[spl23]

I've got an Arcam AVR350 connected to B&W XT series speakers, and I've recently bought a B&W PV1 subwoofer.

I have a Humax PVR9200T connected to the AVR via an optical cable, and the sound seems fine. However, since buying the sub, I have noticed that it is never woken up from standby when watching the TV (the sub auto-senses signals on the sub output and turns itself on and off accordingly).

The sub does come on while listening to CDs and DVDs, but it never seems to do anything when watching the PVR. Does the DVB signal have a restricted bass response, or is the Humax filtering it in some way? (I suspect the former.)

[DolbyDan]

I assume your using Pro logic II or DTS Neo??

[spl23]

Originally Posted by mendd3

I assume your using Pro logic II or DTS Neo??

Yup, PLII - but even on stereo, the amp is set to use speakers+sub, so any low frequencies should be going to the sub as well as the main speakers.

[DolbyDan]

Are you using optical or phonos - have you tried comparing the two? might be a optical connection problem.

Super nice setup by the way, how does the B&W/Arcam combo sound?

[MarkE19]

The bass output from any TV signal will be restricted. This is because the majority of viewers will be using the built in speakers on a TV that wont handle bass that well. If the bass was there then the speakers would distort trying to reproduce the sound, leading to many complaints from Joe Public to the likes of the BBC.
However on my setup my sub does come to life while watching TV - sometimes mid way through a scene, but it does come on. What is the crossover set to? Mine is at 80htz, but if yours is much lower then I wouldn't expect the sub to be used.

Mark.

[spl23]

Originally Posted by mendd3

Super nice setup by the way, how does the B&W/Arcam combo sound?

Fan-bloody-tastic! I am reliably assured that you can get better sounding speakers for the money than the B&W XTs - that said, for speakers that size, they sound an awful lot bigger than they are. I hadn't intended to spend anywhere near that amount on speakers, but unfortunately I tried listening to them, and that was it... The only issue I have is that the bass from the mains goes so low that the sub doesn't really add a great deal to the bottom end.

[spl23]

Originally Posted by MarkE19

The bass output from any TV signal will be restricted. This is because the majority of viewers will be using the built in speakers on a TV that wont handle bass that well. If the bass was there then the speakers would distort trying to reproduce the sound, leading to many complaints from Joe Public to the likes of the BBC.
However on my setup my sub does come to life while watching TV - sometimes mid way through a scene, but it does come on. What is the crossover set to? Mine is at 80htz, but if yours is much lower then I wouldn't expect the sub to be used.

I expected as much - thinking about it, restricting the bass does make sense given your average in-box TV speaker.

Crossover frequency on my sub is set to 60Hz (which is actually higher than the B&W manual recommends for my setup) .

[Cynar]

Originally Posted by spl23

The only issue I have is that the bass from the mains goes so low that the sub doesn't really add a great deal to the bottom end.

Or looking at it another way, the lows from the sub aren't good enough to add to the speakers.

[spl23]

Originally Posted by betty_swallocks

Or looking at it another way, the lows from the sub aren't good enough to add to the speakers.

Indeed - the only reason I bought the sub was because I discovered that the DV137 apparently doesn't redirect the LFE channel to the mains for SACD playback...

[DolbyDan]

Why not try raising the crossover to 80Hz let the sub do more work, as subs are better for the lower end stuff and its not like your sub is a cheap one, £1000

I was looking at Monitor Audio Radius R270 floor standers, but I can't stop thinking about the XTs, I might pop down sevenoaks and do a direct comparison.

[spl23]

That's a good idea. I only got the sub yesterday, to be honest, and am still fiddling with the settings. The trouble is that I love the bass from the XT4s, and so I'm reluctant to let the sub take it over. Stupid, really - however good the low end on the XT4s is, the PV1 is likely to be better...

If I'm honest, I'm not really convinced that a sub is necessary with the XT4s - -6dB on them is at 34Hz. If it hadn't been for the SACD issue, I wouldn't have bothered.

I've downloaded a set of sub test tones and am going to have a play with my SPL meter this weekend...

For what it's worth, the XT4s replaced a pair of Monitor Audio MA202 floorstanders on the front channels - about 12 years old, but a fairly large and meaty ported box. The XT4 is talller, but a lot slimmer and narrower, and the bass on them is vastly superior to the MAs - deeper and more tuneful. I looked at the Radius a while back, but really wasn't convinced they could produce decent bass - I don't think I actually listened to them, but the salesman was adamant you needed a sub with them.

[LV426]

Another option is to INcrease the sub output volume on the amp, and DEcrease it by an equivalent amount on the sub itself. This will make lower levels in the source come at a higher level from the amp's sub output (which may be enough to wake the sub up).

[DolbyDan]

Good Idea

Yer the radius and bronze's 'need' a sub only till you hit the silver+ models they are bassy.

For movies I definitely think that using your sub to take over earlier rather than later will sound much better, for music though full range all day!