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Is Sub Gain Set&Forget Across Music Genres a Fallacy?

I have a single subwoofer in each of my 3 installations.  Two Rels (S/5 and R-328), and a Sunfire (SDS8).  L/R's are Spendor D7, D1, and SA1, respectively.

Try as I might, I cannot ever seem to arrive at one sub gain setting (to say nothing of crossover setting, but let's leave that alone for now) that works ideally or even sufficiently for all of the music that I listen to (blues, jazz, rock, classic rock, southern rock, country, some pop).

Maybe I'm naive and the answer is simple - of course dummy, why would you think there'd be a single setting that would work for everything?  

It'll sound perfect for certain songs/genres (majority), but then I today listen to Jimmy "Duck" Holmes new blues album "Cypress Grove" (really good), which has a TON of bass (and really good recurring bass on certain tracks - probably a pretty good album for sub setup) and I find I need to dial everything way back.

So if I say, okay, this Cypress Grove album is my baseline for setting up my sub, then it'll probably come up wanting on other stuff, ugh.  I am going to get some GIK room treatment monster bass traps to go on the front wall, so I know that will help.

As I said, maybe the simple answer is, YES, there is no such thing as set and forget for subwoofers across music genres.

PIA to keep changing the gain during a listening session but appears that is way it has to be if I don't want to just ignore the non-ideal-ness of the bass with single setting (not my style).....    If that's wrong, LMK what the magic secret is!  

I anticipate some will say multiple subs is the only way to cure this.  Perhaps, but not an option at present time for me.  Looking to keep this discussion to single sub if possible, as I know it could easily morph to a swarm discussion quickly. 

If sub swarm is the only answer, however, I suppose I could accept that.  But if room treatment and careful setup can get there, that's preferable.  Maybe set/forget not even possible with swarm - kinda seems like this could be an issue that more subs don't necessarily fix? 
kren0006

Showing 6 responses by kren0006

kren0006 OP
1,859 posts
 
Thanks m-db and millercarbon for the suggestions, and to those who have messaged me.  Wasn’t aware of sub presets like that. 

“You already know the answer” — that’s what I was afraid of. The thought of lugging heavy subs up/down stairs and hookup and dialing in is gonna take some time to build up to but agree probably necessary if I’m serious about making this better.
kren0006 OP
1,859 posts
 
Hey!  Reason for optimism!  Thanks atmasphere!  I need some work on placement, calibration, and room treatment but I'll keep trying to get there with one sub for now.

The first room treatment overture did not go over too well...."they look like office cubicle walls" was the response I got from her....

Gotta wait a couple months and then try to strike again.  It's all good though -
kren0006 OP
1,859 posts
 
drumnman2: interesting comments on room correction and preamp adjustment.
My lone experience with room correction was with Audyssey (basic version) for my home theater setup and I was quite underwhelmed with the results. But probably that is comparatively a fairly primitive program
kren0006 OP
1,859 posts
 
Thanks. Yeah I knew there were multi-sub threads and that they were passionate : )


My quick 2 minute search of site for sub single gain setting across music genres didn’t turn up anything on point but I guess it’s all related and I didn’t search exhaustively
kren0006 OP
1,859 posts
 
bg: fair point. 

I didn’t say anything was wrong with the recordings. Maybe I didn’t explain the situation well enough. The most annoying situation for me is I think I have it all dialed in, sounds great on everything I listen to, and then a guest comes and requests something where the bass is so overwhelming it needs to be dialed back - kinda embarrassing. 

But I guess the comparable is a system with full range speakers and no subwoofers. Assuming no tone controls on the preamp or integrated, this is a no adjustment setup across music genres or songs. Simple, easy. The owner never has to worry whether the settings are optimal.


I was just wondering if it is even possible to reach that level of simplicity and ease with one (ideally for me) or more subs after the initial calibration (Set and forget and still optimal). Or whether there will always be some tweaking needed. 

Sounds like you are very close to the set and forget. 

Maybe subwoofers are so specialized compared to full range speakers and the sound improvements subs offer are so notable that any inconvenience involved in slight adjustments are well worth it if sound quality is more impressive than simplicity?


Maybe I really do just need a second one; dang I didn’t want to go there and not sure how I’ll make that fly when better half already frustrated with how much (junk - her words) is cluttering the living room.
kren0006 OP
1,859 posts
 
Thanks to all for the replies.  I agree that constant adjustment just isn't practical.  What inevitably happens is I set it to sound good with the most bass-heavy music.  That probably necessarily undertunes it for less bass-heavy music, but so be it.

Probably my next set of speakers will hopefully be full range.   First world problems ....
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