opinions on sms-1

paulst10

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hi, i am about to take the plunge and order an sms-1.

just wanted to hear your opinions on it before hand

thanks
 
In theory it is an excellent piece of kit as it should iron out any problems that the room may be creating and will therefore allow you to get the very best out of your subwoofer.

Unfortunately I have to say "in theory" as mine is still in it's unopened box and I'm embarrassed to say that it has now been sitting in the conservatory gathering dust for over four months now :(

If any of the lads from AV Sales are reading this - do feel free to pop in if you're ever in the Midlands and I will make you a cup of tea whilst you install it for me :rotfl:
 
Its top... and I suggest you checkout the huge sms thread which is here somewhere.

Been using it since it was released and its a god send for my appalling room :)
 
It's an excellent piece of kit and makes getting the best from your subwoofer/room simple.
 
How much are they now? Wheres the best place to purchase?

cheers

Steve
 
Paul,

Although you're likely to start with the auto equalize, you'll want to use the manual function for more detailed control.

Enjoy :thumbsup:
 
hi, thanks.

i probably will just try the manual setup first, as i have read a review and it said that the auto setup added boosts to the dips which is apparently a no no!
 
Hi,
I ordered a SMS yesterday too, expect delivery today. Did a lot of research and spent 15 minutes on the phone with Hayes at AV-sales before finally committing.

To put it succintly Hayes said that if you are technically minded you can expect to get a good curve within an hour; and even better after 3 hours. He also advised returning to it 2 or 3 days later and to tweak a bit.

I'm pretty sure that the automatic option was not even mentioned and the manual set up is the way to proceed.

I wont have time to play with it until Sunday but I'll let you know then how I get on. I regard myself as being relatively 'technically minded' but it sounded like Hayes has had specific training and a lot of expereince in setting these up, so I hope it's as straightforward as he said.

Antz
 
paulst10 said:
hi, thanks.

i probably will just try the manual setup first, as i have read a review and it said that the auto setup added boosts to the dips which is apparently a no no!

Opinions vary quite a bit about not adding boost. I've read that up to 6dbs is fine, no more than 3dbs and like you said, no boost.

Once you get the hang of using it, you'll find that its pretty easy to use. Consequently, experimenting with boost won't be a big deal.

As I'm writing this, I'm remembering my confusion with the "Q" setting. "Q" is the width of the frequency range that is affected. The higher the number, the narrower the range of frequencies. The lower the number, the wider the range of frequencies. This will make more sense later when you have you SMS-1 installed.
 
JimPap said:
As I'm writing this, I'm remembering my confusion with the "Q" setting. "Q" is the width of the frequency range that is affected. The higher the number, the narrower the range of frequencies. The lower the number, the wider the range of frequencies. This will make more sense later when you have you SMS-1 installed.

thanks

I wont have time to play with it until Sunday but I'll let you know then how I get on. I regard myself as being relatively 'technically minded' but it sounded like Hayes has had specific training and a lot of expereince in setting these up, so I hope it's as straightforward as he said.

i wont be fiddling with mine until friday afternoon or saturday, and will hopefully post before and after pics
 
hi, i have had a play around with it for half hour or so and this is what i have come up with...

this is preset 6 (all EQ defeated) before...
dsc000704cf.jpg


and after...
dsc000698fr.jpg


i have my crossover set at 80hz on both my amp and on the sms-1, but i am un-able to get rid of the dip between 60 - 80 hz... any suggestions??
 
paulst10 said:
i have my crossover set at 80hz on both my amp and on the sms-1, but i am un-able to get rid of the dip between 60 - 80 hz... any suggestions??

Try the sub in a different position while you play the sweeps. If you have a large dip because of speaker and/or seating placement EQ can't help you mutch.

I use the SMS-1 and got a perfect frequenzy response after moving the sub, seating and equlizing after that.:clap:
 
If you've not adjusted the "phase", then you definately want to try that. Remember 180 degrees phase is the same as reversing the polarity, so, you don't want to do both.

Also, don't forget to boost the sub response 5 to 10 dbs per SMS-1 instructions. A flat response curve typically don't sound right.
 
.....and while we're at it, be mindful that the SMS-1 adds a delay due to processing that is correctable by changing your subwoofer distance in your receiver/preamp distance setup menu. What you want to do is add 2 or 3 feet to the physical distance. There is a more technical way of calculating this, but this should get you pretty close for now.
 
thanks for info,

i have tried the phase and polarity and it didnt really make much diference, but i havent tried the sub in another location. i may try moving it a few inches or so, or turning it round so its side-on etc! but due to its size it is in the only place it can really go
 
I think the dip at around 80Hz is down to the fact that you have 2 crossovers set. I suggest you defeat the crossover on the SMS-1 (or set it to the highest setting). This way only the receiver will be trying to filter the sound between the sub & speakers and therefore should give a better overall response. Doing this was the only way I could get good integration between my DD-15 and speakers.

Mark.
 
Mark's got a good point about the crossovers.

There are actually 3 different places for crossovers. The subwoofer, the SMS-1 and in your preamp/receiver.
 
hi , thanks for your help guys :thumbsup:

this is what i have come up with now, and i havent had to move the sub at all, i disabled the crossover on the sms-1 and flipped the polarity to - and it has made quite a bit of diference, and i havent adjusted the "Q" values yet :smashin: :D

i think it needs to go a bit louder... but i was doing this at 8 in the morning, so maybe a bit later

dsc000714uy.jpg



thanks again
 
Yep, that looks nice and flat all the way up to 80hz. Don't worry about higher than 80hz as that is what your speakers are doing and therefore can't be adjusted by the SMS-1. A little bit of playing around though may get the actual crossover point a little smoother - but for a start that looks good to me :thumbsup:

Mark.
 
thanks mark,

i was gonna try and change the crossover in my amp to 70hz or 90hz and see if that makes any diference
 
Keep playing around with all the settings until you find it sounds good to you. However don't keep trying to get the line ruler flat as that is normally not the best settings as certain frequencies should be boosted to get the required slam etc from films.
Or like me you keep playing and end up with something that sounds worse rather than better, so go back to the old settings. Then you eventually get fed up with the constent tweeking (for a day ot two at least) and just leave it to do the job it was designed for - making the moivies sound as good as possible in your room.

Mark.
 
Paul - That is a hell of alot of EQ you are useing :eek: I would try and keep the EQ as minimal as possible but like Mark has said ruler flat does not mean you will get the desired sound that you want, and as always let you're ears be the judge...:)
 
yeh, im not going to tweak it too much now, i just wanted to get rid the 30hz and 60hz peaks as they were just too loud during certain films, and due to the dips around 45hz and 75hz...not bassy enough during others

i plan to raise the 20hz - 30hz part a couple more db's, and sort the crossover point... but apart from that, i think its best to leave it
 
recruit said:
Paul - That is a hell of alot of EQ you are useing

is this bad then? it wont cause any damage to the unit or anything will it? i am new to all this bass management, so all help is much appreciated :smashin:

i thought i would get a reasonably straight line, then just adjust 2 of the presets to individual likings ie: preset 1 for action films with a bit of added oomph in certain areas and preset 2 for diferent types of films where bass isnt really needed, another for music with a pretty flat responce.

i just thought it would be better to get it straight, then start using the diferent presets ??

has anyone got any pics with their responces, to see if a certain type of frequency responce is favoured more than others... pics from room eq wizard welcome as well, how is yours set?
 

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