Read Jonathan Valin’s review of this sub in the June, 2014 Absolute Sound...very educational. Actually, read all of the reviews on this sub, which will help in set up ( a 2nd unit would be beneficial ), but I understand the room use situation.
Subwoofer. Great one song. Not so great the next song.
I'm not a subwoofer guy. Played around with one in my primary system (Aerial Acoustics 7Bs, Proceed 250w amp, AR LS-16 tube preamp). Big B&W powered, not sure which. Didn't think it added anything. Ditched it.
Recently got a pair of Aerial Acoustic 6Ts for my secondary system. They have no place to be but right up against the wall. Maybe a foot out. Can't decide if they sound better with a sock in the rear facing bass port or not. Its a wash. Overall they sound pretty dang good though.
But, I played around with a JL Audio e110 sub. Pretty nice unit. Put the socks back in the bass ports.
On some songs the combo with the sub just sounds stellar. On others it sounds boomy and thumpy. My audiophile hang up is taught, clear, concise bass. I do not like boomy and thumpy at all. I can get up and turn the output on the sub down a little and it sounds okay again.
But I don't want to do that every time a different song comes on.
Now, on this sub you can change crossover frequencies, phase and also a polarity switch. I don't know _anything_ about that stuff. I've got it set on the more or less default settings in the manual. The only thing I've messed with is the polarity switch and for reasons I don't understand it sounds better on 180 than 0. I have not messed with the crossover frequency and phase dials.
Is there any chance that changing any of those settings would allow me to reach a sweet spot where I don't have to change settings on the sub frequently? I may or may not keep this sub. If I can't find that sweet spot I'll let it go as alone the 6Ts don't sound bad by any measure.
Thanks,
George
Recently got a pair of Aerial Acoustic 6Ts for my secondary system. They have no place to be but right up against the wall. Maybe a foot out. Can't decide if they sound better with a sock in the rear facing bass port or not. Its a wash. Overall they sound pretty dang good though.
But, I played around with a JL Audio e110 sub. Pretty nice unit. Put the socks back in the bass ports.
On some songs the combo with the sub just sounds stellar. On others it sounds boomy and thumpy. My audiophile hang up is taught, clear, concise bass. I do not like boomy and thumpy at all. I can get up and turn the output on the sub down a little and it sounds okay again.
But I don't want to do that every time a different song comes on.
Now, on this sub you can change crossover frequencies, phase and also a polarity switch. I don't know _anything_ about that stuff. I've got it set on the more or less default settings in the manual. The only thing I've messed with is the polarity switch and for reasons I don't understand it sounds better on 180 than 0. I have not messed with the crossover frequency and phase dials.
Is there any chance that changing any of those settings would allow me to reach a sweet spot where I don't have to change settings on the sub frequently? I may or may not keep this sub. If I can't find that sweet spot I'll let it go as alone the 6Ts don't sound bad by any measure.
Thanks,
George
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- 37 posts total
In my opinion there's no doubt you should hear a worthwhile improvement by using some of the suggestions given here along with a little effort despite your restrictions. +1 oldhvy's is free. Your little JL may lack EQ but its a quality product that will provide you service regardless of any down the road room or system changes. Its also worthy of the benefits of equalization in your future. Keep at it and have fun with it. |
You can use a miniDSP in your sub chain, or Roon which I do and it works great, but then I make my own loudspeakers, so the learning curve and application is not the same as it is for others. The alternative is to use a preamp with room correction built in, and honestly the relief from pain and suffering you get from a device like this cannot be undervalued: https://www.anthemav.com/products-current/model=str-pre-amplifier/page=overview |
Plugging ports on a speaker isn’t the same as the speaker having been designed with a sealed cabinet to begin with @nekoaudio is correct in absolute terms but... I think this is OK. Plugging a port leaves you with an over damped and close to second order high pass. The 2nd order makes it easy to add 2 more, to get 4th order, and with a little tweaking, make up for the excess damping. That is, since an ideal ported speaker is larger than the same ideal sealed, you end up with too much cabinet, resulting in too little bass before you add the sub, which is all about adding bass. :) With the right integration / EQ to deal with this, you can end up with higher dynamic range in the main speakers with better sub integration. Best, E |
I should say the problems the OP listed can be dealt with crudely but effectively. On Android, get a calibrated mic: https://amzn.to/3eYDGBa and AudioTools. Play the crappy songs. You’ll see the frequencies that are bad. Add a PEQ to kill them. Done. |
- 37 posts total