Setting the Level on my Sub

[nheather]

I now have my first home cinema system. The sound part is made up of

Amp - Denon 1906
Fronts - Canton CD50
Centre - Canton CD50
Rears - Canton CD10
Sub - BK XLS200DF

First I tried the auto-setup. This seemed okay but I noticed on the tests that the sub sounded much quieter then any of the speakers - even so the auto setup left the speakers around 0dB but set the sub to -15dB.

As I have a SPL Meter I decided to try the set them up manually. With the SPL set to 70dB, the amp levels starting at 0dB I found the following

Speakers typically read +6dB
Sub read about -10dB

I adjusted the level of the speakers to give 0dB but when I tried to turn the level of the sub up to get 0dB it was terribly loud and thumping (not pleasent at all).

My question is ....

"How should I set up the sub - should it be set at the same level as the other speakers?"

I'd appreciate any advice,

Thanks,

Nigel

 

[liampurcell]

I dont' know the answer to this (I'd tell you if I knew), but as no-one has replied to you, try searching a bit more on these forums.

 

[AngelEyes]

Your sub will have a volume or gain on it and this affects the volume as well, not just the amp levels.

You may have the sub volume too high. I don't know about your particular sub but a lot of people (me included) run their subs at 50% or lower on the volume.

I think mine is set to 40% on the sub and +2db on the processor. Have a play and see if it improves things. If the sub volume is too high it may cause the sub to distort and 'boom'.

 

[Badger0-0]

I now have my first home cinema system. The sound part is made up of

Amp - Denon 1906
Fronts - Canton CD50
Centre - Canton CD50
Rears - Canton CD10
Sub - BK XLS200DF

First I tried the auto-setup. This seemed okay but I noticed on the tests that the sub sounded much quieter then any of the speakers - even so the auto setup left the speakers around 0dB but set the sub to -15dB.

As I have a SPL Meter I decided to try the set them up manually. With the SPL set to 70dB, the amp levels starting at 0dB I found the following

Speakers typically read +6dB
Sub read about -10dB

I adjusted the level of the speakers to give 0dB but when I tried to turn the level of the sub up to get 0dB it was terribly loud and thumping (not pleasent at all).

My question is ....

"How should I set up the sub - should it be set at the same level as the other speakers?"

I'd appreciate any advice,

Thanks,

Nigel

It's either a crap sub
Or you simply have it turned up too much.
Play a DD disc.
Leave everything as it is and inch the sub down until you like it.
Use your ears

Either that, or read more

Job done

 

[nheather]

It's not a crap sub, just a crap user.

Noticed I had my SPL set on 'A' weighting which means it hardly responds to sub frequencies at all.

Set the SPL to 'C' and bingo - able to set it up without problem.

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[Badger0-0]

The "crap sub" line was a joke mate, don't worry.
Glad you sorted it.