Is it better to adjust the subwoofer volume in the receiver or on the sub itself?

Question

The default level after auto calibration in the receiver is too quiet for me, so I turn up the volume on the sub instead of increasing the level in the receiver. Is there a downside to this? I was thinking that maybe the sub ends up working harder than it needs to by doing this?

Answer 1

I say experiment, but the way you are doing it is fine.

If you have to turn up the subs volume more than half

way to get a normal level of bass, and thus requiring

you to turn it up nearly all the way when you want the

maximum impact of the sub, then you may want to

increase the volume from the receiver as well. But

the sound quality will be better the less you have to

use the receiver for the volume.

OKAY, I TRIED TO REPLY TO YOUR E-MAIL, BUT YAHOO SAID THAT YOUR E-MAIL HAD NOT YET BEEN CONFIRMED, SO I'M GOING TO TRY TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION HERE...

YOUR FOLLOW-UP QUESTION:

Subject: Can you please clarify your answer?

Message: You said that the sound quality of a sub will be better the less you have to use the receiver for the volume. I'm wondering why this would be the case? Thanks for your time...

MY ANSWER TO YOU:

Thanks for your e-mail. I'm not a technical expert, but when you combine two volume controls on the same circuit... more specifically, when the powered device has its own volume control and you introduce an outside volume control, the outside volume control (i.e. your receiver) will not only be able to double the volume, but may also double the harmonic distortion (i.e. background noise) of the amplified device, which in this case is the powered subwoofer.

Also, the powered subwoofer's input volume may be exceeded by the receiver's output volume, thus in which would introduce distortion and/or artificially exaggerate the frequency response that would make the sound less clean or more bloated so to speak.

I hope this made some sense and did not confuse you any further. Besides, this may or may not be the case with your system and either way may work just fine for you.

I encourage you to go ahead and experiment with both volume settings until you get the right balance of volume and clarity that suits your taste.

On the other hand, if you don't want to experiment and just set it and forget it, just set the powered sub's volume control to mid-point, and adjust the receiver sub out volume to the desired volume.

Let me know if I can help any further.
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Answer 2

First thing is to play with the positioning of the speakers and subwoofer, this will affect both overall frequency's responce and soundstaging. The main speakers should create a equal lateral triangle, with a spread of about 8ft from left and right speakers and ideally a few feet away from back walls. Subwoofer should also ideally be placed in the middle between the front speakers, and positioned about a foot from the back wall. There is a big misconception that bass is not directional, this is completely false. If you do not position the subwoofer in the middle you will not get the best sound. Corner loading is also not ideal as this will certainly give you the most amount of bass but not the best bass detail. The idea of setting the cross-over (or high pass) on your subwoofer is to get the subwoofer to supplement (or blend) with the main speakers roll off (which is at 50hz) you will want the subwoofer to come in around this frequency. To high a setting and you will get to much bass in the upper bass region causing excess bass and loss of detail in other parts of the music spectrum. To low a setting and you will have a whole were there is bass information that is missing. A ideal setting will give you good bass detail were you can hear all notes from each instrument in the bass area. Set volume to also get the right amount of bass so you it does not mask the rest of the music. All speaker levels should be set at the listeners position ether with a VU meter, or by ear so all speakers are at the same volume. Good luck Kevin 40 years hi-end audio video specialist

Answer 3

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RE:
Is it better to adjust the subwoofer volume in the receiver or on the sub itself?
The default level after auto calibration in the receiver is too quiet for me, so I turn up the volume on the sub instead of increasing the level in the receiver. Is there a downside to this? I was thinking that maybe the sub ends up working harder than it needs to by doing this?

Answer 4

Subwoofer Level Control

Answer 5

Doctor Gonzo is right on target. I had to do almost the same thing. I had the subwoofer's level control up pretty high, but the low bass just wasn't quite what it was suppose to be. It's hard to explain my problem, but after experimenting with the receiver's subwoofer level (in my case, increasing it somewhat) the problem was 100% solved. Auto calibration does not do everything right all the time, so be prepared to make final adjustments at both the subwoofer and the receiver by ear. It may take some time to get it how you want it, but evrything will fall into place.

Answer 6

The best way to adjust this is to turn the A/V receiver all the way down to start. Then turn the subwoofer volume control all the way up. Then start turning the VC on the receiver up until you get it to the loudest you would EVER want it to be. Then back the subwoofer volume control down to a tolerable level. You should be good to go.

