How To Set Subwoofer Gain And Why With Measurements And Explanations

[@COGuyStuff]

This shows you exactly what your subwoofer gain setting does, what it's for, how to set it correctly and why. All the variables have to come in to play including your room, the room treatment, furniture, the subwoofer placement, calibration, input level, master volume and sub gain. Without understanding everything you are just guessing. Measurements MUST be made, you can not do this by ear. The UMIK-1 amzn.to/2PPsFI6 is a very economical tool and is beyond what you need to fully tune your system well with the free software REW. Equipment Used: iPhone X Shure MV88+ Mic: amzn.to/2PUyPIK Polk Audio LSiM707 Speakers: amzn.to/2NQxTCg Polk Audio R50 Speakers: amzn.to/2E1XfJ4 Yamaha RX-V2085 Receiver: amzn.to/2JUfWBE Monolith 3x200 watt Amplifier: amzn.to/2NQty2d Monolith Interconnects: amzn.to/2Np0qA3 Custom Speaker Wires: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6bbfGB-hqypoas Various Acoustimac & GIK Acoustics absorption and diffusion panels: amzn.to/2JUOjby #subwoofer #REW #hometheater Recorded in Pure Direct, straight to and from camera. Source, Amazon Music HD over Airplay at CD Quality. KZbin does not support more. These videos are not monetized by me, all proceeds go direct to the respective copyright holders. How To Place Speakers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZu8hXqMZbGAmdU Polk LSiM707 Unboxing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2PVc36jpMiMiK8 Polk LSiM706 Unboxing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJq1kKywqcyXg5o Polk LSiM702 Unboxing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJCUYWZ9i72EjNE Polk LSiM707 Review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaCtfayBmq-gr5Y Monolith 3x200 Amplifier Review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zl7OZ2p3qd6Ilas Streaming Services Comparison: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqu2m6Bte9iKmK8 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[@nalindias2601]

Yours is the best explanation for setting gain, volume I have heard. thanks very much for the very clear explanation.

[@tahirhameed-mth1530]

Sub is most important part of Home Theatre, nice explanation. Agreed.

[@thestig007]

Love the audio videos, I'm just beginning my journey on improving my home theater audio setup, so this has been very helpful.

[@ericnelson3099]

Great explanation. It’s funny, your journey is similar to mine. Begun with Car Audio, moved to cigars, and been into Home Theater since 2008. Brought a PB-3000 a few months ago while it was on sale. Spent two hours setting it up. Well worth it in the end. Wish more folks understood the benefits. Keep up the vids. Great content so far.

[@keithazz5103]

I have that exact issue, weak sub output, and cuts off at high volume as the sub lags behind. I understand, but don't understand the how to part. You left out settings from Audyssey (Denon Avr) when your testing afterwards. I need clear instructions sad to say. mdmi cable? Where does that go? You used your app to raise sub gain levels? Was that misspoke? I have a 9.2 system running off a Denon X4500h AVR. Bic PL89 towers, Klipsch center C-505 something I think? It's big and heavy with 5 speakers in it. Two front hight, two side sorounds, two small rears. One Klipsch 15" sub and one 12", both behind me, adding another sub soon trying to fill in dead spots. When first setup, Gain at 50% for Audyssey, been messing around 40-60% on sub gain, always messing with it. Avr preset sub to -4.5, I raised it to -3.5, always messing with that too, speaker level, sub is at 0 to +2-+7 depending on music/song or movie etc, always messing with that part as well since at high volume, it cancels speaker levels, or vis vs. Great explanation of issue with sub gain, but im all over the place. Also, most people are limited to sub placement!, cant arange your whole livingroom to meet the needs of a sub or 2.. Need help and I think this will collect dust since your video is 3 years old 😫. But I did learn something is not setup right. Ty

[@davidmarconi528]

I asked the same question on another Channel because of a recommendation and would like your opinion. How would you explain the difference in Sound Running AVR at 0 and decreasing gain at subwoofer versus running AVR @ - 11 and increasing gain at subwoofer to achieve similar sound by ear. I imagine a signal at 0 would offer more detail in a given frequency than boosting gain on the sub panel but I am having trouble with understanding how they should best be used. This vid was great btw

[@zoubtube]

Best visual explanation I've seen on compression. Really great job!

[@skeletonarmy6666]

Finally someone speaking truth. Cheers mate.

[@jpitt916]

So glad I found this! Now I can verify Audyssey settings at different master volume levels and if I don't see compression I can increase sub gain and run it again. I've never been happy with the output of my VTF-15H Mk2 and I don't know if I just need a second one or if it's just set too low. However, their gain knob is labeled "volume" which annoys me. They recommend not running it past the 11 o'clock position and it goes from roughly 8 to 4, which never really made sense to me. Great value sub but I wonder if they are giving the best advice or just the safest advice.

