I just got my 5.1 system with the 12 inch subwoofer and I am not an expert but I think I have a pretty good ear and the bass seems rediculously boomy to me.  I got the 12 because I love good strong bass, especialy for HT but it seems like in every seen of every movie I have tried that has bass,  I just get this boomy low almost continuous bass and it lacks upper end punch.  In Saving Private Ryan I tried a bunch of seens and like I said I would get tons of boomy low bass from background explosions and machinery but then close up explosions would lack that upper end punch that hits you.  I have a 14 x 14 room that has big 6 x 8 opening on one side into the next room which is very large.  I have thick plush carpet and big fluffy couches.  I have moved the woofer to various locations.  I finaly placed it in almost the center of the room to make sure I wasn't just getting too much reflection from the wall.  I have a Kenwood THX select  VR-510 reciever.  The crossover is not selectable and the manual doesn't say what it is set at.  I tried setting the subwoofers crossover at various settings and I set all the levels with the spl meter.  What do you think my problem might be?  I played with the phase a little bit and that didn't seem do do much.

Check your receivers setting. Maybe you got it set to double bass.

I have an onkyo nr801 and I think I got mine accidentally set to double bass.

Hi Kevin, I also have the 12" sub with my system, although I am in a much larger room 24 x 24 with 12' cathedral ceilings. I also notice that the bass is boomy at the low end, and lacks the upper bass. From what I have heard, the 10" is a little tighter and less boomy, at least if you read the reviews on CNET.com. I have mine set at a crossover of 80, and I have tried different settings. It is also crucial to have the sub set properly with the SPL meter. If the volume is too high, it gets continuously boomy. I did read an article about a subwoofer called the Outlaw. It is priced similar to the Aperion, but apparently has a more even response throughout its range from low bass to high bass. They claim it is better for both music and movies, without an empahasis on one or the other. I find my Aperion to be great with movies, and not quite as good with music. Perhaps the 10" would be better for that. I wish you luck getting it set up the way you want. Usually its just a matter of getting the settings right, but occasionally personal taste may opt for the smaller and tighter sub, or perhaps something else altogether. Ron

Try to set it at -4 db and go lower eg -5..-6...See if that helps.

I have the 10" sub - I haven't heard the 12" so I can't really compare the tightness of the two, but I felt the 10 was too boomy also.  Initially I moved it out of a corner, which helped a lot.  Then, I turned the crossover knob to about 50 so it only hits the low stuff - you can set it as high as 160 but it seemed that this made the sub try to hit frequencies that it wasn't the best at handling. Next I turned the power down past the half way mark - so far, these changes have seemed to make a noticeable difference, at least to my ears.  Also, give the sub some time since it is brand new - it will break in over time and mellow out a little bit.

If you use the aperion meter or the radio shack meter to set the lower frequencies, you have to correct for the non linearity of the meter when reading anything below 32 Hz. The meter will read anywhere from 5-7 db's lower than normal, depending on the frequency. Also, unless you are very lucky or have treated your room, you will notice the frequency response is not very flat. It could be that the boominess you hear is due to a large peak at a particular frequency. You could address that problem by moving the sub around to find a flatter response, treating the room, or using equalization of some sort. I also have a 5.1 system with a 12" sub in a small room, and my satellites channels are set around +6, while my sub channel is set at -2. The difference of 8 db in the channel setting is relatively consistent with the corrections I made reading the meter.

Hope that helps

Zach  

I did use the aperion meter.  I am not sure what frequency the test tone that my reciever puts out is so I am not sure what correction to make.  I am getting the Digital Video Esentials disk so hopefully that will let me tune it better.  As I said, I did move the sub around, even into the middle of the room to make sure it wasn't just reflecting too much off the wall.  I am using a digital connection between my components and my reciever and it won't equalize digital signals so I can't put an equalizer into the loop.  I have been messing with volume and crossover on the woofer and today I watched Behind Enemy Lines and it seemed to sound better.  I will have to go back and try Saving Private Ryan again.  What really bugged me was that half the time my room would just be rumbling and I didn't even know why cause there didn't even seem to be anything in the scene that should be and then other times when I was expecting a big rumble like for an explosion or something there wouldn't be much on the bottom end.  Maybe it is just the way that movie is mixed.  I will try some more movies.  This thing definately has some power though.  When I was setting the peek limit for the subwoofer on my reciever, I thought the windows were going to break.  I also put my hand by the port on the rear and I couldn't believe how much air was coming out of there.  It probably would have blown my hair back if I put my face in front of it.

subs are always the most difficult speaker to calibrate....I'm always making minor adjustments on mine.

many receivers have a setting that will either send the bass to all channels or to just the sub. It's possible that your receiver is set to this. In my own experience I've found that this setting can result in too much, or very boomy bass. I suggest checking the settings on your receiver to see which frequencies are being sent to which speakers.

