My system is as follows:
Pioneer Elite VSX23 receiver with a 5.1 speaker setup. The main stereo pair is fed through pre-outs to a Dayton APA150 amp, the center channel and surrounds are powered off the speaker outputs of reciever. The subwoofer is powered by an old stereo reciever.
Though my main speakers perform decently down into the 40-50Hz range I generally cross the entire system over at 80 Hz. The main area I am looking to improve is the bass. I have a problematic room and the receiver has limited control over the subwoofer response.
My use is about 50% music and 50% TV/gaming/movies
I am looking at two methods to experiment with the miniDSP in this setup:
1) Connecting the miniDSP to the subwoofer output. Removing all receiver calibration from the subwoofer output and tune the response as much as possible using the miniDSP.
This seems simple and should address the main area of concern for me. I was then planning to use REW to measure the response of the reciever and use the receivers filters to tweak the EQ and standing wave filter correction for the 5 main speakers.
2) Connect the miniDSP to the front L/R preouts before the power amp. Set the main L/R speakers to large and remove all receiver filters. I can then configure the main speakers and subwoofer together, tweaking the crossover point and response for the L/R/sub as a set.
Concerns about this method:
Is LFE content passed correctly in this configuration?
Removes ability to tweak sub level on main AVR, but could still tweak from the sub's amplifier.
Loss of signal strength, I am already maxing the gain on the APA150 and sending the main L/R out at +3 dB, I don't have much headroom to increase this further and maintain channel balance.
My gut feeling is that plan 2 would take more effort but ultimately I could achieve the best blend of the mains and subwoofer for music use. Or would I be better off only adjusting the sub as in Option 1 and avoid adding more D/A, A/D conversions to the main L/R signal path?
Pioneer Elite VSX23 receiver with a 5.1 speaker setup. The main stereo pair is fed through pre-outs to a Dayton APA150 amp, the center channel and surrounds are powered off the speaker outputs of reciever. The subwoofer is powered by an old stereo reciever.
Though my main speakers perform decently down into the 40-50Hz range I generally cross the entire system over at 80 Hz. The main area I am looking to improve is the bass. I have a problematic room and the receiver has limited control over the subwoofer response.
My use is about 50% music and 50% TV/gaming/movies
I am looking at two methods to experiment with the miniDSP in this setup:
1) Connecting the miniDSP to the subwoofer output. Removing all receiver calibration from the subwoofer output and tune the response as much as possible using the miniDSP.
This seems simple and should address the main area of concern for me. I was then planning to use REW to measure the response of the reciever and use the receivers filters to tweak the EQ and standing wave filter correction for the 5 main speakers.
2) Connect the miniDSP to the front L/R preouts before the power amp. Set the main L/R speakers to large and remove all receiver filters. I can then configure the main speakers and subwoofer together, tweaking the crossover point and response for the L/R/sub as a set.
Concerns about this method:
Is LFE content passed correctly in this configuration?
Removes ability to tweak sub level on main AVR, but could still tweak from the sub's amplifier.
Loss of signal strength, I am already maxing the gain on the APA150 and sending the main L/R out at +3 dB, I don't have much headroom to increase this further and maintain channel balance.
My gut feeling is that plan 2 would take more effort but ultimately I could achieve the best blend of the mains and subwoofer for music use. Or would I be better off only adjusting the sub as in Option 1 and avoid adding more D/A, A/D conversions to the main L/R signal path?
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Hi, method 2 won't work. Even if you turn off the sub so that LFE is redirected to L&R which you then redirect again to the sub, it's not clear what would happen to the bass from the other channels.
Method 1 is fine. You should try measuring the sub in a few different locations first.
The best way is Method 3: nanoAVR HD (assuming your sources are compatible).
Method 1 is fine. You should try measuring the sub in a few different locations first.
The best way is Method 3: nanoAVR HD (assuming your sources are compatible).
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