Probably a really dumb question about a new sub...

[Shufflefield]

Okay, before anyone asks why I didn't get an SVS online - I know, I just wanted it today, and I felt I got an okay deal, and it matches the rest of the set.

That said, I finally got real speakers. I came to my senses and realized my Revel dream would never be fulfilled, and I could upgrade to something a bit more real than my old Denon cubes today!!! Go me.

So I got a JBL Venue Sub12 with the setup, everything else seems fine, but the sub is just very quiet, even when cranked. I am not sure if I just got a lemon, or if I just don't have it configured properly, I suspect the latter.

Any Advice on proper sub configuration?

[snodgrass23]

give us a quick rundown of how everything is hooked up and we'll see if something doesn't seem right. You've checked the sub level in the receiver and the sub? How is the sub connected to the receiver?

[Shufflefield]

I have an Onkyo 674 - I am running a cable from the subwoofer pre-out to the left RCA on the sub. Just going from the manual for the sub these seems to be correct, though the manual is not clear as to wether you should use the Left or Right RCA, though it does state to use that if you have a Dolby/DTS reciever.

The reciever set the sub level to +8db on auto setup. Not sure where the crossover is set, I will have to check it.

Gain on the sub is half way up. The LFE/Normal switch is set at LFE, the phase switch is set at 0 (switching it to 180 didn't seem to help).

Thanks for the reply, if you need anything else let me know, I will try to fiddle with the crossover on the reciever when I get a chance. I did notice that after the autosetup I was getting a good amount of bass out of the floorstanders.

[snodgrass23]

I'm thinking maybe you have the front speakers set up to large, which means only the actual LFE channel will go to the sub. Likely, you're old setup also had the bass from the front channels going to the sub as well. Does the sub have a crossover? If so, try disabling it as it should already be filtered from the receiver.

[edit]I checked the JBL site and looked at the manual. Try changing the switch over to normal and put the crossover all the way up to 150. See if that makes any difference.

[Shufflefield]

I pretty much fixed the issue. I actually bothered to look at my reciever and configure it properly. Seems okay now. I set all the speakers to cross over at 80 (seemed okay when I ran the sweeps with avia, was going to bump the center and rears up, but will leave it for now.).

I have one question though.

I used AVIA and an SPL to do the setup and when I got to the phase portion I noticed my Left and Right Mains were out of phase, so I checked my cableing and it was correct, I switched it so Black went to Red and vice versa on the right main and problem solved.

1st question, is that normal? Should I worry about it?

Moving forward with the setup I got to the sub setup, back to phase, I found that putting the sub at 180 polarity put it in phase with all my speakers, except that damn right main!!!

2nd question- should I worry about it? It really isn't noticeable when watching a movie, and the setup sounds really good now that I tweaked it. But this just bugs me.

[snodgrass23]

Generally, set the phases so that they sound correct. When they're not right, they'll sound very diffuse and the bass will be weaker. You've either got a weird acoustic thing happening in your room or something isn't wired quite right. I wouldn't worry about it if you're happy with how it sounds.