Home Speaker Asylum

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

You really need to measure

Because you can go crazy trying to dial it in by ear.

A real time analyzer with tone generator and calibrated mic is preferable, but you can do OK with a RatShack SPL meter and a CD with test tones. The Sterophile test CD has third-octave warble tones.

First you measure (from your usual listening position) the low frequency response of your main speakers alone, with or without high pass filtration. Where that is down -6dB is where you set the subwoofer crossover to be down -6dB.

Then you measure the combined response of the main speakers and subwoofer. Adjust the volume control of the sub so the low frequencies are at the same average level as the mids coming from the mains.

You may discover some big peaks and dips in the low bass response due to room modes. This can be aggravating, as fixing it may involve humping the sub around to different locations in the room find a location where the aberrations are less severe. Or installing bass traps, which can be both ugly and spendy. Multiple subs (at least two) can also help.

If there is a big peak or dip right around your chosen crossover frequency, try inverting polarity on either the sub (if it has a switch for that) or the mains. This can often level things out.

It's worth it, though, to be able to hear REAL bass on recordings where it is present.

A good, extended, pitch-accurate sub can cost quite a bit, but the cheap ones tend to be one-note thump boxes. The Titanic Mk III and Reference Series KITS from Parts Express are good subs with powerful amps, at good prices because you assemble them yourself.



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  • You really need to measure - caspian@peak.org 14:23:52 10/30/10 (0)

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