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keep input distortion to a minimum, however you should not be set much lower
than –5 dB recommended earlier. Why? Some adjustment room is needed to
tweak down the bass levels using your remote control. If your subwoofer reading
is still too high then turn down the sub’s amp volume a little with each run.
But what’s “too high”?? Tastes vary, and so do movie soundtracks, but your
SVS is capable of tremendous levels of low distortion, low frequency bass — far
more than most commercial subs. Take advantage of this, especially if you like
action movies with lots of “.1” channel (LFE) action and give the sub a bit more
volume during calibration. Keep in mind too that the human ear is relatively in-
sensitive to low frequencies. This, coupled with the fact most folks don’t watch
movies at Dolby Digital reference level (loud!), means tweaking the bass up a few
dBs usually yields a better movie sound experience.
What sub levels do we recommend? If you watch movies at relatively mod-
erate sound levels, a range of +2dB to +3dB over your other channels is a good
start. This means that the test tone will waiver about 78 dB for the subwoofer
portion of the calibration run (88dB with Avia). (You may rotate the sound meter
SPL meter dial to the 80dB to get a good reading with these higher levels.) Note
too that many modern surround sound receivers allow a variety of different sub-
woofer level settings, depending to the “source” or sound mode (stereo, surround
etc.) you are listening to. With “DVD” as your source use the above calibration
routine. You may well find that CD stereo music calls for a lower bass settings.
The louder your master volume though, the more you should back off the sub level
to compensate. Avoid your driver bottoming, resulting in a loud “clack”!
Location and measurement. You should take the above measurements from
your typical seat when watching movies (center cushion, right?). Be advised,
strong bass levels can vary tremendously simply by moving a few feet. Such is the
nature of long wave-length, low bass sound. Don’t hesitate to try different loca-
tions and different levels for your subwoofer. Calibrating too high (and often, too
low) is the most common subwoofer setup error!
PC-Plus: Amp Features. We scoured the world for the best per-
forming sub amps. The result is a line of custom-designed, North American-made,
rock-steady amps with “Mil-spec” like build quality, and an unbeatable feature set.
Volume. Use volume (in conjunction with your receiver’s subwoofer output
level control) to come up with a bass calibration to your liking. Start calibration
with the sub’s volume 1/2 to 3/4ths of the way up (or turned to the right).
Crossover Frequency. If you use your DD/DTS receiver/processor’s internal
crossover to manage bass frequencies (highly recommended), the setting of this
knob on the sub is irrelevant. Use the crossover “Enable/Disable” switch dis-
cussed below if you need to take advantage of the SVS amp’s own crossover.
When enabled, this knob is used to best blend your subwoofer to your other speak-
ers. Typically used in two-channel “stereo only” systems today.
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SV Subwoofers