[@deanm.rosenberg3847]

INCONCEIVABLE! Your voice reminds me of Vizzini's from the Princess bride! Keep up the good work.

[@dennypewsey6683]

Yours is the best explanation for setting gain, volume I have heard. I noticed each time you increased the gain, volume that the headroom figure showed a reduction of headroom. What does this indicate when the headroom is 6db as opposed to 30db.?

[@larshinkel7542]

I run a pair of klipsch thx Ultra 2 subs. In the thx Setting of the external sub Amp the Controls of Amp Level (gain)and Crossover is set to bypass . After Dirac live on my pre pro the sub Levels are always too low . Mostly about 10 dB lower than Mains ( speakers are like klipsch khorn ) 🤔

[@johncoscia5258]

Denon AVR 2000 Prologic with preamp out and subwoofer 12 inch ,low gain function w/rca ,crossover frequency dial with 2 Marantz HD66 Speakers. Sorry , i can only get the sound decent if I hook everything up in parallel so no RCA . Multimeter 8 ohms as long as the tape holds the banana connectors in . IS this correct please and if so can i use the compression app with mic to get my frequencies correct for Stevie Wonder ? Yes in bypass mode so 2 channel stereo i think but does the parallel even up all channels ? Clueless .

[@robertschuster312]

great video, love how you explain everything in great detail

[@keithazz5103]

Right off the batt, Audyssey first step is to match the subs and wants it's at around 75db, in my case, the gain is about just under half. Right there I'm confused. It sets them on my Denon in speaker test tone to around-11 to -12. Are theses the settings to change, or the subs gain??? I say that because after all said and done, bass is lagging. In your video you raise the sub, but your not saying where your doing this 🤔

[@SuperSteamengine]

Same doubt am having. Audyssey sets my klipsch 120sw way too low. That 75db green zone comes when my sub knob set to 30 % which is way too low. And Aud results in - 5 or -6 after calib. I typically raise the gain to 50 % - 60 % after calibration and set my AvR trims to -8. Sounds punchy for me.

[@keithazz5103]

@SuperSteamengine This is a dead video, it's just you and me here lol. Tweaking your sub as you did is fine, just be careful with the Denon settings, keep the ones in subwoofer in the speaker settings the same as it was set to by Audyssey, maybe raise it by one, example-11 to -10. You should usually raise them if you want in channel levels only. I moved one of my R-115SW to another area and it made a huge difference.

[@SuperSteamengine]

@@keithazz5103 wow found one alive.. haha thanks mate for the reply. Am about to order a umik. Saw one of the other youtubers vdo. Subwoofer 101 - stating that.. gain to 70 to 80 %. Run the trim levels - 11 or low for better dynamics. AVs forum and all not approving those. Being a noob and am burning my brains here. I am kinda loud listner and i want my subs to play clean without any distortion. And 121Sw is a budget sub( running 2 of them )

[@keithazz5103]

@SuperSteamengine Glad to meet ya.. I wanted to do the mic thing, but I don't understand the software. After I moved one sub and re-ran Audyssey it was like night and day. I also used a trick to trick Audyssey for the subs. I kept the gains just a tad in the red (recommended by many on Klipsch subs) then placed a napkin over the Audyssey mic while it was making it's settings for the subs only. I also like to push my system loud (music). So bigger subs are ideal. Note of advice, I had a defective Amp in one of my subs, Klipsch sent me a new one right away. So I was thinking.... what happens after the warranty? I have two end of model year $800 subs. So I simply emailed them and said the Amp arrived DOA. I also did that to the driver. So now I have a spare Amp and a 15" driver. They were backordered from May to Aug so im still waiting on 3rdd Amp any day or week now. I just bought the new RP-8000F II, but my Emotiva BasX 160w Amp seems to be putting out to much distortion, so I blew the tweeters on both, twice!! lol. I need a bigger Amp for more headroom they said. Emotiva said the same thing, but will buy back the Amp at a $150 loss, bigger Amp is $1,500, not happy. Back to our original topic, I have no idea how to run REW software, so im keeping my tweaked settings since my house shakes. Keep in touch.

[@joeydelmarsjr.646]

i started with low master volume made it to -5db master volume with sub gain on 0.0db and 2x4hd output gain @ +6.0db measured 113db and still no compression. i got 500rms over the spec on the subs and custom enclosure of 10.8cuft net. dual 18s subs 1000rms at this point i probably will never listen at -5db lowest i do will be -10db master knob.

