B&W 685 boominess problem 2

[AwArEnEsS]

Now I want to continue to my old topic.The problem which I have with my B&W 685 +Pioneer VSX-519V-K is,I hear too much boominess.A few days ago,I tried to use Pioneer's "pure direct" mode and set the speakers to SMALL.It is written that this mode prevents any digital processing of receiver.It said "goodbye" to boominess(now there is just little boominess),great,but unfortunately it said "goodbye" to bass too. The bass decreased very,very much,almost to none level.

So is the boominess caused by receiver's digital processing do you think?Isn't there a way to have good bass without boominess?(other than buying a subwoofer) Also is there a possibility that the room where the speakers are in cause this boominess,cause it's sonorous?I want to be sure that it's caused by only digital processing.

[Tweir]

Things to do to achieve good bass. First if this is a 5.1 system can you redirect the surround back to the fronts. This will give you better imaging and better controlled bass. Second to get the best damping factor out of the amp use the shortest runs of wire possible. If you can not then use higher gauge of wire. I have gotten the best results out of this speaker with two runs of 12 gauge or better to each post. Then the source run analog if your source has a good dac then use the bypass mode. If this is not the case then use digital coax or optical to the pioneer and you can still use the bypass mode but will not be as quite if using the analog section. Lastly set the front speaker to large full range no crossover and make sure no additional processing is on. This will get good results from the 685 speaker. If none of this works then consider the placement of the speaker, too close to the walls or cabinet and start to pull back or away from the wall till the bass sounds balanced and even with no peaks due to the proximity to the wall.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.

It writes on the wire that the wire is 2x0.75mm2,I think it is it's thickness.Is it good or bad,how much mm2 it should be?

[Tweir]

Not too good about 21 to 22 awg. That could be one of the issues. Defiantly step up to at least 14 awg or 12 awg which is 1.63mm and 2.05mm.

[theblue]

direct = no processing (but still has a crossover)
speakers set to small = everything below the crossover point will not play through these speakers. If you have no subwoofer then the low frequencies will not play at all.

so the bass is probably gone because you are not playing the low frequencies to these speakers anymore.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answers.Seems like I should try with a better wire.

[theblue]

the most expensive speaker cable in the world won't make your receiver send frequencies below the crossover to your speakers if they are set to small.

[htsteve]

the most expensive speaker cable in the world won't make your receiver send frequencies below the crossover to your speakers if they are set to small.

Agreed. Settings are important. Also, I also agree that your wire sounds thin. A beefier cable does help in transferring the bass signal. That should help your performance.


Hope this helps.

[stuofsci02]

PLease tell us more about your room and speaker setup

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answers.

theblue,I was aware that it will cut low frequencies before setting the speakers to Small.But after I set them,I totaly forgot that it cut low frequencies,I started to think that cause B&W 685s are not large speakers,maybe I should set them Small.But then after reading your first post,I remembered what I read in receiver's manual and set them back to Large.

My room is 40 m2 and there is not much furniture.When I clap my hands strong enough in the room,I hear additional sound(echo?).There are three big windows in the room and unfortunately the speakers are in front of two different big windows.One of the speakers is on a coffee table,the other one is on a furniture :lol: .Both the speaker on the coffee table and one furniture have the same boomiess problem,also when I put them on my computer table or on the floor,the problem continues.I forgot it's name but there are "small pads" under speakers.

I have just two B&W 685 +Pioneer Vsx-519V-K (5.1) receiver ,no subwoofer and no other speaker.I generally connect speakers to my computer(optical connection),rarely to the Tv(optical connection) and very rarely to the dvd player(analog connection) in my room.

I have found a wire,it's copper,14 awg = 48x0.25 mm (2.50 mm²) and 7.4 ohm conductor resistance.Does it look like a good cable for B&W 685?(or at least better than a 0.75mm2 cable?)Also it's twinaxial, can it be connected to the speakers and receiver without problem ?(what I am using now is a parallel wire)

[AwArEnEsS]

I have bought a 14 awg wire and the boominess continues...

[theblue]

buy a subwoofer (even a cheap one), then set them back to small and I think you'll be happy.

[PewterTA]

How far are you speakers from the wall. MOVE the speakers (left and right mains) either into the room more or back closer to the wall. Most likely more into the room will achieve a better effect in lessening the boominess. I'm guessing you have some really bad room reflection issues.

Even if you can't keep them out into the room perminently, then you'll know for sure what the problem is. If it is, then you need to get some bass traps for the corners of the room (or need to find where the sound is building up and creating that hump in your frequency response).

[emig5m]

I played with my 685's as mains with and without a sub and they are downright awesome either way. I can't believe the sound that these little rinky dink speakers put out. Try and keep your listening position away from the back wall too.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answers.

When you say "place them far from back wall" you mean "from windows" right?Because the speakers are in front of windows.There is a wall between windows,but the windows are so big that the wall which was made of Ytong is a smaller part.

I have already tried it,but couldn't notice significant difference.

For now I can't buy a subwoofer,but in the future,I am going to buy definetely,I am going to complete this setup into a 5.1 setup.

[PewterTA]

Windows reflect worse than walls... It could definitely be the placement.

Unless you find out what range the "boominess" is happening in, a sub might not work for you. If the do the standard crossover at 80Hz, but the boominess you experience is actually at 100Hz, then it won't help you having a sub. Not saying you shouldn't have a sub, subs rock!

You might want to look get this http://www.realtraps.com/test-cd.zip

You'll probably only really need the first 14 or so "tracks." Just play them through your PC or burn them to CD. You'll need to get a SPL meter and plot them. If you get the RadioShack one, there are correction tables per frequencies as the meter isn't super accurate down low. The adjustments will tell you how much dB to add at what frequencies. Then print out the graph and plot your points (or plug them into excel or something and make a graph). This way you'll have a visual on what ranges might be causing the issue for your sound.

If you can, is there anything pillow wise that you can pile up behind the speaker and the windows? That would give you an idea if you're hearing reflection issues off the windows.

Also how do you have the speakers "grounded" to the floor/stands? Spikes, rubber feet, just sitting on the floor/stand. That can also make a difference.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.I tried putting a pillow behind speakers,but I couldn't feel a significant decrease boominess wise.From my try outs,the thing which made me feel a significant decrease in boominess was setting Bass level to "0" from receiver(it should be the neutral level,there are "-4, -2, 0, +2, +4" levels).But of course this caused less bass too.

[theblue]

what did you have the bass level set to before you changed it to 0?

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.It was +4.

[theblue]

setting the bass to +4 is probably 90% of your problem -- you're probably getting distortion. It's obvious that you just have unrealistic expectations and need to buy a subwoofer or trade them in for some floor standing towers.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.I am totally a beginner and I don't know what should I expect from a stand-mount speaker.These are my first higher quality and bigger speakers,all the speakers I have used were little computer speakers and integrated little speakers of a tape/radio.Also this is my first seperate amplifier/receiver and there were no bass controls on the speakers which had integrated amplifiers.

[theblue]

no problem... the goal of most of us is to use as few settings as possible. It's more desirable to leave as many options set to "0" and instead move speakers and change/modify the room to resolve problems.

Then on some rare occasions when you need more bass because the recording is old/poor you might temporarily use the bass setting. (what I'm saying is it's not a control for "I like lots of bass", it's a fine tune when absolutely needed)

[AwArEnEsS]

Ok,thanks.

[AwArEnEsS]

I decided to delete my message.