+1 for measurements
+1 for Mini-DSP
Audiophiles make fun of the home theater crowd. The
home theater crowd makes fun of audiophiles. Both groups can learn something
from the other.
Subwoofers should be sized according to the room. I
had Vandersteen 2ci speakers in a small room approximately 11x14 and they
sounded great, I moved them to a much larger space and the magic disappeared. I
did not need a subwoofer for the smaller room. I did need a subwoofer or more
for the larger room.
Timing matters! I do not have automatic room
correction. I use two JTR, S2 subwoofers in the basement. A friend familiar
with free REW software came over to help dial them in. My room is 29 feet long.
One subwoofer is in the front left corner. The other sub is located in the
right rear of the room. The subs were level matched so they both played at the
same volume at the major listening position. The subs were then individually
measured and the individual measurements laid over one another via the program.
The goal was to make two sign waves from two subs appear as one. The delays
were made in the Mini-DSP until the sign waves were as close as possible.
My friend then proceeded to time align each speaker to
the subs. Again the goal is to over-lay all individual measurements and have
them appear as one sign wave. We did not get it exact. We gave my multi-channel
system a tune up. Now instead of an 8 cylinder engine running on 6 cylinders I
had a system working together as intended.
Prior to my friend coming over, I had pulled out a
tape measure and set speaker distances. The distance measured by tape was
different than the distance measured electronically. After timing alignment, I
was able to reduce my listening volume by 10db and maintain the same enjoyment
and listening intelligibility. I know many use automatic room correction and
assume it is correct, you don’t know until you measure. You cannot just do the
math to determine delays, the room and things in the room affect how sound
travels. According to the math I should need 7-8 seconds of delay. Measuring
with a mic resulted in 5.811 second delay.
After alignment my system measured +/- 3 Db from 100Hz
to 6Hz. I tried to listen to my flat system and did not enjoy it. I tried
increasing the overall sub volume, but that resulted in bloated bass. I finally
did some equalization in the Mini-DSP and the system came alive. I was able to
reduce the overall sub volume back to where it initially measured flat. As
someone mentioned earlier, we do not hear all frequencies at the same level.
Lower frequencies must be louder to be heard evenly. Equalization helps
accomplish this according to individual taste.
My system produces great bass for movies but for music
you may not know the subs are playing. After the changes, there have been a number
of times I have really been surprised at the bass content while viewing non-action
movies.
I use Innersound Eros speakers for two channel
listening. The speaker is essentially two electrostatic panels on top of two ten
inch transmission line subs. Bass is omnidirectional but there are recordings
where two instruments that produce notes below 80 Hz are used. There are recordings
where two pianos or two drum sets are used. A properly set up system can reveal
that multiple pianos, drums, guitars are being used, just as a quality set of
stereo speakers can reveal multiple singers harmonizing as one. In my humble
opinion stereo subwoofers can help a listener detect the dual instruments in those
recordings.
In my humble opinion, from my humble experience