Movies do have bass recorded in rear channels

[JohnT]

I just hooked up some nht sw2 subs and icbm crossover to my side speakers (vs2.4s) and aligned the subs directly below them (essentially making my sides full range). I wasnt expecting a whole lot of bass to be recorded in the side channels but I was wrong. Not on all movies of course but on some movies there is lots of bass, like the fast and furious, my woofers were rockin. Its cool having stereo bass for the sides and actually fills out the back soundstage nicely. Is it that more of the NEWER movies are recording bass in the sides/rear speakers ? as Ive always been under the impression that there wasnt any bass recorded in rear channels

[Legairre]

Nope it's not just newer movies. About 1 1/2 years ago widescreen review mag had a subwoofer issue that listed about 7 pages of movies with bass down to 50hz in the surrounds. After seeing that list bought dual 10" 150 watt subs to line level connect ot my surrounds and holy crap the back of the room was suddenly alive with bass I never knew was back there.

Surround subs kick serious butt.




"What do you mean it's too loud? My ears aren't even bleeding yet!"
Radden Home Theater

[Ricky]

Bass in the rears must be why my HT bass sounds so good I have my two subs set as end tables, or rear/LFE subs, with the side speakers placed on top or next to the subs. Everything below 80hz sent to my side and rear speakers are redirected to my subs and "stays" in the rear.

[terry78]

My Paradigm ADP surrounds are rated down to 50 Hz -- do you think I can safely try this as well? I'm wondering if I can avoid adding subs to the surrounds because our HT is in a small room.

Terry

[JohnT]

Terry,

I guess it depends on what crossover ranges you have on your pre/reciever. I even tried running my vs2.4s (rated down to 54 or so) in large and it cetainly didnt damge them or anything but it wasnt the same as having some 10inch woofers back there. My room is very small 15X14 and it sounds great..

Legairre, hows the rotels working out for ya ? have you been posting at htf lately ? ...I sure would like to get my hands on that widescreen list of movies with rear bass in em.

I also dont think cancellation is a problem either as bass in rears is midrange bass 40~120 . There may be a small amount of cancellation from the lfe sub but having full range rears(stereo bass) in the backsoundstage is worth it to me.

[sfdoddsy]

I also have full range front speakers and the sub for LFE and rears placed backwards of the seating position. Sounds good.

Steve




Steve's DIY Dipoles

[David Meek]

widescreen review mag had a subwoofer issue that listed about 7 pages of movies with bass down to 50hz in the surrounds

Yes, if I remember correctly, it was the Essential Subwoofer Buyer's Guide and was released in 2001 (I think). It's a little dated, but still a VERY good read for info on subs and soundtracks.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Legairre]

David,
I can't believe someone else actually bought/read that issue besides myself. I've been mentioning that issue(probably since 2001), everytime someone says adding surround subs is a waste of time. Seems not many people even read it, but they still says there's no bass in the rears. I say just try it.

John,
I hardly ever post on HTF anymore. I usually hang out here in club Rotel and over on the S&V forum. I was at work one day and decided to try audio hide for a change. So far I'm really happy with the Rotel.

If you want I can scan in the pages from the widescreen issue of movies with bass in the rears. I probably can't post them on my site due to all the copyright laws I'd probably be breaking, but I can email them to anyone who wants them.




"What do you mean it's too loud? My ears aren't even bleeding yet!"
Radden Home Theater

[Ricky]

Terry,

If a speaker can do an honest 35-40hz, then you can set it for "large" for 5.1 and not "lose" bass. Maybe instead of side subs, you can replace the dipoles with Studio 20s or 40s.

[MRWILLL]

NHT VT-2's (front & rear) with NHT Super Two towers for my sides, along with two Velodyne subs. A very nice flow of bass and the fullness of the .1




STOP!!...LOOK!!...LISTEN!!
DVD...Hear it from the people who
mixed and mastered it "LEXICON".

[Legairre]

Will,
How the heck are you? I was Gear over at DT. It's been a long time.




"What do you mean it's too loud? My ears aren't even bleeding yet!"
Radden Home Theater

[JohnT]

Just watched "one hour photo" really sucky movie with mediocre sound but at times my side surround subwoofers where going to town kickin out some major bass..

[Kevin_McC]

Ricky,
When you said that one could set a speaker to large in a 5.1 setup if it does an honest 35-40 hz how would one determine that? Is it based on manufacturers spec.s or by using a frequency sweep and a Radio shack sound meter?

John,
Glad to hear the subs are working for you.

[Ricky]

Kevin,

Yes, do a frequency sweep.