VTF-1 enough sub for my area?

[jaggedaz]

My VTF-1 should arrive tomorrow and I'm having second thoughts that maybe I didn't get a big enough sub for my home. My living room and dining area are combined into one big open "great room". Here is a picture with dimensions:

http://i.imgur.com/UwqAi.gif

If I pretend that there is wall where my living room would end, then I'm under 2000 cu ft and the VTF-1 seems appropriate. However, if I figure the entire great room area then I'm at 3500 cu ft and the VTF-1 might not cut it.

Thoughts? I could trade up to a VTF-2, but I'd have to eat the cost of the shipping (about $40) on the one I already ordered. I'm already way over my budget, but I don't want to end up with not enough sub.

[Pete_Hsu]

I'd say give the VTF-1 a try. It should be pretty impressive even in this space. The subwoofer placement position looks good too.

Sincerely,

[jaggedaz]

Thanks Pete. I've been experimenting with the VTF-1 for the last week or so and I've had mixed results...

I first tried positioning the sub in the front corner as illustrated in the floor plan I posted. This produced good bass when the bass dipped down into the low frequencies, but mid bass seemed thin. I'm also finding that from the primary listening position the bass is noticeably louder than when sitting in other areas of the room. Even moving from a seated position to standing you can hear the bass change.

I then tried positioning the sub in the rear corner between the two couches. I found that the mid-bass could be felt and sounded pretty good, but it felt like my left ear was get fatigued from having the sub right there. The pressure level from the sub was starting to bother me so I moved the sub back up front.

My old subwoofer was a fairly crappy 10" JBL that I had hooked up to an older Pioneer receiver. The JBL seemed to have a lot more punch to it, which I highly suspect is due to the fact that I had the "loudness" setting turned on on the old receiver which was adding an artificial bump in mid-bass. The VTF-1 is hooked up to a new Harman Kardon receiver with the bass level set to 0, so no artificial bump. Maybe I'm just used to the way the old system sounded and haven't adjusted yet, but I sure do miss that punch.

BTW - I did have the VTF-1 hooked up to the old Pioneer receiver for a short period of time and the bass actually sounded much louder and punchier. The old Pioneer's lowest crossover point was 100hz and the "loudness" setting was turned on...which might explain that one.

I have the VTF-1 set to 1 port open, plug is in, crossover is out, and volume level at about 10 o'clock. Within the receiver I have the speakers crossed over at 80hz and the sub level at 0.

Would the dead spots and lack of oomph be cured with a larger sub or am I just going through a rough transition? :)

[Pete_Hsu]

Hi jaggedaz,

Try placing the subwoofer in the front left corner (ie. upper right corner of the room diagram), with one port plugged and bass extension switch set to the '2 port open' mode. We don't mention this setting in the owner's manual, but it works well in practice, and should give you more mid-bass punch.

You can also try placing the subwoofer on the opposite end of the loveseat (ie. the upper middle portion of the room diagram) if possible to see how it sounds there. Note that you may need to adjust subwoofer distance and subwoofer channel level on the A/V receiver when changing position of the subwoofer.

I think it is ok to have the subwoofer running a bit "hot" relative to the main speakers. Our ears have lower sensitivity to low frequencies vs. high frequencies, particularly at low-to-moderate listening levels, so we often prefer the subwoofer level boosted a bit.

Let us know how it goes

Thanks

Sincerely,