vong Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 My HT system consists of: Arcam AVR380 Emotiva XPA-5 Gen 3 KEF Q600C KEF Q700's KEF Q300's SVS PB12 Plus Whenever I listen to music I switch the system to 2.1 mode and the bass from the Q700's are severly lacking and overall sounds unbalanced. The mids/highs are overpowering the bass in the speakers and it's hard to dial in the sub to get that balance going. Speakers are given enough juice from the XPA-5 and I feel like there's not much else I can do. Anyone got tips? I've tried 'Dolby Volume' which does balance it out a bit and gives bass a little more oomph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 your mains may be out of phase If you have a balance control, see if each side has bass. or flip one speaker's wire at one end. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thathifiguy Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 If you are talking about using the sub with the speakers, make sure that the speakers are set to small, that way the sub will always engage. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hensa Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 It may be worth trying the speakers without the sub in the equation. If there is still an issue with bass being overwhelmed by the mids and highs, it may be an issue with speaker placement or listening position. Your listening position may be in a room bass null and this would cause the higher registers to dominate the sound. You could try moving either the speakers or your listening position (or both) and see if the sound becomes better balanced. Once the sound is balanced without the sub, you can then bring the sub back into play (if you want the lower registers further augmented). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vong Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 5 hours ago, Nigel said: your mains may be out of phase If you have a balance control, see if each side has bass. or flip one speaker's wire at one end. Each speaker seems to have more bass when the balance gets set to their side and flipping one speaker didn't really seem to change much. 5 hours ago, thathifiguy said: If you are talking about using the sub with the speakers, make sure that the speakers are set to small, that way the sub will always engage. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk They've always been set to small. Looking for that midbass to balance everything out. I usually have the 2.1 system set as sat+sub. 5 hours ago, Hensa said: It may be worth trying the speakers without the sub in the equation. If there is still an issue with bass being overwhelmed by the mids and highs, it may be an issue with speaker placement or listening position. Your listening position may be in a room bass null and this would cause the higher registers to dominate the sound. You could try moving either the speakers or your listening position (or both) and see if the sound becomes better balanced. Once the sound is balanced without the sub, you can then bring the sub back into play (if you want the lower registers further augmented). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yeah that's what I've been doing, wished this receiver had a crossover menu or something. You could be right, system is in my bedroom and it's kinda small so there's not much I can do with placement. I'm using balanced inputs if that means anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 5 minutes ago, vong said: Each speaker seems to have more bass when the balance gets set to their side and flipping one speaker didn't really seem to change much. Sounds like one speaker is out of phase. Check your speaker wiring CAREFULLY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vong Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 4 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: Sounds like one speaker is out of phase. Check your speaker wiring CAREFULLY. Hmm? Maybe there's a misunderstanding. Can you explain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Just now, vong said: Hmm? Maybe there's a misunderstanding. Can you explain? Check your speaker wiring VERY carefully. Make certain that the positive (red) speaker terminal is connected to the positive (red) terminal on the amplifier for both channels. Make certain the negative (black) terminals are also correctly wired. Additionally, you may want to check that your subwoofer is also correctly phased with your satellite speakers. As others have suggested, this is the most likely cause of the problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vong Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 1 minute ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: Check your speaker wiring VERY carefully. Make certain that the positive (red) speaker terminal is connected to the positive (red) terminal on the amplifier for both channels. Make certain the negative (black) terminals are also correctly wired. Additionally, you may want to check that your subwoofer is also correctly phased with your satellite speakers. As others have suggested, this is the most likely cause of the problems. They are wired correctly, just wanted to know what made you say one was out of phase. Subwoofer is not the problem, it's been taking out to sort the lack of bass or overpowering mids/high for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky500 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 What is your Reciever, AVR brand? Try running it in Direct mode or Pure mode or whatever is the equivilent for your processor. Currently you are disabling the bass to the front speakers by running it in 2.1 mode as all the lower bass is sent to the Subwoofer only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 10 minutes ago, vong said: They are wired correctly, just wanted to know what made you say one was out of phase. Subwoofer is not the problem, it's been taking out to sort the lack of bass or overpowering mids/high for the time being. The fact that the bass increased when you turned the balance control to one channel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 2.1 is still DSP as far as I'm concerned. And what do you mean by "I cant dial in the sub"? Get out of 2.1,Turn the DSP off and listen in Stereo. See if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vong Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 1 hour ago, rocky500 said: What is your Reciever, AVR brand? Try running it in Direct mode or Pure mode or whatever is the equivilent for your processor. Currently you are disabling the bass to the front speakers by running it in 2.1 mode as all the lower bass is sent to the Subwoofer only. Arcam is the brand. I run it in Digital Stereo because the audio is coming through a HDMI cable from my HTPC. I've got it running in 2.0 as I've disabled the subwoofer. 56 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: The fact that the bass increased when you turned the balance control to one channel. Sorry, got that wrong. I mean the overall volume increased, not just the bass. 16 minutes ago, Wimbo said: 2.1 is still DSP as far as I'm concerned. And what do you mean by "I cant dial in the sub"? Get out of 2.1,Turn the DSP off and listen in Stereo. See if that helps. It's currently in 2.0. I mean I can't get a good balance between the sub and speakers because I'm lacking midbass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satanica Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Measurements, positioning and digital EQ to the rescue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thathifiguy Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Those KEF speakers don't use traditional binding posts, but a screw that requires tightening near the speaker terminals to connect the HF and LF together. Just make sure they are set correctly too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I'm wondering if the wiring inside the cabinet is not correct. People have been mystified by having the mid range driver mis-wired in one speaker only. You either get good bass, crappy soundstage / image, or good imaging, no bass. That's been done plenty of times before. Has anyone been inside your Kef's while you were out one night ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sub Sonic Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Perhaps try and swap the speaker wires at one speaker ONLY (not the amp as well), and see what difference it makes - this may help decide if relative phase is an issue for whatever reason. It certainly sounds like a relative phase issue as others have mentioned, whether that be an entire speaker or just a driver. Regards, SS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batou Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 What i find is that getting a thicker speaker wire will bring more bottom end. If you can double the wire of your speaker cable or buy a 10awg speaker cable, this will improve bass. also, if your speaker is rear ported . Placing the speaker closer to the wall behind will add extra bass as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briz Vegas Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Play some bass heavy music and move around the room. You will soon see how even a foot can change bass response. I had little bass once, now it's spot on even after "downsizing" amp and speakers ( 804s to Vivid B1). Bass traps helps alot, as does getting the source right. Speaker cables allow you to fine tune. Keep in mind that bass is very personal. I like balance, tightness and clarity/ insight. Alot of people just want impact, or slam or whatever you call it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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