I have a set of Paradigm 60's being driven by a Pioneer Elite 110W x 7.1 receiver. The speaker are bi-amped. I do not have a sub nor center channel yet.
When playing music or movies there are NO lows at all!! I have reset the Pioneer so that all EQ setting are at default levels. Yesterday, I tried using the speakers along with the internal speakers on the TV and the TV actually filled in the sound that was lacking on the Paradigms. Obviously the Paradigms produce a much cleaner more appealing sound, but no lows.
Am I destined to buy a sub to fill things in? I'm not talking about the ultra lows, but even the lower tones of voices seemed missing.
I had Studio 100 V3s. With those, weak bass was not an issue, and I think that's true with the Paradigm line in general. I agree with all of the above posts. Something must be set wrong. In addition to the above ideas....Have you checked to make sure the speaker wires are in the correct phase? Does the receiver have a crossover setting? If so, where is that set? Are the settings on the receiver such that it's sending the lows to the subwoofer output even though there's no subwoofer? And as Bob Reynolds asked, how is the biamping set up?
Bi-Amped with a Pioneer Receiver? I doubt that. I guess you could use the A/B speaker outputs simultaneously but... I dont think that is equivalent to bi-amping.
I agree with Bob Reynolds... How did you accomplish this?
Pioneer elites give the option of using the two rear surround channels as bi-amped fronts. (7.1 becomes 5.1). This is menu driven and I have set the receiver to do this properly.
Wiring: I ran 2 lead (1 left, 1 right). Each lead contains 4x 14 awg conductors. I removed the links on the binding post and connected on pair of conductor to the upper posts and the second pair to the lower posts. I have rechecked the wiring and all is fine including the phase.
I read the manual and although the speakers were set to "Large", the crossover point was set at 80hz. I lowered it to the lowest setting, 50hz. Slight improvement, but nothing to write home about.
Go into the expert mode(menu setup) and select bass level - increase the bass until the volume of bass is at listening levels you are comfortablewith (mine went to about 50hz) - Hope this helps - thymanst
Is there a setting on the Pioneer for "subwoofer present" or "subwoofer absent?" If so, then if set to "subwoofer present," it may be shunting all frequencies below 50 hertz to the subwoofer output, which has nothing connected to it. Also, why is there a crossover in operation at ALL if you're not running a subwoofer? Have you tried disengaging the crossover altogether? Maybe whenever the crossover's engaged, the unit is set (by the factory, as a default) to operate as though a subwoofer were in place, and shunting the 20-50 hertz to that output.
Last night I tried to connect an analog input rather than the digital coming in from the DVD/CD player. I connected my ipod through the aux input and put on a track with a huge bass boost. Wow, something actually works. Not the greatest bass but I'm getting there.
Additionally, I tried to run the auto room analysis (according to reviews, it actually sets up the speakers properly) and the 50hz eq band sets for -6db. I'm going to try an manually adjust the setting and boost the low end.
Oh, when running setup, the receiver does note that I only have left and right channels connected. But it still appears that the crossover is always on and clipping at 50hz.
BTW, how do you enter "expert mode". Thanks. Boris
"Oh, when running setup, the receiver does note that I only have left and right channels connected. But it still appears that the crossover is always on and clipping at 50hz." -Boris
If that turned out to be true, as an owner of that receiver, I'd be really upset. Perhaps a phone call to the Pioneer product support center is in order to determine whether they've really incorporated such a "mandatory clipping" feature into its design, and if so, whether it can be disengaged, and if not, then why the hell not?
I agree with Bob_R that is a really great feature and the first I have heard of it!
If you are getting highs and mids, try unhooking the upper cable at the speakers and listen. Is there bass? How does it sound? Like its rolled off at the lower octaves or smooth just weak?If there's no bass at all somethings amiss.
Try hooking the upper cable to the lower inputs at the speaker. You know there's a signal for the highs. If still no bass its the speaker or internals. If you get bass with the swap when you didnt before) then its the Amp or maybe the cable itself thats to blame.
Be very careful with the exposed and loose speaker end conections! You surely dont want a short! I usually have a few pieces of masking tap around to stick on them just in case.
I've had a pair of Studio 60 v.2's for the past 4 years and low bass was never a problem. You have two issues to deal with: 1) Replace you Pioneer "Elite" with some real quality amplification like Musical Fidelity (which I have) or Anthem (which is associated w/Paradigm). 2) Try bi-wiring with quality (but not necessarily expensive) speaker cable. You should notice a difference in bass clarity and depth.
Do you have Expert Set Up in your receiver? If you do, let's go to the Bass Peak Level function and adjust your dB- I've increased mine to -40.0 which sounds adequately for my room. Try this and see if it helps. Good Luck
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