# Hsu and bass setting



## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

I got the HSU VTF3 MK4 and I have it set up with the gain between minimum and 9 o'clock. According to Dr. Hsu that is were the gain should be so Audyssey can set up the sub correctly to match the speakers, however with the gain at that level I hear the bass but not chest pounding unless I go up on the gain. Do I need to go up on the gain in order to get chest pounding bass or is the sub suposed to do that already at the current setting?


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## Driver_King (Sep 19, 2009)

Once you have done the subwoofer crawl and have determined the appropriate location for your subwoofer, you should set the subwoofer phase to 0 degrees (if applicable and with only one subwoofer) and set the volume level to the recommended level (as Dr. Hsu suggests). Once you run Audyssey, you should not adjust the position of the subwoofer or any settings on the subwoofer itself. In your (Onkyo, I assume) receiver, you should be able to increase the subwoofer level to your liking, keeping in mind limitations of turning the subwoofer up while listening at reference volumes.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

Crawl was done and phase is 0. Where is the sub volume on avr? I have a Denon.


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## Driver_King (Sep 19, 2009)

I am pretty confident you should be able to adjust the speaker levels under the speaker configuration menu. Since I am not completely familiar with the Denon menus, I would consult your receiver manual if you cannot find it.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

asere said:


> Crawl was done and phase is 0. Where is the sub volume on avr? I have a Denon.


Read the Denon manual. It will help you understand a lot more than how to adjust speaker levels.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

asere said:


> Crawl was done and phase is 0. Where is the sub volume on avr? I have a Denon.


Menus are different for different Denon models. On my AVR-A100, I can change each channel, including the subs, on the manual speaker setup menu.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

How come my Hsu sounds localized? When watching a movie I can hear the bass in the room but at the same time my left ear kinda rings and the location of the sub is noticeable.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

asere said:


> How come my Hsu sounds localized? When watching a movie I can hear the bass in the room but at the same time my left ear kinda rings and the location of the sub is noticeable.


What is your crossover setting? When you can localize the subs, this usually means the crossover is set above 80Hz or so. In theory we should not be able to localize them with crossover set at 80 or below. That said, I think I can hear mine as being on the front wall.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> What is your crossover setting? When you can localize the subs, this usually means the crossover is set above 80Hz or so. In theory we should not be able to localize them with crossover set at 80 or below. That said, I think I can hear mine as being on the front wall.


Audyssey set them as follow: Center 80 L,R 120 and surrounds at 90.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I would change all to 80 except maybe leave the surrounds at 90. Then give it a listen on something familiar. Transformers Dark of Moon is a good movie to test your setup. Tinkering is part of the enjoyment of this hobby.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

JBrax said:


> I would change all to 80 except maybe leave the surrounds at 90. Then give it a listen on something familiar. Transformers Dark of Moon is a good movie to test your setup. Tinkering is part of the enjoyment of this hobby.


I can manually bring them down to 80hz however it will be outside of the Audysey reference level.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

asere said:


> I can manually bring them down to 80hz however it will be outside of the Audysey reference level.


By reference level do you mean volume or Audyssey's recommended crossover? If volume, can you adjust the sub amp up to compensate? If crossover, let your ears be your guide. Even with Audyssey Pro, deviations from recommended settings sometime sound better. I never use Pro's first recommended crossover point from my mains - it wants to use 40Hz, which cuts way too much LFE from the subs.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> By reference level do you mean volume or Audyssey's recommended crossover? If volume, can you adjust the sub amp up to compensate? If crossover, let your ears be your guide. Even with Audyssey Pro, deviations from recommended settings sometime sound better. I never use Pro's first recommended crossover point from my mains - it wants to use 40Hz, which cuts way too much LFE from the subs.


I mean't crossover. Since with Audyssey you can raise but not lower crossover, I wonder if by lowering mine for example from 120 to 80 if Audyssey will override it and see it as 120 even though it's lowered.
Also is it ok to lower the crossover even if my speakers can't handle 80?


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

asere said:


> I mean't crossover. Since with Audyssey you can raise but not lower crossover, I wonder if by lowering mine for example from 120 to 80 if Audyssey will override it and see it as 120 even though it's lowered.
> Also is it ok to lower the crossover even if my speakers can't handle 80?


You can try, but you may find that either you start overdriving the main speakers when the volume is turned up or have a "hole" in the response between the mains and the sub. The crossover being set high is why you can localize the sub.

If you like your mains and your sub, Hsu makes a mid bass module that will fill in the gap nicely:

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/mbm-12mk2.html


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> You can try, but you may find that either you start overdriving the main speakers when the volume is turned up or have a "hole" in the response between the mains and the sub. The crossover being set high is why you can localize the sub.
> 
> If you like your mains and your sub, Hsu makes a mid bass module that will fill in the gap nicely:
> 
> http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/mbm-12mk2.html


I already have a Hsu VTF3 MK4 sub.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

What type of speakers do you have and what is their frequency response?


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

Frequency is 40 to 2000 khz proficient brand


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

asere said:


> Frequency is 40 to 2000 khz proficient brand


You should have no problems setting them to 80.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

I switched the crossovers to 80 and could not tell the difference from 120.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

asere said:


> I switched the crossovers to 80 and could not tell the difference from 120.


It made no difference in your ability to localize the sub?


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> It made no difference in your ability to localize the sub?


No I will A. go down on the avr sub trim to maybe -3, right now is at 0 or
B. move the sub to a different spot however, were it is now gave me the best spl reading.


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## ambesolman (Apr 25, 2011)

Try flipping the phase switch, it helped me. Also, the hsu MBM would work in conjunction with the vtf3.4. It's not designed to go low like the 3.4, instead it's for midbass only, 50-150hz. This is beneficial if your mains don't play very low or run out of steam with a lot of bass. Those that have both subs seem to really love the combo.


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