[lpost]

I have a yamaha powered sub connected to the outputs of my sig 30, and am wondering where other folks set their volume knob of their sub. I have tried it right in the middle which sounds good at lower volumes with the 30. But when I really want to turn it up, say 3:00 position on amp, the sub starts to sound  boomy. Speakers are omega XRS. Thanks for any advice,  MP.

[dewar]

I'll have a stab.

The answer is that is is simply a matter of personal taste.

And every subwoofer being different as far as dial settings and gain go, it would not help to know how others have theirs set even if we had similar hearing and listening habits.

Another point to bear in mind is the Fletcher–Munson curve which shows that we subjectively hear more bass at higher volumes. So you can never really a single correct setting for all occasions. I use a Behringer DSP1124 equalizer on my sub (highly recommended) which has various settings, or 'house curves', that let me with a simple push of a button dial in more bass for low-level late nigh session. Or just use the subs volume dial, but the problem is that you can never easily get it back to the exact setting it was at before.

Boominess could also be partly the result of room nodes, which can be ameliorated by positioning of sub and/or listener and by using bass traps, or pretty much completely and affordable cured with said Behringer product (in the range the sub operates in at least). Bass trapping still a good idea in this case as we are also dealing with decay times which EQ cant fix.

If you want any kind of point of reference as to what you 'should' be hearing, or what others are doing, I would recommend a Radioshack SPL meter and test tones if you dont already have these. Most people find bass that measures flat a little dry and a gradual boost bellow 100hz to about 3db at 30hz as pretty common, again with perhaps more at low levels and less when you crank it. Note the Radioshack spl meters are inacurate down low so search online for the correction values if you are going to use one.

cheers

Bevan

[lpost]

Thanks Dewar!

[Vinnie R.]

Hi lpost,

Dewar brings up some very good points... thanks, Dewar!

have tried it right in the middle which sounds good at lower volumes with the 30. But when I really want to turn it up, say 3:00 position on amp, the sub starts to sound  boomy.

Is your sub a sealed-box?  I recommend this (as does Louis) with Omega Speakers.... otherwise, it probably won't keep up and will sound boomy/muddy with Omegas.

If you turn it up too loud and it gets boomy/muddy, it could be either:

1) too much bass for your room (or a room placement issue)
2) the sub distorting (either the sub driver or the sub's power amp)
3) you might also need to dial in the crossover frequency/phase if you have those controls. 
4) I'm not sure if Yamaha makes a high-end sub or if these are something that you can get at Best Buy.  It might be a sub that is good for movies and adding "boom" effects, but not good for 2-channel audio. 

Dial in your sub and use it for a while and then play music without using it and see if you prefer the music with or without it. 

IMHO, subwoofers can be a love-hate thing 

Best regards,

Vinnie