Quake Newbie questions on setup

[(GTV)Chris]

Hi

I have just purchesed one second hand in mint condition..but came with no instructions.
So I had a look on their site and tried to set the sub up to my 5.1 amp.
I have connected both the Hi and Low inputs up..is this correct or should I just use one for my movies?
Any way..I dont understand the jargon..Is there a simple setup routine.
I have B&W 601's at the from and VM1's at the rear.
I dont understand crossovers etc.
any help would be fab

Chris

[eviljohn2]

Hi Chris
I've just posted this in another thread:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=19

Which will hopefully get you going but I'll add that you don't need to use the high-level input if you're using an AV amp and the crossover dictates where your speakers crossover to your sub.

[Ian J]

Just connect up with the low level phono lead for AV use and if you switch the mode switch to position 2 it will switch off the sub's internal crossover so that bass management will all be handled by the amp.

If you have a choice of crossovers in your amp I would select 80Hz and set all of the speakers to small as this will send all frequencies above 80Hz to the B&W's and everything under 80Hz to the sub.

[(GTV)Chris]

OMG.. I will give it a go.
Dont know what it all means...but here to learn..
My last sub just had a volume control
Is [position 2 on the phase select?
Cheers fella's.

|Chris

[(GTV)Chris]

On the B&W website it says the crossover of my front speakers is 4Khz.
But the cross over on my sub is measured in Hz...It goes from approx 21Hz to 180Hz.
On the website it states

Freq. Response 60Hz - 22kHz ± 3dB on reference axis
Freq. Range -6dB at 48Hz and 42kHz

Does this mean i set the sub to 60 or 48Hz.

Again, I appreciate your help.

Cheers

Chris

[Crustyloafer]

Oh dear, you have yourself in a muddle haven't you? Follow these steps:

1. Connect subwoofer to AV Amp with low level cable
2. Switch the 'Depth/Slam' switch to 'Depth'
3. Switch the 'Mode' switch to mode '2'
4. Ignore the 'High Level' and 'Crossover' dials as these are irrelevant now.
5. Adjust the 'Low Level' dial until it sounds right.
6. Turn the 'Low Level' dial down one notch. (Most people usually set it too high to start with.

[(GTV)Chris]

Thank you.
I will give it a go. Suppose using your ears is the best solution and not about were your main speakers roll off.

Cheers

Chris

[(GTV)Chris]

I am getting a bit worried that the sub is bust.
I have done what you said. But when watching a movie the unit is always rumbling away..Then there is no real punch.
I watched the attack scene in Master and commander - The bass rumble was very evident but the cannons didn't have the wellie of my last cheaper sub.
How is it best to test this to see if all is well.

Cheers

Chris

[eviljohn2]

What was your last cheaper sub? You must remember that the Quake is a small unit with only an 8" driver so is never going to provide huge amounts of wellie beyond what you describe.

[(GTV)Chris]

It was a Yamaha.. YSTSW205.
I think it only had an 8" driver. But it was a good sub.
It was about 6 years old and had started to rattle and pop.
But I am sure I should be feeling a bigger slam with the Quake?
To get any where near the ooomph, I have to turn it up which means the bass rumble on most of the movie track is intolerable.
I only have to turn up the level by a smal increment on the sub for it to be too much?
Perhaps my amp is set up wrong?
I'll look into it.

Is there a good way of testing the sub..How about a movie scene that really tests it?

Chris

[Crustyloafer]

What are the dimensions of your room? It's possible the Quake maybe faulty, but I also think it's just as likely that you are not used to hearing a good subwoofer set up properly which sounds clean and tight. The Yamaha subwoofers tended to sound boomy and overblown and the Quake will sound very different to that. If you still thinks its faulty then I would speak to your local dealer very nicely, if you take it in to him he will be able to tell you if its faulty. Do call before turning up at the store as the dealer is not in any way obliged to help you as you did not buy it from him, but he may be able to assist in getting it repaired by REL if it is faulty.

[(GTV)Chris]

Hi,
The size of my room is approx 14ft by 9ft.
I used the AVIA disk and played the sub tones which all seemed to sound ok.
Perhaps it is because I am used to a really boomy sub.
I will play around with a few films at the weekend and see if I can improve it a little, if not then I will take it down to my local hifi shop.

Cheers

Chris

[(GTV)Chris]

OK,
Had more of a fiddle. I found out that my crossover on the amp is at 90hz.
Isn't this a bit high? I think my speakers go down to about 46hz.
I have found that I have the Low level dial on the firts notch, any higher and the bass is becomes too much.
Is this normal to have it on the very first notch?
The bass does sound nice and tight, but I kind of miss the ribcage jolt that the Yammy gave and this was only a cheap sub by comparrison.

Thanks fr your input,


Chris

[Crustyloafer]

With the 'Mode' control in mode '2' or '4' the crossover is bypassed on the low level input, so you do not need to worry about the crossover for home cinema purposes. Using the high level input, the sub's crossover is still active and you should set this as close to the freqency that you main speakers' output drops off siginificantly, so I would start with a setting of about 46Hz from what you said.

For stereo music playback put your AV amplifier into whichever kind of 'Stereo
Direct' mode it has that way it will send the full range signal to the main speakers as if the sub wasn't there. The subwoofer will then get its signal from the high lelvel connection and with the crossover on the sub set fairly low, about 46Hz, it should just fill in for the main speakers and no more.

Having the low level input on the first notch is perfectly ok, but it does still sound a little low. Make sure you don't have have the sub's level setting on the AV amp. set too high.

[(GTV)Chris]

Thanks m8
All good info.
Just one point though. If my amp has a cross over of 90hz,
Does this mean that setting the crossover on the sub below this level would be useless?
I am getting there slowly

Cheers

Chris