and the upright bass instrument will rumble the room from time to time. If the bass isn't tight, the sub is either too loud or poorly placed. If the bass doesn't hit you in the chest (both the snare and bass drum have a ton of low frequency impact in them), then the subwoofer needs to be turned up.

There are others, but I've mastered those three songs and I can listen to them and tune a subwoofer by ear very well, usually better than using the automated settings in a receiver. I still need to measure with a microphone to get the crossover settings perfect, but that's different than general levels.

 

[bmwuk]

Assuming no problems with the initial setup run with YPAO my first guess is that it’s a sub placement issue.

@Towen7 @Flint I am thinking it is placement. But good news is that as I was dropping my daughter off at ballet, my wife texted me a picture of the Outlaw package having arrived. The subwoofer is placed on the front wall that goes along to an opening. I plan to place in the back left corner. Even PSA's guide recommends that placement, being away from an opening.

 

[Flint]

My instinct would be to place it in the back right corner (if you are facing the screen) / top left in the photo. But that might not be ideal given the L-shape of the room.

 

[bmwuk]

Another question, why is it that the sub wasnt playing with speakers on large? I accidentally had this setup but wondered donde esta bajo?

I have barely scratched the surface of the receiver so may be used error.

Also, is the auto on switch on the sub the best selection. Or are there issues of not powering up? Thanks