15" Avalanche enclosure recommendations

[Dotay]

Image not available

meh...

[---k---]

Humor me, and turn you sub down 5db and run the test with the mains.

[Dotay]

Humor me, and turn you sub down 5db and run the test with the mains.

OK...I matched the levels with my receiver so they were both right at 80db with the test tones. I'll turn the sub down 5 and run it again to see what happens.

FYI, I've got my receiver (Pioneer VSX-45TX) so it's sending info to both the sub and the mains. The option on my receiver is PLUS.

[---k---]

Oh no, you don't want it set to PLUS. Set your speakers to small with a sub. What are your mains?

[Dotay]

Oh no, you don't want it set to PLUS. Set your speakers to small with a sub. What are your mains?

I've got 5 Energy C-7's, 2 for mains, center, 2 for surround. They have a claimed +/-3db from 34-23KHz. I haven't experimented too much with the small/large setting but I do know that when I run the auto-eq on my receiver they are set to large. I'll try and run the test again using small, large, and plus to see what it comes in at.

[ThomasW]

Use the small setting for those speakers.

[---k---]

AutoEQ on almost all receivers screw up and set speakers to Large. Basically, if your speaker can produce any output at 80hz, the speakers get set to large. My old Paradigm Atoms get set to large by my Pio 1015tx, and they are far from large.

To me, I want my sub producing everything from the crossover down, to releive stress on the speaker that otherwise may cause distortion. (Yes, I know the crossover isn't a brick wall)

I'm not familar with those speakers, but manufacturers lie, some use in-room response, blah blah blah. So, I would use small, and let the sub do the low. You may want to experiment with a crossover of 60hz though if your speakers have good low down power. This could help with dips in the 60-80 range, who knows. Experimentation is fun, but never ends.

[Dotay]

OK, I ran a bunch more tests experimenting with x-over settings and speaker type.

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Any of these curves look better than any of the others? My thinking is the crossover at 50 on the plus setting is the closest to flat with the 50 small being a close second.

[Dotay]

Also worth mentioning is that I tried to keep the RS meter in very close to the same position on this last set of measurements. In the first set I did today I was holding the meter about a foot in front of where my head would be and I noticed that if I moved it even 4-5 inches there would be a huge difference in SPL at certain frequencies. That would probably account for the difference in the first mains plus seating position plot and the second (80 PLUS).

[Dotay]

Oh, and while I'm giving info this was done with c-weighting and I used the correction factor that is built into a BFD before and after spreadsheet. The corrections are as follows.

16:11.5
18:8.0
20:7.5
22:6.5
25:5.0
28:4.0
31.5:3.0
36:2.5
40:2.5
45:2.0
50:1.5
56:1.5
63:1.5
71:1.5
80:1.5
89:1.5
100:2.0
111:1.0
125:0.5
143:0.5
160:-0.5

[ThomasW]

34Hz is the -3dB for your speakers, so I'd use a 80Hz XO point regardless of the plots. Doing that will take the workload off the mains.

Although it doesn't look pretty, plot #1 80Hz -small, would be easy to EQ since you could just pull the peaks down and get flat response.

Remember that moving the RS meter even a foot or so can make big difference in the plots.

[Dotay]

34Hz is the -3dB for your speakers, so I'd use a 80Hz XO point regardless of the plots. Doing that will take the workload off the mains.

Although it doesn't look pretty, plot #1 80Hz -small, would be easy to EQ since you could just pull the peaks down and get flat response.

Remember that moving the RS meter even a foot or so can make big difference in the plots.

OK, I'll use that curve once I start trying to equalize with the BFD. I need to get some sort of mount or something for my RS meter so I can get repeatable results. Does anyone have any recomendations or know of a decent DIY alternative? I've also been thinking about getting a camera tripod and I think they use similar mounting types.

[---k---]

I got a camera Samsonite camera tri-pod from MicroCenter on sale a while ago for $7. They normally are $15, but I've seen them for ~$10.

I agree with Thomas. I wouldn't run your speakers as large, because your speakers just arn't as good at producing the bass as your new sub is. And taking that work load off them, it allows them to produce the midrange with better control and less distortion. You should do some extensive listening between the 80-small and the 80-plus and see if you hear the differance.

And like Thomas said, that 80-small plot will be real easy to eq. Looks like a filter at 25, 36, and 50.

But, how does it sound?

[Dotay]

I got a camera Samsonite camera tri-pod from MicroCenter on sale a while ago for $7. They normally are $15, but I've seen them for ~$10.

Thanks for the suggestion. I thought the mounts looked similar so thanks for clarifying.

...producing the bass as your new sub is.

But, how does it sound?

While I just finally got it sealed up it's far from being new...I finished the cutting back in October and had just been playing it without it being completely sealed up while I figured out how I was going to finish it. ops: That said it sounds much better than any sub I've had previously and it really pounds in my relatively small room. I'm anxious to get the thing equalized and then potentially building an LT to enhance the low end since I went with a relatively small (compared to most of the designs here :E ) enclosure.