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Subwoofer. Great one song. Not so great the next song.

I'm not a subwoofer guy. Played around with one in my primary system (Aerial Acoustics 7Bs, Proceed 250w amp, AR LS-16 tube preamp). Big B&W powered, not sure which. Didn't think it added anything. Ditched it.


Recently got a pair of Aerial Acoustic 6Ts for my secondary system. They have no place to be but right up against the wall. Maybe a foot out. Can't decide if they sound better with a sock in the rear facing bass port or not. Its a wash. Overall they sound pretty dang good though.


But, I played around with a JL Audio e110 sub. Pretty nice unit. Put the socks back in the bass ports.

On some songs the combo with the sub just sounds stellar. On others it sounds boomy and thumpy. My audiophile hang up is taught, clear, concise bass. I do not like boomy and thumpy at all. I can get up and turn the output on the sub down a little and it sounds okay again.

But I don't want to do that every time a different song comes on.

Now, on this sub you can change crossover frequencies, phase and also a polarity switch. I don't know _anything_ about that stuff. I've got it set on the more or less default settings in the manual. The only thing I've messed with is the polarity switch and for reasons I don't understand it sounds better on 180 than 0. I have not messed with the crossover frequency and phase dials.

Is there any chance that changing any of those settings would allow me to reach a sweet spot where I don't have to change settings on the sub frequently? I may or may not keep this sub. If I can't find that sweet spot I'll let it go as alone the 6Ts don't sound bad by any measure.

Thanks,
George


n80

Showing 7 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,927 posts
 
Makes sense.  Glad the problem was resolved. 
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,927 posts
 
Hmm yeah well looking at specs for your mains which go down to 32hz and the 10” sub which only goes to 25 hz, on paper, it does not seem like the sub adds much. Maybe in a larger room and/or if main amp is underpowered to drive the speakers to their full capacity. Also relatively few recordings will have enough going on at those frequencies to tell. Sounds like a tough task with very marginal benefit at best. Losing the sub may not be a bad idea. You probably do not really need one.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,927 posts
 
Very interesting gadget!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,927 posts
 
Well I don't see how one can argue a sub is not for bass, but I will agree how it is done will likely have an impact on mid-range.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,927 posts
 
Well you can certainly try it both ways with and without port and listen to determine which is better.  
I recently removed the port plugs on my kef ls50s for the first time to see how that worked.  I felt soundstage  and imaging was a bit off with more bass out of the single sub compared to past setups in that room.  Seems better now with KEFs doing more work.   Of course every case is different and there are always trade offs. 
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,927 posts
 
Eric that is true and always an option but an external crossover would be needed to limit the low end on the mains with most subs. Not sure about this one in particular.
That adds cost and complexity as well. Maybe worth it to offload more to sub and limit mains if needed to go louder and clearer later. A trade off depending on users appetite. and needs.
Yes bass swarm adds more complexity as well but that is what you need if balanced bass throughout the room is a concern in most cases.   Personally I will pass on that but some may have a need and choose to conquer. 

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,927 posts
 
I have a similar setup.
You have to get the sub blended properly with the mains and all those adjustments are your tools. First level but then also rolloff frequency and then phase.
The trick with one sub is get that all right at your listening position because bass levels will vary within the room no matter how you adjust a single sub.
Try getting it right at the sub location first where you can make fine adjustments fast and easy as needed and get familiar with how the controls affect the sound.
Then take what you’ve learned and listen from you main listening position and make the adjustments for that until right.
Leaving ports open will extend the low frequencies of the mains and allow the sub to come in at a somewhat lower frequency that is less directional and less likely to call attention to a single subs location in the room.
Also helps to know at what frequencies your mains and sub roll off to help determine the rolloff frequency range to shoot for when adjusting that on the sub.
In general, the larger and more extended the mains, the larger and more extended the sub will need to be to fill in the low end missing otherwise rather than just boosting existing bass levels which is generally not what you want.

Also remember that bass levels and sound will vary largely from recording to recording.   Use a good quality track or two or three with lots of good extended bass as your reference tracks and adjust for those so that bass is good but not overwhelming.   Then see how that works but do not expect great bass from all or even most recordings else you will be tuning forever. 
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