[mgoppert]

Community,

My name is Mike Goppert. I am a fellow DIY audiophile here in Frisco, Texas. I just bought a couple of triple threats over the holiday. I have attached some pictures of my listening room and speaker build. I'm trying to search this forum for break-in and setup hints, but I am unable to since I am a new user of AudioCircle (Kind of a strange requirement), so I apologize if these questions are already answered,

1. In my current speaker placement, I have a -10db dip around 50Hz. I tried correcting it using the PEQ, but noticed it only goes to +3db, Is there any other way to solve this dip other than trying to move the speakers?
2. How long do the drivers take to break in under moderate use (Hours)? I noticed the bass extension on very low frequencies is a bit subdued, I'm sure this is due to new drivers and the need for break-in. What do you guys use to break in these drivers?

Note, if there are existing posts giving answers to these questions, just point me to them. Remember, AudioCircle won't let me search yet.





Here are some sound demos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb0tzhOG0CQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra2-J9d2SOM

Best,
Mike

[Danny Richie]

Hey Mike, welcome to AC.

There is a lot that you can do still to flatten out the response.

First of all, work with your sub placement.

When measuring the room response be sure to only measure one channel at a time.

Take a picture of the settings on the sub amp and post it.

We'll get you tweaked to a flat response in no time. 

[Denton J]

Your listening room is really cool!

[zybar]

Don't try and correct the big dips via PEQ.

As Danny suggested, play around with speaker placement.

Little movements can make a big difference!

Good luck.

George

[Tyson]

OB subs are not like box subs.  Box subs do well placed near a wall but OB subs do not.  Pull them out away from the walls and place them close to the main speakers.

[Boocher Schoochie]

Hi Mike,

I’m new here as well. I have a pair of horn loaded two way speakers that I am running with a new minidsp flex eight. I disconnected the crossovers, am running three class d amps and tuning with Dirac live and room EQ. It’s been a steep learning curve. I have some weird dips as well and am slowly changing things in my living room to correct. Wife thinks I am just being helpful redecorating. As things get sorted for you please post what worked.

Boocher

[KTS]

Mike,
Nice room and build! It took the double trouble subs several months of playing a couple of hours a night to fully open up for me. But as it has been said before, they hit differently than boxed subs, more accurately and detailed in my opinion.

[ketchup]

Awesome looking room.  Please update this thread as you sort them out.  I may go down a similar road at some point.

[Chops]

A 50Hz suck-out seems to be a typical issue in a lot of rooms. I've seen some report dips as much as -20dB!

You can't fix a suck-out (null, dip, etc, etc) with DSP or EQ. The only thing you can do is tweak either loudspeaker/subwoofer position, listening position, or both. Attempting to use DSP or EQ by adding 10+dB boost will do nothing but drive your gear, amps and drivers into clipping and distortion, and unnecessary stress as well as possible damage.

Other options are treating the room with more bass traps (all four corners from floor to ceiling if you can), or using more subwoofers located elsewhere in the room.

And yes, as far as your dipole subs are concerned, you need to have them pulled at least 3' from the front wall, if not more.

[HAL]

If there is a dip around 50Hz, then the dimension would be 11.3ft that causes the dip, so around a typical 12ft room dimension.  Depending on where the listening chair is in a null, so walking around helps find the higher output.

It can also be caused by oblique mode angles from room dimensions and speaker to listening distances. 

A great way to visualize this is with Room EQ Wizard (REW).  There is a tab where you can input the room dimensions and it will put a 2 way system with a listening position to see what the frequency response looks like at the chair.

I had a dip around 70Hz that was caused by the listening position, so I moved the chair to the peak and then used a parametric EQ in the subs to drop it down.  REW is a great tool to measure and change the PEQ to adjust it.

This is a good use of bass traps that can help reduce the room mode effect if you cannot move speakers/listeners around.