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I have a Sony DVP-NC650V SACD player feeding the MultiChannel In of my Sony STR-DE485 amp using RCA cables.
When I play my SACDs, the bass is very lacking. In fact, if I unplug the RCA cable from the "Woofer Out" on the player to the "Subwoofer In" on the amp, there is little to no change in the amount of bass.
I have tried different cables for the Sub channel but no luck. My SACD disc don't sound any better than my regular CDs.
I have tried the different settings in the player menu but they don't seem to make a difference. If I change the speaker size, or gain for the subwoofer channel, it doesn't make a difference either.
Any help would be appreciated here. Thanks in advance!
-Terry
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Hi Terry,
As a Stereo fan, I can testify SACDs have a stunning bass response and resolution on my Carver mono amp from 1992.
Once ago, I see a problem of lack of bass in a HT sub, that was caused by the subwoofer seting as ''wide'' in the MC receiver, this set was changed and the bass came to life again.
This is my two cents, Gustavo
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Post by jakeroux February 10, 2010 (3 of 7)
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Two possibilities I can think of:
1) If your sub has a separate gain control (physical volume/power knob on your sub, not settings on your equalizer), try adjusting it upwards to the extreme to see if it makes a difference in the bass response during playback. If so, then re-adjust back to whatever level you find most enjoyable.
2) If your sub has a separate gain control, but adjusting it upwards makes no difference during playback, then most likely you have some problems with your speaker or equalizer settings on your amp/receiver.
If everything is functioning, hooked up correctly and the speaker and equalizer setting are reasonable, then you should be able to detect a difference by adjusting as described in 1).
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The discs you play could also be a factor. Many (not all) classical and jazz SACDS have 3.0, 4.0, or 5.0 multichannel signals - point being, they don't use the '.1' subwoofer channel at all, and all low-frequency signals are only being sent to the main speakers (which, if they are small bookshelf or satellite speakers will not give you much bass response) unless you program your player and amp to do otherwise.
Also, there's a good chance that your receiver only amplifies the signals it receives through the analog multichannel inputs - that is, no other processing is done. So any redirect of low frequencies from other channels to the subwoofer channel would have to be done in the player.
There are other possibilities, but first I would have to know if you use a powered sub (with its own amplifier and volume control) or a passive sub connected to the amp with normal speaker cable.
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Post by wolf359 February 11, 2010 (5 of 7)
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The type of disc you play is a factor many classical releases have ambience only on the rear channels and are recorded as 5.0 not 5.1 to give a more natural effect. In these circumstances the sub would appear to be "absent". If you have a powered sub woofer check the settings on the unit itself. There is a marked difference on mine between the LFE input and the sub input and the corresponding settings. Also in a really well set up system the sub should merge seamlessly with the other speakers and not be at all obvious. The bass being more of a feeling than a listening experience. This is very difficult to achive in practice on some systems and is of course subject to your own listening preferences. There are those who would not have a sub in their system regardless but I find it useful for movies and used sparingly can be a pleasure on certain types of music ,rock and percussion come to mind.
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Thanks for everyone's input on this matter.
I should have stated from the beginning that I'm using a powered subwoofer. All of my speakers settings (size, distance, levels, etc.) were set using a setup DVD feeding the amp via the optical input.
Would those settings be different for the MultiChannel input?
My sub has level and crossover controls on it. But because those as set for the DVDs, I'd hate to change them for SACDs, other than for testing purposes.
I don't have any classical music in my collection, it's all rock & pop discs.
I'm not sure off hand if I the discs I've really listened to were multichannel or not. I will check and report back when I can.
Last night I was listening to Journey's Greatest Hits and Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell if that provides any clues to anyone.
Thanks again.
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Post by jakeroux February 11, 2010 (7 of 7)
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As primarily a pop/rock/jazz listener when I started my SACD collection a couple of years ago, I too was surprised by the "lack" of bass on my 5.1 system when properly calibrated, in my case, with Audessey. Not sure how your DVD calibration disc works, but assuming it tries to approximate the original studio sound (the fidelity part of "high fidelity"), just keep in mind that bass levels in recording studios (which your system may be calibrated to approximate) are most likely not the same as bass levels you would experience at a live pop/rock gig (mind numbing, teeth shattering, bone jarring, etc.), and therefore may be expecting at home with a “killer” system. Also keep in mind that the bass levels on the LFE channel of a DVD often can be mind numbing, teeth shattering, bone jarring, etc. by studio design, and therefore, unlike most recorded music, are recreated as such on your calibrated system.
So, if that is your cup of tea on your pop/rock discs and you’re not getting it with your current settings, but are getting it on DVDs, then you may just need to manually adjust accordingly (using the gain on your powered sub) when listening to SACDs. You can always change it back. Remember, it’s your system, your music and, I assume, your room you’re listening to it in, so feel free to adjust to your tastes.
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