Tweaking - BFD or receiver with auto EQ?

[markusp]

Hey everyone. Like most of you, I keep tweaking my system in hopes of getting better performance. Recently, I've been toying with the idea of either getting a Behringer feedback destroyer or maybe even the Harman Kardon AVR-635 with its advanced EQ system that works in the lower bass frequencies.

I currently have what I consider to be a nice system consisting of an Anthem AVM pre pro, Anthem PVA 7 amp (only running 5.1 though), Definitive Technology BP2006TL power tower speakers with matching powered 2300 center channel and a pair of paradigm ADP 170 for rears. My other sources are Philips DVD963SA dvd player and Motorola HDTV PVR. The Definitive speakers each have a built in 8" powered sub.

My listening room needs work. I've already done all I can to tame reflections etc. that WAF allows for so please keep that in mind. The room is fairly open concept and measures 15' x 16' and has 20' celings and hardwood floors (have giant area rug though). The east wall is solid wall with a door way to the far left and houses all my electronics. Speakers are placed 2.5' into the room. My north wall consists of a gas fireplace flanked on either side by 18' windows covered with wood blinds (no room for drapes) and a giant mirror hanging over the fireplace. My west wall has a large pass through opening to the kitchen and two open doorways to the hall and said kitchen. Above the openings is the rest of the wall that stretches 12' to the ceiling. Our couch is placed along this wall. My south wall has the staircase that leads upstairs followed by a walkway balcony that stretches overhead and leads to the other rooms of the house.

As I said - not the best layout accoustically speaking but the openess of the room is what sold us on the house

While taking some SPL readings, it seems I suffer from some obvious bass peaks and dips. I'm wondering if using the BFD will dramtically help this problem (given that I can't reposition my subs as they are built into the speakers) or do I need to downgrade to the Harman Kardon to take advantage of its new EQ? I don't really want to give up my Anthem pre pro as I love it (far more detailed and robust than the lengthy list of receivers and pre pros I've owned in the past) so I'm hoping that the BFD will do the job.

Any opinions or advice?

Thanks,
Mark

[ThomasW]

I doubt that the receiver is going to give you the processing power of the Behringer. And for $99 it's a steal.

If the main problem is room induced nulls, Auto-EQ systems aren't 'smart' enough to know that they can't be boosted.

Although sold as 'subs', 8" drivers are really woofer/midwoofers. And unfortunately that means they're limited in the amount of air they can move.

Having an open floor plan means you should really buy a separate stand alone sub, so you can experiment with placement and have more displacement. Using one of these will take the workload off the DefTechs and they'll sound better too...

[Chris D]

Since this came up, I can't remember the answer to the question--why is the Behringer only used to equalize subwoofers? Why can't it equalize full-range speakers like mains or the center, too?

[junior77blue]

The additional 'digitizing' will corrupt higher frequencies. Your bascially running the sound throught another DAC. This is fine for bass (not as sensitive), but for anything in the higher frequencies will deteriote the sound.

[Snap]

:agree:

The other thing to take into concideration is the quaility of the FBD. Behringer is not know in the Pro Audio circles as a "high end" componet. After all it is only 99 bucks. I had to replace Behringer components with DBX stuff in a church that I did the audio for. The Behringer was doing exactly what Junior Blue was saying, "it muddied up the highs, and high mids" They were runing the whole house through the BFD to elimiate feed back. I personally would NOT use it to EQ anything but the sub.

If you had to EQ the whole system, the DBX 200 series stereo EQ's might be a better choice if you are going to EQ your whole system. Going to cost you some loot though. A drive rack 260 would work with 5.1 and seperates. (it has 6 chan) And that would be a sweet EQ. (if you were trying to eq a whole system) you will need a computer and the software downloaded from DBX to make the adjustments. If you are not familar with using a Parametric EQ then stay away from the Drive Rack 260. It also has a TON of other stuff that you can use. I have not used any pro stuff for HT, I can only say that it works great for Pro Audio.

I also agree with the seperate sub. I forgot who said it, but it would definatly help out the def techs, and help with the bass problems. The BFD and a seperate sub would help out a ton. :T I think Lex was telling me about crawling for bass, and that is a cool idea that worked in my house. I forgot what thread that was on. (If it was not Lex that told me about this, sorry) ops:
SNAP