[@Van_frederick]

do you rec -5db or -10db for setting sub gain ?

[@joeydelmarsjr.646]

@@Van_frederick either -3 or -5db for sub gain on the avr

[@nalindias2601]

I have a couple of questions - is the subwoofer gain mean phase settings? I am running two SVS SB2000 subs with Anthem AVM70 processor. Two subs have volume, phase, and LPF knobs. I have set the volume knob to 11clock, the phase knob to 2clock, and the Low Pass Filter knob to LFE positions (bypass subs crossover). Front speaker sensitivity is 91db. after running Anthem ARC calibration software I am getting quite a low bass with the following levels - room gain is 3db, room gain center frequency 200hz, deep bass boost is 0db, deep bass boost center is 50hz, tilt level is 0db and tilt start frequency is 100hz. in this scenario, I have to crank the sub's volume to get the desired bass. is this the correct method to increase bass or I should adjust the above ARC calibration settings?

[@benfits8768]

How did you go ?

[@garybrooks2323]

Do you do your two channel and multi through the same receiver and speakers?

[@COGuyStuff]

yes

[@angelojordaan545]

at what level is your amplifier level on the sub itself if its 0 or less db on your receiver

[@COGuyStuff]

It makes no difference - every install is different. It is what it is.

[@angelojordaan545]

i understand that yes im just queries on what level your subwoofer gains is after all the info you provide

[@dutchgrower2971]

I have a question, first of all i am dutch so sorry for my english 😄 i am now the proud owner of the pb 3000 and the ultra towers, surround and center are stil magnats 🙂 it will do for now ,sinds it s expensif stuff ,probleem is that i have a small livingroom ,so i am stuck with sub onder tv straight in frond of me an my towers are left and right and the center above the tv ,a can not do it in any other way ,a bouth the umike 1 and installed REW its works i hear the sweep ,but it tels me ,that input is clipping, also my question is does it do something for my , sind s my room is allready very bad i have a 45 degrade sealing 6 meters high in the top 😞 ,it sounds ok now but a now it can be match better ,de pb 3000 has a dsp and parametric eq inside ,i can connect wth the app of the sub so i can adjust everithing a want, do you have some good info ,for input REW for the clipping i get, and do you think its worth it for me ,🙂, is a very complecated program for my ,most info on internet is in english pffff😞😄 i hoop you are stil actief on this threat

[@theredcinder7437]

Your english is cute lol, no hate though! Way better than i could do with a foreign language, i could understand you throughout the whole thing though so not bad!

[@dutchgrower2971]

@@theredcinder7437 love it🤣

[@robertdepesci3418]

when i increase the gain to make the bass output balanced with my loudspeakers... the subwoofer starts to hum loudly.

[@COGuyStuff]

That is usually a ground loop. Either keep the gain under that point and increase levels to the input, or try a better cable, making sure it's not running by any power cables, or use balanced XLR.

[@robertdepesci3418]

@@COGuyStuff ok thanks. I ordered a shielded cable to try and see if it helps

[@robertdepesci3418]

@@COGuyStuff another question....I once plugged in the sub cable while it was on and the sub made a massive bass clap noise..almost like a bass shockwave...I was worried it might have damaged the sub. It doesn't seem so What do you think?

[@COGuyStuff]

It certainly can - never plug or unplug anything while powered on. Better subs have better protection against it.

[@robertdepesci3418]

@@COGuyStuff thanks!

[@cariappamk2105]

Like it

[@rafars2246]

That's why I buy soundbars, don't have to deal with any gain bullshit lol

[@rindershow212]

😂😂😂😂😂smh

[@rafars2246]

@@rindershow212 laugh all you want, but those premade systems are perfectly blended.

[@rindershow212]

@rafars2246 hey, if you're happy, I'm happy 😊

[@rafars2246]

@@rindershow212 just saying. Also, most people rooms are too small, or open concept, to even consider a proper system.

[@rindershow212]

@rafars2246 home theater enthusiasts know what to do. That is why there's a video like this one. "Rome wasn't built in one day" Someone who is passionate about this hobby or perhaps someone who is just getting into it will learn on. I don't take you as a home theater enthusiast, and nothing wrong with that. But ,I will tell you this much that you will not find anybody who is into this hobby that will use sound bars or that htib( home theater in box) for a proper home theater set up. So I don't think this video is for you. Some ppl go to stores and buy home audio, get home, and just plug and play.(You) And some go to stores and buy home audio, get home, do room treatment, calibrate, check spl levels, fine tune subwoofers and so on. (These are the ppl videos like this are for)