Once you learn how a real time spectrum analyzer works, you'll understand that they are not to be used for settting up speaker systems.
A TEF analyzer is a more appropriate tool for that job. These devices simply show you what is happening, they do not make the judgment as to what sounds good or what.
Grey matter and ears, FTW.
Subs arent vented, they don't need to let pressurized air out or anything. Those ports are specifically sized and shaped to accentuate a particular frequency, but it is more of a hack than anything else.
A popular thing to do with some larger subs, although I've never seen it done on a non-ported one, is to open the cabinet and stuff it full of polyfill. That certainly did wonders for mine back in the day.
A few other things can help:
Put spikes on it, so it makes contact with the floor as little as possible. You can buy spikes, or go the cheap way and just use nails at the corners. But use big ones, small ones bend easier than you think under the weight of a sub.
Get the sub out of the corner. The best way to tune your sub is to put the sub where you normally sit. Then crawl around the room till you find the spot where it sounds best, and put it there.
If you have a sound level meter, you can also use test tones and an EQ to flatten out the response.
But for all that is holy in this world, do not just drill a hole in it. Its a cheap sub, so you shouldnt expect wonders. It goes MMMM constantly because the crossover needs to be insanely high to make up for that fact that the satellites cant go low at all.
I don't know where you got the idea an RTA makes 'judgements'. You run white noise and you calibrate frequency response. A TEF is good for waterfall/step response measurements, but it's not necessary here.
Googer
Lifer
- Nov 11, 2004
- 12,576
- 7
- 81
Ok, this whole 'sealed = tight, responsive, clean' and 'ported =boomy, slow' bit is ridiculous. At best it is some gross oversimplification based off peoples experiences with cheap equipment.
Fact is, a good sub is a good sub no matter the alignment. This sub is just crap.
Fact is, a good sub is a good sub no matter the alignment. This sub is just crap.
13Gigatons
Diamond Member
- Apr 19, 2005
- 7,461
- 500
- 126
You can't get to the moon with a moped filled with rocket fuel and you can't make a cheap $50 sub sound like a $1000 one.
Rubycon
Madame President
- Aug 10, 2005
- 17,768
- 485
- 126
LOL at the "subwoofer".
FYI a passive radiator is coupled to an active radiator via the air pressure in the enclosure. Like the air within the tuned opening of a reflex system, the passive radiator's area becomes a moving mass to increase output at the tuning point and CAN be better behaved if the system is fed lots of program with frequency below the tuning point.
At least the pole piece appears vented - not that 40W makes that much heat. :laugh:
EDIT: Use a software EQ to tame it would be the best quick cure.
If you want to drill a hole in it, make it fit this and crank it up while playing Donna Summer's "Bad Girls".
:laugh:
FYI a passive radiator is coupled to an active radiator via the air pressure in the enclosure. Like the air within the tuned opening of a reflex system, the passive radiator's area becomes a moving mass to increase output at the tuning point and CAN be better behaved if the system is fed lots of program with frequency below the tuning point.
At least the pole piece appears vented - not that 40W makes that much heat. :laugh:
EDIT: Use a software EQ to tame it would be the best quick cure.
If you want to drill a hole in it, make it fit this and crank it up while playing Donna Summer's "Bad Girls".
:laugh:
I assumed you to be speaking of tuning a speaker to a room.
In which case a real time analyzer is so narrow a measuring tool (in terms of useful data) as to be practically useless.
Great for impressing people whose eyes glaze over when you mention "Fourier Transform" and who think "Fletcher & Munson" are a classical music duo and light up when someone says "BOSE" anything.
There are several problems with using an RTA for such critical measurements on which to base one's decisions, not the least of which being the fact that it is a single point source sample and that the unit of measure is so coarse.
Ask any touring sound tech what he's using to tune a system to any hall and 99% of the time you will find it to be SMAART , an FT based measuring system.
I'll grant you that proper use of and the application of even the most basic of SPL meter would be useful here and overall I think far more useful than the blinking lies of an RTA's LEDs.
I like the cut of your jib..... that would be a great gag on the local dweeb dj.... make a "mouthpiece" that plugs one of those into a 1/4 in phone jack, you know, like on the back of cheep MI type subs...?
- Mar 31, 2003
- 11,679
- 0
- 81
Ok I understand the speakers are cheap guys. Can we lay off of that.
Is there an equalizer that I can download that will govern all sounds (Including games and what not)? Additionally, is there a good cheap 5.1 speaker system that I can find that is better than this. I have a few things I need to buy over the summer between college, but I may be able to squeeze some new speakers in there if I can find a decently priced system (It MUST be 5.1, I will not, under any circumstances settle for 2.1, 2.0 etc)
-Kevin
Is there an equalizer that I can download that will govern all sounds (Including games and what not)? Additionally, is there a good cheap 5.1 speaker system that I can find that is better than this. I have a few things I need to buy over the summer between college, but I may be able to squeeze some new speakers in there if I can find a decently priced system (It MUST be 5.1, I will not, under any circumstances settle for 2.1, 2.0 etc)
-Kevin
I was thinking you could google that and probably come up with some share ware somewhere... sorry for the Dr.Suess-ness....
Define "decently priced" a little more, please.
YoY0 would have that sort of info at his fingertips....
alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
- 83,769
- 19
- 81
A proper ported sub is not necessarily 'boomy'...there is just alot of junk in the marketplace. The thing with porting is it tunes the sub to a certain frequency, but it's extremely efficient. When you over exaggerate a frequency is where boominess comes in.
A sealed sub (my preference in car and home) is not so much tuned as just having a natural curve and rolloff. You lose efficiency though so they require more power.
A sealed sub (my preference in car and home) is not so much tuned as just having a natural curve and rolloff. You lose efficiency though so they require more power.
YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
- Aug 6, 2001
- 31,205
- 45
- 91
Does your Audigy 2 have an equalizer? It should.
Try cutting some of the frequencies that are bothering you the most. Your satellite speakers are not capable of producing low frequencies, so your sub is doing a lot of what more expensive speakers would be able to produce before the sub kicked in.
If you want to check out HTIB options, there are several listed in this thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=38&threadid=2038425
What kind of budget are you thinking?
~$400 will get you an entry level 5.1+ system
~$1200 will get you a fairly decent 5.1+ system
If you go higher than that, you start getting some nicer options. I have a bit of an above average system for a college student though, so I suspect $400 range or less is probably what you're thinking.
AgaBoogaBoo
Lifer
- Feb 16, 2003
- 26,108
- 5
- 81
It may be a bit of a simplification, but I still think that it's a good general rule. Look at ML's Summit/Vantage/Vista, AV123's Strata Mini's, etc. and you'll see that a sealed subwoofer is pretty common among these options.
Sealed subwoofers generally do give the tight and clean response that some audiophiles look for in their music. Personally, I'll find a middle ground, a sealed 10" subwoofer isn't going to fulfill my needs.
Rubycon
Madame President
- Aug 10, 2005
- 17,768
- 485
- 126
No it isn't a good general rule.
I don't look at any commercial products in order to justify my point of view, because that would not be wise. There are various reasons that commercial entities go with sealed subs, none of which include total performance. Also, your examples are nothing more than bass bins for main loudspeakers. We're talking about true sub woofers here.
The real reason so many have this 'boomy' opinion of ported subs is A) The quality of ported sub they heard B) The affect of the room on the sub causing a specific frequency range to be overly accentuated (i.e. one note bass)
Not just because the sub was ported.
Again, a good design is a good design. A sealed sub can sound like crap, and a ported sub can sound extremely clean and tight. You just have to look at the facts and open up your eyes....
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