Distributed Bass Array configuration

@cleeds wrote: " That is completely false, notwithstanding your use of ALLCAPS for emphasis. See any basic audiology text for proof, which will show the range of increased sensitivity is typically in the midrange, 2000 - 5000 kHz. "

My bad for not explaining where I was coming from.

I do understand what you are saying, but what you are looking at is where the ears are the most sensitive; that is, where sounds of a given SPL are perceived to be the loudest. And indeed that peaks exactly where you say it does (with the peak centered around 3.5-4 kHz).

What I’m talking about is different, and is not nearly so obvious.  I’m talking about the ear’s sensitivity to CHANGES in SPL (and I would use italics instead of allcaps if that was available here). A change in SPL does not produce the exact same change in perceived loudness across the frequency spectrum; it produces more of a change at low frequencies. Go from a low volume level to a high one and the deep bass goes from being inaudible to being thunderous. The unit of measure of perceived loudness is the "phon", and by definition at 1 kHz the loudness in phons is the same as the SPL in decibels, so the two curves share that data point:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Sound/eqloud.html

Now take a close look at how the equal-loudness curves bunch up below 100 Hz. A 5 dB change in SPL at 20 or 30 Hz results in a change in perceived LOUDNESS of about 10 phons, comparable to a 10 dB change in SPL at 1 kHz.

This is what I was talking about, and once you understand that, it will be clear why a small change in gain on the subwoofer amp typically results in a larger than expected change in perceived loudness. Or, to put it another way, why it takes a while to dial in the gain setting on a subwoofer amp.

Duke

golfnutz- You’re twisting it around MC, the whole purpose of level matching is to prevent you from trying to figure out what the volume on the subs should be. That’s why its called level matching.

If you say so. I prefer to say it is to achieve a seamless and pleasing presentation. Please read Duke’s posts above.

I find in practice extremely minor adjustments to my sub level are needed to get it tuned in exactly to my ears, which is consistent with what Duke is saying. Very minor....

Yes, Duke agreed with me suggesting level matching as a good starting point. Thanks for pointing that out.

Sorry MC, you're a dart thrower, here's what you said. Guaranteed your system would sound better if you learned to install it correctly with the right tools. You're the one adjusting the bass whenever the next 'more bass on this song, better turn those subs down again'. If you learned how to use the tools you wouldn't need to do that.

" What I did, once the initial phase is done, was listen to a lot of different music at my normal levels. I abhor meters. Most of the time I listen at a nice satisfying volume level. Sometimes not that loud. Occasionally I listen Supertramp Loud. Gradually, over time, I make really small level adjustments. Really small. Like I turn the knob but about half the time not really sure it did anything. This works because the meaning of the equal loudness contours is we go from being relatively insensitive to bass at low volume to hyper sensitive to bass at high volume".

Question:   
When using the crawl method and picking the best spot for Sub #1
are you supposed to then power up Sub #1 while crawling for Sub #2`s best spot and so on with each sub thereafter....??