# Help looking at recievers with best subwoofer eq's



## tashspop (Dec 2, 2008)

i'm well over due for an upgrade on my reciever pioneer 1014. right now my substage amp is a proamp and my subs are sealed boxes and are in need of some boost on the lower end. since i'm needing an upgrade on my reciever i would like to check my options for getting some eq built in so i don't have to add extra equipment to deal with my subs. 

i've been reading as much as i can find on the onkyo 818 and 809 amps. what other options would be out there and do these recievers handle these tasks?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Ideally the 818 is your best option for the money its hard to beat as it has Multi EQ XT32
Other receivers that also employ it is the Denon 4520, Onkyo 3008, 3009, 5008 & 5009


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## tashspop (Dec 2, 2008)

so you are saying that it will eq my sub channel. thats good if so, also i've looked at the option of getting the sherwood 972 but worry a bit about user issues with my wife and daughter. does it also compair with the sub controls?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

My personal opinion is that the 972 is fantastic however you have no options to tweak after it is set. Its also very quirky so not necessarily a good choice if people are going to use it who dont have the patience to deal with that.


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## JDEaston (Dec 30, 2011)

I understand wanting to consolidate everything into one unit. But the best sub eq available atlre stand alone units, by a large margin, imo. I have never used trinnov or anthems room correction so I can't speak for those. But I have used all flavors of audyssey, ypao, and mcacc. None of them are even close to what stand alone units like antimode and minidsp, though of those three xt32 seems to do the best, as it is the only one of the three that do much of anything to the sub. In some instances I have seen it add to much boost and bottom a sub out however.

Consolidating everything into one unit is nice, however rew and a minidsp will give much better results than any avr I have heard.


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## tashspop (Dec 2, 2008)

yes i understand your point and fully agree, but i'm picking my side with ease of use for my family and total cost and space. if i had a dedicated theater room in this home i would no doubt go that route. a new home is in our 3yr plan and theater room is one of the top items on the list. so hopefully some day soon i can shop that route.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I agree that XT 32 does a much better job at sub EQ than previous versions of Audyssey. Audyssey Pro is even better at overall system EQ, so if you can find a receiver that is Pro capable in your budget, that would be a good way to go. But, add about $700 for the Pro equipment and license.

One of Audyssey's benefits over standard EQ is time alignment of each channel.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

tashspop said:


> ease of use for my family .


oh boy your priorities are all out of whack, the more complicated stuff the less they will use it ...hence they will not mess it up! kidding aside .... sub eq as stated is like the 1%ers..most of the non pro entry level stuff is geared toward the 'family use' style. the problem with xt32 is that you cannot change any of the settings. i ready about MACC (pioneer) being more complicated but you get better results since you can tweak. I just ordered a UMC-200 for the purpose of being able to tweak. you may be better off spending less on a RCVR and getting a mini dsp or antimode unit


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
If subwoofer EQ is at the top of the list, I would actually not go with the TX-NR818 as it lacks SubEQ HT. However, if using a single subwoofer and planning on keeping that way, then the 818 would be great.

I would look for a B-Stock or NOS Onkyo TX-NR3009. It offers 9 Channels of THX Ultra2 Plus Certified amplification, XT32/SubEQ HT, and should be relatively close in price to the 818.
Cheers,
JJ


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## tashspop (Dec 2, 2008)

fschris said:


> oh boy your priorities are all out of whack, the more complicated stuff the less they will use it ...hence they will not mess it up! kidding aside .... sub eq as stated is like the 1%ers..most of the non pro entry level stuff is geared toward the 'family use' style. the problem with xt32 is that you cannot change any of the settings. i ready about MACC (pioneer) being more complicated but you get better results since you can tweak. I just ordered a UMC-200 for the purpose of being able to tweak. you may be better off spending less on a RCVR and getting a mini dsp or antimode unit


i've been dealing with pioneers menus for a very long time so they are somewhat easy to navigate for me. are you saying that the pioneers of today have eq properties for the sub channel? my current unit does not unless of course its hidden in a sub menu somewhere i haven't fount yet.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

about the pioneer sub EQ i am not sure. you would have to read the manual and probably need to go with the elite level. once you start talking about sub EQ your in a different class of needs. so far the best cost effective option is the Onkyo 818... or if you are looking to step it up maybe a umc-200 and matching upa 500. btw, if you have a onkyo 818 you can eq 2 subs, just use a splitter from one of the sub outputs. ( i read that somewhere)


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

fschris said:


> btw, if you have a onkyo 818 you can eq 2 subs, just use a splitter from one of the sub outputs. ( i read that somewhere)


No need. The 818 has 2 subwoofer output jacks. All that is necessary is to balance the two subs before running Audyssey. This can be done with the internal test signal and a simple sound level meter by connecting one sub at a time and adjusting (on that sub) the level to, say, 75dB. Then connect both and run the Audyssey setup. (There is a way to do this with the Audyssey but it is much more tedious.)


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