The only setting it has is normal speaker or large for the LR, center and rears and I have it on normal which I assume would be the higher crossover point.  Also with a dolby digital signal the subwoofer is a seperate channel.  Does your reciever still do any crossing over in that case?  It seems like it should just send whatever information is on that channel to the subwoofer without messing with it.

I have the 10" sub, I know you are talking about the 12", but I had initial problems similiar to yours.  With much experimentation with the crossover on the back of the sub, it just kept on sounding better.  I have it just below 80.  It is a great subwoofer, but doesn't have the "kick" as you guys had mentioned compared to my old velodyne 10" which cost me 1000$... but it broke.. sigh and will cost 700$ to repair.  Can you believe that?? ...sigh..

Oh well,

Mo

Boomy bass is the trickiest thing to calibrate properly in your system. Here are my recommendations that often times help:

Using your receiver's test tone and an SPL meter, adjust the sub volume so that it's in-line with the rest of your speakers.

Position the sub as far away from corners as possible. The closer to a corner, the boomier the bass.

Try experimenting with the crossover setting. Usually there's two places to fiddle with this: the receiver and the sub. On the sub I generally say leave it around 80. But you'll notice that as you adjust it up or down, it will change the tone of the sub. Usually turning it down will tighten the bass a bit. On the receiver's crossover setting, I have found that the bass gets substantially punchier when set at 100, vs the usually recommend 80, at least in my room. I think the sub might do a better job tightening up the 100 Hz range better than the bookshelf LR's.

Sub Cable upgrade. It's true that an inferior sub cable can make the sub sound boomier and more sloppy than it should.

Receiver upgrade. If you don't have a receiver that gives you crossover adjustment, might be time for an upgrade. An important note: Some receivers have built in bass boost that you can't control - it's hard wired into the receiver. From my experience so far, Harman Kardon and Denon seem to be the most neutral in that regard.

Give the sub some time. Usually after 100 or so hours of use, it starts to loosen up and become more fluid = tighter more accurate bass.

If you want to get serious with your calibration, you can use a test disc like Avia or digital video essentials, and an SPL meter.

 

As I said before, I did use an SPL meter, I went so far as to put the sub in the middle of the room, I have been playing with the crossover settings, I am using the subwoofer cable that I got from Aperion and Digital Video Essentials was delivered on Friday night and Avia is on the way.  I am not sure what correction to use on the SPL meter because I am not sure what the frequency is of the test tone my reciever puts out.  Right now I am running it -7db from the rest and it seems a little better.  At first I was running it level with the rest.  It seems a little bit better then it did a first but it is still definately boomy.  I will keep playing with it.  My amp is THX certified but it is a Kenwood which I am sure is probably not the best.  It has served me pretty well over the last few years but next time the wife is not looking I might order a new one.  How long do I have to order one from Aperion at the discounted price from the time I ordered my speakers?

Kevin,

You mentioned that you purchased DVE, and are attempting to use it to fine tune your levels. My experiernce was that it was much more useful for video adjustment than audio. As you mentioned, the tones it puts out are limited band and full band (multiple) frequencies, so correcting for the meter is not possible. I realize I'm talking about an additional expense here, but I used the Rives Audio Test CD #2 to get my sub to sound right. This CD outputs tones at specific frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to 10,000 Hz, and includes instructions and correction values for each frequency. It was much more useful for setting the sub's level and identifying what the problem frequencies were in my room. It's about $25 with shipping and you can order it from their website rivesaudio.com.

Zach

When speakers are set to 'normal' (or small), most receivers will sum the material below the crossover point and send it (along with the LFE) to the sub, but since you do not know what the crossover is set to, it's going to take some experimenting at the sub. I'm guessing that there is no info on the test tone the receiver uses for calibration either, so the Essentials (or whatever) disk is going to help a lot. From your description I'd say the sub's level is set too high, so if you do have a peak in your room, its going to make it that much more pronounced. Until you get a chance to calibrate using your Audio disk, try decreasing the sub's level a bit.
I wouldn't give up on the Aperion sub yet. The LFM-1 is a fine sub for the money also (the Aperion is better looking), but you will have the same issues. I too have the 12" in an 18 x 14 room, and I think it is awesome. As with any sub it took some calibrating and moving around (there's a workout!) to get it right, but its worth it. It now blends so seemlessly with the other speakers you wouldn't know its there, which is what you want, yet it could knock the house off its foundation if the material calls for it. I listen to music as much as movies and I feel the bass is very tight, controlled and musical. Good luck. 

Well I used my situation to help justifying a new reciever today.  An Onkyo NR801 so I will have some more flexibility now.  I found it online for a little under $700.  I can't wait to try the Net-tune.  I have all of my favorite CDs on my computer anyway so now I can call them up on the reciever.  I don't listen to music that much at home but it will be a cool toy.  I think you are right about the volume of the sub.  At first when I turned it down so I didn't get the boomyness it seemed like I lacked some of the upper end but I am slowly getting it tuned I think.  I was trying out Pirates of the Carribean today and there is a part with a big shock wave when Johnny Depp saves the girl from drowning and man the shock wave came right off the screen and blew right through me.