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Turned Off My Subwoofer ... And My Speakers Sound Great

I’ve had a pair of JA Pulsars (non-Graphene) for a couple of years now, and have been using them with a subwoofer. Today, I noticed that my Pulsars sounded very different. There was an expansion of soundstaging, the bass was more articulate and robust (i.e., it had more weight to it), and the highs really sparkled.

This was somewhat different from the sound to which I had become accustomed, so I looked on the panel and discovered that the sub had been turned off. Apparently, my wife had been dusting around my listening room and had accidentally hit the off switch.

I am kind of befuddled by this because I thought use of the subwoofer was supposed to achieve those sonically pleasing effects. Apparently not in my case. Have any ’Goners had this happen? I’m really happy with the "new" sound sans subwoofer, but continue to wonder why that is. I mean by all objective measures, the sub should improve the sound, not detract from it. I just don’t get it.
rlb61

Showing 3 responses by grey9hound

grey9hound
1,112 posts
 
If you like your sub turned off you had the wrong sub,
Not necessarily true. It is most likely out of phase or you have room nodes .
The only room Correction that I have found that gets this Exactly right is Is "RoomPerfect" by Steinway Lyngdorf . It is glorious.
I have tried ARC, Audyssey, YPAO and MCACC. None come close to Lyngdorf. It is head and shoulders above the rest.

grey9hound
1,112 posts
 
Subs have an inherent delay which a lot of times causes Phase Canceling .
When using room correction software ,the delay that is setup for your Sub , is actually delaying the signal to your speakers to match the inherent delay in the sub. You see a lot of people and places talking about delaying the signal to the sub, but you are actually delaying the signal to the L/R speaker to match the inherent delay in the Sub
This software usually sets the subwoofer distance quite a bit farther than it actually is. Leave it that way . This is how it compensates .
So if you need to manually set the distance or delay and your are not using room correction software .

A rule of thumb is 1 foot equals 3 millisecond
grey9hound
1,112 posts
 
No substitute for displacement. That said, I realize many are space or spouse challenged. In that case, get the best software correction you can.

That is correct ,and Steinway Lyngdorf's , Room Correction called   "RoomPerfect" is the best in many peoples opinion.
I Concur. 
I have tried and used
ARC
YPAO
MCCAC
Audyssey MultEQ


   "Room Perfect"  is head and shoulders above the rest.
It  integrates a Sub better than ANY of the others. It gets The DEEP Bass RIGHT!! No bloat, Way more Bass Articulation and Detail


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