Answer 7

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Regarding the frequency - your receiver should have a setting for the subwoofer crossover point. It is better to use this than the sub's control. The sub's frequency control is a simple analog filter, while the receiver's is done via DSP. It is much more accurate. It also controls the lower limit of what's sent to the mains. ( The only reason for having a frequency control on the sub is when you're using it in "pass through" mode, with full range audio into its inputs and then using its outputs as inputs to your main amp, which in that case would have no crossover filter. In no case do you want two filters - one in the receiver or processor, and one in the subwoofer - to be in play. ) Same thing for the volume. Set the volume control on the sub all the way up and control its level at the receiver. Many people will look at your mains' specs and say "oh, they're good down to 80 Hz" (or whatever), "set your crossover frequency there." However this ignores the fact that speaker frequency response, especially in the bass, depends a lot on the room and the placement within the room. The best way to set the sub's crossover frequency is with a test CD, preferably with a descending series of bass "warble" tones. To do the test, start as follows: subwoofer: Level all the way down, crossover freq all the way up (no cutoff) receiver: subwoofer level all the way down, all other levels at 0, crossover freq all the way DOWN (no cutoff to mains) Be sure the receiver is in "stereo only" mode (no surround, no simulated surround, etc.) Play the series of warble tones on the test CD, starting with the highest frequency tones and working down. Notice the frequency range where your mains' output decreases markedly. Set the receiver's subwoofer crossover frequency about there. Then play the descending series again. You shouldn't notice much difference from the "all the way down" setting. If you do, it's probably set a little high - you are cutting off bass to the mains that they would be able to handle. So adjust it down a notch and try again. What we're trying to do is to get the crossover to be at about the point where the mains stop reproducing bass anyway. Any higher and we aren't using the mains as much as we could; any lower and we'll be sending bass to the mains that they can't reproduce, and not sending that same bass to the sub. Now to get the level right. Turn the level control on the subwoofer all the way up, and the subwoofer level in the reciever to 0 (same as the mains). Again use the test CD and play the descending series of bass warble tones. You want to set the sub level relative to the mains so that there is a seamless transition from mains to sub, with no obvious volume change, as the "warble tones" proceed down through the crossover point. If there's a "valley" between the two - the bass, as you go down in freq, drops down in level around the crossover point and then comes back up as the sub kicks in - increase the crossover freq a little. You shouldn't be able to hear the sub as a distinct source. If you can, try turning the crossover frequency down a bit - you may then have to boost its volume a little to compensate to get the level to match the mains'. You may have to go back and forth with minor adjustments between these two controls a few times. However the frequency should not be more than half an octave away from where you first set it with the warble tones. (An octave is a factor of 2, so e.g. 50 to 100 Hz is an octave, and 100 to 200 Hz is an octave, etc. Half an octave is a factor of about 1.4 - or the square root of two if you want to be exact. ) The above advice gets things right for music, and should be correct for movies too. However many people prefer a more bass-heavy sound for movies, so that they can really "feel" explosions and so on. If that's you, fine, adjust away - ideally, only with the subwoofer level control. What you like is what you like, but if you've boosted the sub for "big boom", then when you listen to music you will be farther away from what the producer intended, than with the optimal settings. And of course some people WANT the sub up so high that they can really hear it working all the time, even on music! ("I bought it, I want to hear it!") Personal taste. Even so, the above procedure should give you a starting point, and a decent "neutral" to come back to when you are interested in accurate sound.

Answer 8

Yes there is a downside to the method being used but there is another way to look at it. Yes your amplifier is working harder but only a little bit. By having the signal lower and the sub amp working harder the amp is also amplifying RF noise more as well. If you turn the sub output up and the sub volume down you lower the noise floor and get cleaner sound. The advantage is the same as for car audio but smaller because you don't have engine noise to contend with.

Answer 9

adjust the amp settings from the head unit to your liking, never adjust it from the amp gain as all you are gonna do is clip the signal and it will never sound good. The gain is meant to be matched to the output voltage from the head unit nothing more nothing less. It's not a volume control by any means. there are plenty of reasons why you aren't getting what you believe you should get from the sub"s" . be more exact!

Answer 10

The LOWER you turn the volume on your SUB-WOOFER the BETTER it will sound...Just like your car runs SMOOTHER at 60 mph than at 100...If you can help it, I would keep your SUB's volume at ONE HALF or LESS.

There are BETTER ways to get more BASS out of your home theater system...In the SET-UP MENU of your RECEIVER you need to set ALL of your speakers to SMALL...This will funnel MOST of the bass to your sub...It doesn't matter if you have TOWER speakers...This will sound better.

Next thing you can do is check the CROSSOVER...You can set the crossover in your RECEIVER as well as your SUB-WOOFER...Just make sure they're BOTH set at the same level...If the receiver's at 100Hz...be sure to set the sub at 100Hz...(for tower speakers 80Hz, for bookshelf 100Hz)

Then check your PHASE adjustment if you've got one...If your sub-woofer's in the FRONT of your room, set it to "0" degrees...If it's in the BACK, set it to "180" degrees.

Finally, if it's STILL not loud enough, you CAN turn the "SUB-WOOFER CHANNEL" volume in your RECEIVER as loud as you want to WITHOUT damaging anything or losing ANY sound quality...And REMEMBER, you turn the GAIN up on ANY amplifier past TWO THIRDS and it will start to sound LOUSY.