New Subwoofer.

[jefft1314]

I have a tiny room (10X14x10) but I cant' stand how obnoxiously quiet my psw303 is during action movies, even though I've only had it for a month and paid 130 for it, the thing has got to go. I like the fact that everybody loves svs though I fear that their line of subwoofers will simply be too powerful for my rm6700's. Will it be possible to blend the satts with the sub effectively or would i be better off going with a smaller hsu sub, like the stf 2 or perhaps even the outlaw audio lfm-1? Thanks to you guys I've already ruled the infinity ps-12 even though I could buy it for less than 210 shipped through circuit city's accomodation sales. I want something that can keep up with the volume and clarity that the 6700's provide, without overpowering them. Also, while I do want the sub to last me for a while (i'm thinking ten years or so) I'm obvioulsy looking at what's best for my present situation. Meaning, if the SVS are too powerful for my room, I won't consider them just because they'll be perfect when I'm finally done with school. Damn, it's 4:25am and i'm working in four hours... well off to sleep i go... if I can sleep through the birds that already awake.

[dave shepard]

In a room that size I would go with the pb1. You will be able to get it to blend in by adjusting the subs gain (volume) and it will also be enough sub for when you deside to upgrade the speakers or room size you will have enough to keep going with no worries.

Dave

[dave shepard]

Originally posted by jefft1314
I have a tiny room (10X14x10) but I cant' stand how obnoxiously quiet my psw303 is during action movies, even though I've only had it for a month and paid 130 for it, the thing has got to go.

Need info on your setup, What reciever do you have? How do you have the sub hooked up (LFE or running the speaker wire through it then using the subs EQ)?
Where do you have the settings? Even the 303 in a room that size should be able to do something.

Dave

[jefft1314]

denon avr 1804 and i have the speakers run through the sub, per polk's suggestion. The 303 does do something in the room, but it's only practical applicatoin is music. I like my action movies loud and the sub can't keep up with the speakers during movies, like the matrix reloaded, it simply does not provide enough bass to provide that immersion affect i'm looking for. Do you think using the preout on the receiver would be better than how i currently have it set up, and if i do so, will i sacrifice the nice blend i have going on right now for music? And on a side note, anybody looking for a psw-303?

[Early B.]

An SVS PB1 would certainly be nice, and for less money a Hsu STF-2 would suit your needs as well.

[jefft1314]

To answer the setting question I have the sub crossover set to about 120 and the gain a little past the half way point.

[faster100]

would love to have a 303 for my 2 channel rig :)
But i can want in one hand and you know what in the other,

[pjdami]

Sounds like to me that Jeff likes to watch movies kind of loud. I vote for the PB1 as well or the STF-3. It is a little more, but the STF-2's weakness is in demanding Home Theater scenes. I have noticed this in my STF-2 and others have mentioned it numerous times as well. It is a nice sub, don't get me wrong, but depending on how loud you listen to movies it could be a problem. The opening scene in Underworld where the thunder booms the STF-2 will distort during this scene at -15 db off reference volume. The SVS I have now sounds like real thunder and rocks the house.

I have since moved the STF-2 over to my two channel rig where it performs quite nicely.

[bokdaddy]

I would try running your subwoofer from the LFE out. That way, you'll have a better way to manage the bass through your Denon AVR. When it's hooked up to the LFE not only is it unfiltered, but you can change the volume settings of each speaker including the subwoofer through your receiver until you find a balance that you like.

[jefft1314]

Hit it right on the head, I don't much see the point in watching an action movie on a ht system if I can't watch it loud, real loud. Though I may try the lfe, I still don't think the sub will do enough rumbling for me:-). Besides how cool would it be to have a pb1 in a room of my size? It screams overkill, which I think would be kind of fun. I'll be selling the 303 then probably towards the end of july which should be about when I have my credit card paid off and can justify in dropping the coin for the svs. Hmm... maybe I'll just find an interest free card and go that route instead so I can have my new sub sooner. Yeah, that sounds like much a better idea:-). I'll post the sub for sale when I've got the svs ordered.

