For my size room PB12-NSD or PB10-NSD

[vv132]

Hey guys,
Just got the svs sbs-01 5.1 speaker set up. Just got them installed yesterday so far all good. But I felt the sub could of been better or more stunning. For my room size which is double story 15 feet wide 30 feet long. First half of room is double storied second half is single level. Would you guys recommend me to return the sub for the pb12-nsd. Will i see an immediate difference after installing. Also what should i set the two back dials two, gain and phase?

I have a yamaha rx-v861 and did an auto calibration...


Thanks V

[Ed Mullen]

vv132 wrote:

Hey guys,
Just got the svs sbs-01 5.1 speaker set up. Just got them installed yesterday so far all good. But I felt the sub could of been better or more stunning. For my room size which is double story 15 feet wide 30 feet long. First half of room is double storied second half is single level. Would you guys recommend me to return the sub for the pb12-nsd. Will i see an immediate difference after installing. Also what should i set the two back dials two, gain and phase?

I have a yamaha rx-v861 and did an auto calibration...


Thanks V

First, double check these things in the Yammy (all may not apply so read the Owner's Manual to verify/confirm):

In The AVR:
1. All speakers set to small.
2. Crossover set to 80 Hz.
3. Subwoofer set to on/yes.
4. "LFE + Mains" or any other channel remix options set to off/no.
5. Dolby Dynamic Range Compression (DRC) aka Midnight Mode circuit set to off/no.
6. LFE Channel (the ".1" in 5.1) is enabled. This is not the subwoofer channel.*
7. LFE channel level is set to maximum (i.e., unattenuated) value (usually 0 on a scale of –10 to 0).*
8. THX (or any other) bass limiter circuit set to off/no.
9. Subwoofer channel level control to -5 (on a scale of -10 to +10) before subwoofer calibration.
10. Set the speaker and subwoofer distances to actual.
11. Speaker and subwoofer are properly calibrated with test tones and an SPL meter (see me for details on this as needed.)

* The LFE channel is the ".1" in 5.1 DVDs and is reserved for low frequency special effects. Some of the higher-end AVRs allow the user to attenuate (or "trim") the level of the LFE channel in order to keep from overloading the subwoofer. The LFE channel attenuation/trim control is not the same as the subwoofer level control, and the two should not be confused. When using SVS subwoofers, the LFE channel attenuation/trim control should always be left at 0 and never attenuated.

In The DVD Player:
1. Output set to bitstream (digital output via the digital coax or toslink) and PCM is not enabled. The AVR should be seeing a full DD/DTS signal.
2. Dolby DRC (aka Midnight Mode) circuit set to off/no.

At The Subwoofer:
1. Set the phase control to 0 degrees.


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Next, verify the Yammy auto-cal settings with manual test tones and an SPL meter. We've seen auto routines set the subwoofer channel low, so it pays to double check this too.

A too-low sub calibration level, combined with having DRCs or bass limiters enabled or the LFE channel attenuated can conspire to kill the bass from the best of subwoofers.

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Finally, that is a really large room (5000-6000 ft3 depending on the ceiling heights) for a single PB10-NSD. Our standard recommendation in that size room would generally be a single driver Plus model or the NSD/2.

If you are looking for some significant impact/slam, I would recommend the PB12-NSD as a minimum (it's about 50% more powerful than the PB10-NSD), or dual PB10-NSD (very potent - about on par with a PB12-Plus) or the PB12-Plus or the NSD/2.

Adding a 2nd PB10-NSD is probably your easiest and most cost effective route. It will be a very noticeable improvement in performance/output.