Tweet
Hello everyone. Would appreciate some help. I recently purchased a M&K Sub VX-860SF 250 Watts used on Audiogon. The sub was originally purchased in Nov 05' so its pretty much new. I looks beautiful (Cherry Veneer) and does in fact look brand new. I hooked it up last night to my 1052 and was underwhelmed!
I was very excited and was expecting to be overwhelmed. I currently have a cheapie subwoofer in my living room. An Audiosource 200 watt sub that is more than 10 years old! It still works though and gives out a lot of bass considering. I am actually going to use the M&K in my home theatre in the basement with the 1068 & 1095.
Anyway, I hooked up the M&K and turned on my Rotel 1052 Stereo Receiver. I first turned on the radio and raised the volume only to about 25. Did this at night so I couldn’t turn it up that much. Just for reference, usual listening level of the receiver is about 40 with 60-70 on the volume being POUNDING. So I turned everything on and my first reaction was "where is the bass"? So I checked to make sure the auto on was on and it was. I turned up the volume and the sub didn’t turn on until the volume was about at 35. My Audiosource kicks in around 25.
At this level, the bass sounded very weak so I made sure everything was set correctly on the back of the M&K. I had the phase set to the middle, the crossover at 80 (just like my audiosource), and the volume on the sub turned up half way. Still, the bass was very weak. I actually took the grille off and could barely feel the cone moving.
Then I tried a Sade CD which I use when setting up my Sub due to the heavy bass line. Just from my recollection, the M&K was not producing the bass I was expecting and used to with my Audiosource sub.
At this point I was a little discouraged but thought I must have something hooked up wrong. I figured I would check everything out the next morning when I could see better and also be able to crank it up a bit.
Well, this morning I double checked all the connections and all the settings on the back of the M&K sub. Everything looked fine. So I once again proceeded to try the sub out. Again, I was under whelmed with the output. I cranked the volume up to 70 and still was not getting the bass I was expecting from a M&K sub @ 250 watts! Normally at this level, I can not really listen as my Audiosource is shaking the walls and my hardwood floor! It actually does the Ickey Shuffle across the floor at this level!
At a loss, I again checked everything. Nope, everything is hooked up correctly. So I decided to do an A/B test with my Audiosource. Since the 1052 does not have a sub out, I only can hook up the sub via speaker level. But this allowed me to have both subs hooked up simultaneously to do my A/B test.
My listening tests with the M&K sub were confirmed! It was not putting out the bass anywhere near my Audiosource. Again, the Audiosource is 200 watts, 50 watts less than the M&K. I even compared the subs with the other speakers disconnected so that I would only be hearing the LFE frequencies sent to both subs. The Audiosource was easily twice as loud as the M&K. This was even with the Audiosource set at less than half its volume. I had the M&K volume set to halfway. I even set the M&K volume level all the way to its highest level and even then it didn't produce the output of the Audiosource.
The only time the M&K sub even came close to the output of the Audiosource is when it was at its highest volume level and the crossover was set all the way up to 180!
These test results were not only audible, but visible. You could see the Audiosource cone moving more than the M&K. I could even feel the hair on my arm moving when I put my arm up to the Audiosource. No such result with the M&K.
At this point I am at a loss for words and really am disappointed. I don't know what to do? I don't know if the sub is defective or what? I cant imagine that the sub was damaged in shipment because it looks fine and was very well packaged. No visible signs of shipment damage at all. Either to the boxes or the sub.
Does anyone have any suggestions or has had experience with this model sub? Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Although I dont think so.
Thanks in advance for your responses and your time for reading this VERY long post!
Adrian
I was very excited and was expecting to be overwhelmed. I currently have a cheapie subwoofer in my living room. An Audiosource 200 watt sub that is more than 10 years old! It still works though and gives out a lot of bass considering. I am actually going to use the M&K in my home theatre in the basement with the 1068 & 1095.
Anyway, I hooked up the M&K and turned on my Rotel 1052 Stereo Receiver. I first turned on the radio and raised the volume only to about 25. Did this at night so I couldn’t turn it up that much. Just for reference, usual listening level of the receiver is about 40 with 60-70 on the volume being POUNDING. So I turned everything on and my first reaction was "where is the bass"? So I checked to make sure the auto on was on and it was. I turned up the volume and the sub didn’t turn on until the volume was about at 35. My Audiosource kicks in around 25.
At this level, the bass sounded very weak so I made sure everything was set correctly on the back of the M&K. I had the phase set to the middle, the crossover at 80 (just like my audiosource), and the volume on the sub turned up half way. Still, the bass was very weak. I actually took the grille off and could barely feel the cone moving.
Then I tried a Sade CD which I use when setting up my Sub due to the heavy bass line. Just from my recollection, the M&K was not producing the bass I was expecting and used to with my Audiosource sub.
At this point I was a little discouraged but thought I must have something hooked up wrong. I figured I would check everything out the next morning when I could see better and also be able to crank it up a bit.
Well, this morning I double checked all the connections and all the settings on the back of the M&K sub. Everything looked fine. So I once again proceeded to try the sub out. Again, I was under whelmed with the output. I cranked the volume up to 70 and still was not getting the bass I was expecting from a M&K sub @ 250 watts! Normally at this level, I can not really listen as my Audiosource is shaking the walls and my hardwood floor! It actually does the Ickey Shuffle across the floor at this level!
At a loss, I again checked everything. Nope, everything is hooked up correctly. So I decided to do an A/B test with my Audiosource. Since the 1052 does not have a sub out, I only can hook up the sub via speaker level. But this allowed me to have both subs hooked up simultaneously to do my A/B test.
My listening tests with the M&K sub were confirmed! It was not putting out the bass anywhere near my Audiosource. Again, the Audiosource is 200 watts, 50 watts less than the M&K. I even compared the subs with the other speakers disconnected so that I would only be hearing the LFE frequencies sent to both subs. The Audiosource was easily twice as loud as the M&K. This was even with the Audiosource set at less than half its volume. I had the M&K volume set to halfway. I even set the M&K volume level all the way to its highest level and even then it didn't produce the output of the Audiosource.
The only time the M&K sub even came close to the output of the Audiosource is when it was at its highest volume level and the crossover was set all the way up to 180!
These test results were not only audible, but visible. You could see the Audiosource cone moving more than the M&K. I could even feel the hair on my arm moving when I put my arm up to the Audiosource. No such result with the M&K.
At this point I am at a loss for words and really am disappointed. I don't know what to do? I don't know if the sub is defective or what? I cant imagine that the sub was damaged in shipment because it looks fine and was very well packaged. No visible signs of shipment damage at all. Either to the boxes or the sub.
Does anyone have any suggestions or has had experience with this model sub? Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Although I dont think so.
Thanks in advance for your responses and your time for reading this VERY long post!
Adrian
Comment