[dave shepard]

The pb1 will be a sure beat that's for sure, I say go for it!!!! In the meantime (if going the LFE, recomended, route) set all speakers to small and sub -5 (at the reciever) crossover to 80, gain at the sub to half maybe just above. If you go the speaker wire route the rear speakers to small center to small LF/RT to large then the subs crossover to 80.

Dave

[pjdami]

Remember that the 6700 satellite speaker can't go much lower than 120 - 150 hz. So 80 hz crossover for the sub will be too low. Polk has removed the lower crossover frequency for the 6700 on the website. It includes it with the 303 FR now.

Jeff, if you want to keep the 6700 with the new sub you will have to increase the crossover on the sub or you will be lacking some midbass in the 80 - 150 hz region which is very noticeable.

The problem with raising the subs crossover is that the bass from the sub is more localized. You can try 120 or 140 hz if those settings are available on your AVR. In the long run, if you are really that much of a HT fanatic, you should consider upgrading your 6700 to some small Polk bookshelves that can play down to 80 hz at least. You might just like it the way it sounds at the higher crossover, but you should be aware of your options here.

[jefft1314]

Well with the 303 crossed over at 120hz i certainly don't get any kind of localization effects from having the sub crossed over that high, they do actually blend rather well together atm. I'm going to buy an lfe cable and try hooking it up that way with the dennon doing the crossover at 120hz. My guess is that this will afford me more volume in the subwoofer but with a sacrifice in the overall blend of the system. I'll post my results tomorrow after some testing.

[jefft1314]

And upgrading the speakers is not a possibility at the moment, maybe in a year I'll shell out for some rti6's and 4's and a new center channel, that's just going to take up so much more space in my tiny room plus set me back another 300 dollars (as long as polk and cc retain their friendly relations) of course i'll be able to sell the 6700's to make back some of it, or even most of it. But, I think as long as i'm in college and my whole life is confined to a single room, I'll probably keep the polk sats. They certainly sound good to me right now:-).

[pjdami]

They certainly sound good to me right now:-).

That's all that matters Jeff. I just wanted to make sure you knew about the lower frequency range of the 6700 and adjusted your sub accordingly.

Good luck with your studies man. Hang in there. I know what it is like to be confined in one of them rooms during college. Music certainly helped me get through it all.

[jefft1314]

So I completely rewired my speakers today with some acoustic research 16 gauge and got rid of that terrible pink home depot wire. Yes, I know all of you think that sixteen gauge is too thin, but I think with how little current my speakers actually draw and the relatively short wire lengths, my rears only took about fiftten feet maybe 20 feet of wire a pop, I can't imagine I'm losing that much going down from 14 gauge to 16 gauge, plust this speaker wire is white, which I like. I also bought a sub cable and hooked up the 303 using that, instead of running my fronts through it. (just a cheap monster thx cable, I doubt anything more expensive would really give me a noticable difference with the 303) played the car chase scene in Matrix Reloaded and at loud listening levels my subwoofer didn't pop though it also didn't provide quite enough rumble. For reference all of my speakers are set to small and the dennon is crossed over at 120hz, I tried 100hz, but that sounded terrible. I'm going to download some test tones and play around with the configurations a bit. I may be able to keep the 303 and save my six hundred dollars after I tool around with it a bit... maybe.

[pjdami]

Jeff,

Is the sub calibrated? If you don't have a calibration disk you can use the test tones to do it and run a frequency sweep to see your plot. A cruder way but effective nonetheless. Your ears are the final instrument as well.

[dave shepard]

Originally posted by pjdami
Remember that the 6700 satellite speaker can't go much lower than 120 - 150 hz. So 80 hz crossover for the sub will be too low.

Thanks I forgot about that I think I had the 70's for some reason in my head.


Dave