SV Subwoofers
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keep input distortion to a minimum, however you should not be set much lower than –5 dB recommended earlier, some adjustment room is needed to tweak down the road. If your subwoofer reading is still too high then turn down the sub’s amp volume a little with each run.
But what’s “too high”?? Tastes vary, and so do movie soundtracks, but your SVS is capable of tremendous levels of low distortion, low frequency bass — far more than most commercial subs. Take advantage of this, especially if you like action movies with lots of “.1” channel (LFE) action and give the sub a bit more during calibration. Keep in mind too that the human ear is relatively insensitive to low frequencies. This, coupled with the fact most folks don’t watch movies at Dolby Digital reference level (loud!), means tweaking the bass up a few dBs usu- ally yields a better movie sound experience.
What sub levels do we recommend? If you watch movies at relatively mod- erate sound levels, a range of +2dB to +3dB over your other channels is a good start. This means that the test tone will waiver about 78 dB for the subwoofer por- tion of the calibration run (88dB with Avia). (Note: You may rotate the sound meter SPL meter dial to the 80dB to get a good reading with these higher levels.) Note too that many modern surround sound receivers allow a variety of different subwoofer level settings, depending on the listening mode you are in. With “DVD” as your “source” use the above calibration routine. You may well find that CD stereo music calls for a lower bass settings. The above is a guide, experi- ment! The louder your master volume though, the more you should back off the sub level to compensate. Avoid your driver bottoming, resulting in a loud “clack”!
Location and measurement. You should take the above measurements from your typical preferred seat for watching movies (center cushion, right?). Be ad- vised, strong bass levels can vary tremendously simply by moving a few feet.
Such is the nature of long
Powered Cylinder amp. We scoured the world for the best perform- ing sub amp (that’s still affordable). The result is a
Volume. Use volume (in conjunction with your receiver’s subwoofer output level control) to come up with a bass calibration to your liking. Start calibration with the sub’s volume 1/2 to 3/4ths of the way up (or turned to the right).
Crossover Frequency. If you use your DD/DTS receiver/processor’s internal crossover to manage bass frequencies (highly recommended), the setting of this knob on the sub is irrelevant. (Note: You should use the crossover “Enable/ Disable” switch discussed below to take advantage of this configuration.) Other- wise this knob is used to best blend your SVS to your other speakers. Typically used in stereo only systems today.
