RobertApril
New member
Hello all,
I've recently assembled a full home entertainment sound system.
I live in a small 2 bedroom condo (about 750 square feet). The design is simple, there's a main room (almost square) which hosts the living and dining areas, as well as the kitchen and a short corridor that leads to the two bedrooms and bathroom.
The TV, devices, front and center speakers are in the living area, the surround speakers are at the opposite wall in the dining area, and the subwoofer is in the middle, in a space between the couch and buffet. I'll clarify that it is positioned behind the couch.
The system is comprised of two Motion 40 towers for the fronts. Two Motion 35XT bookshelves for the surrounds (on the opposite wall). One Motion 50XT center and one Dynamo 1000W subwoofer.
These are connected to a Marantz SR7009 receiver. The speakers are hooked up with monoprice 12AWG cables (product code 2747), except for the surround left speaker which is using that, plus a in-wall 12 or 14AWG cable I had installed during construction.
The subwoofer is interfacing with the amplifier via the included SWT-2 MartinLogan Subwoofer Wireless Transmitter.
I can't really change the position of any of these items. The way they are set-up is pretty much the only viable configuration. They look nice and aren't in the way. The most I can do to optimize their positioning, is to apply a toe-in to the front and back speakers, as well as adjust the front speakers spacing from their back wall. I've got about a foot of "play" for the subwoofer's placement, in relation to the couch, side wall and buffet.
Once I got my speakers cabled and connected with banana plugs, I played some music for a couple dozen hours with DTS Neo X activated to get all 6 speakers to get some breaking-in.
A few days later, I ran the Audyssey setup with the supplied Mic, for the three couch seating positions. It indicated what seems to be the appropriate distances for the speaker (7.5 feet for the front and center, 9 feet for the backs) but a very inaccurate reading for the subwoofer (something like 24 feet). I'd guess that reading error is due to the sub's placement behind the couch (about 6 inches behind).
Now, no matter what I try, the sub's output is a blurry, vibrating, muddy mess. The low frequencies are "loose", overpowering and undefined. It can also distort pretty easily when it gets to about 30% of it's power.
It seems to have plenty of power (I have it at 1 to 15% of it's capacity). It can shake the entire condo. Hell, at anything above 5%, it moves around, which is quite annoying.
In movies it seems like the low frequencies are too present in scenes when there shouldn't be so much.
In music, it's just not tight and defined.
I've got some reference tunes, that I've heard a hundred times on multiple sound systems and subs. On my system the bass sounds better when I actually do not use the sub, and run the speakers full range.
Doing so deprives me of the advantage of running a sub (lower frequencies and a bit more power).
I'm very disappointed in the sub, and I hope it's simply because I'm doing something wrong.
So far, I've tried:
With and without the ETC spikes. This only improve the sound marginally. I took them off because they were ruining my floor (the darn subwoofer doesn't stay in place).
Flipped the subwoofer to a front firing position. Didn't fix it.
Tried moving it a foot closer/away from couch, buffet, wall.
Tried all the phase settings.
Tried LFE only, and LFE+Main.
Disabled Audissey, disabled all the "dynamic" options.
Played with crossover points from 40Hz to 80Hz.
The last thing I can think of is to buy a subwoofer cable, instead of using the wireless transmitter.
Sorry for the long post, but I've got to say I'm disappointed. I've heard 300$ subs with similar bass qualities (albeit less power), and 500$ subs with much better sound quality and similar power. I read reviews that this was a "musical" sub, a quality sub, but so far I'm not hearing it.
Could it be defective? When I turn off the power switch, there's always a pop a few seconds later. Also, when I received it, the desiccant (silica gel) packet had exploded during shipping and there were tiny spheres everywhere. I don't think it could have inserted itself anywhere though, because of the sealed design.
Anyways, sorry for the long post.
If anyone has suggestions, please let me know.
Have a nice day
I've recently assembled a full home entertainment sound system.
I live in a small 2 bedroom condo (about 750 square feet). The design is simple, there's a main room (almost square) which hosts the living and dining areas, as well as the kitchen and a short corridor that leads to the two bedrooms and bathroom.
The TV, devices, front and center speakers are in the living area, the surround speakers are at the opposite wall in the dining area, and the subwoofer is in the middle, in a space between the couch and buffet. I'll clarify that it is positioned behind the couch.
The system is comprised of two Motion 40 towers for the fronts. Two Motion 35XT bookshelves for the surrounds (on the opposite wall). One Motion 50XT center and one Dynamo 1000W subwoofer.
These are connected to a Marantz SR7009 receiver. The speakers are hooked up with monoprice 12AWG cables (product code 2747), except for the surround left speaker which is using that, plus a in-wall 12 or 14AWG cable I had installed during construction.
The subwoofer is interfacing with the amplifier via the included SWT-2 MartinLogan Subwoofer Wireless Transmitter.
I can't really change the position of any of these items. The way they are set-up is pretty much the only viable configuration. They look nice and aren't in the way. The most I can do to optimize their positioning, is to apply a toe-in to the front and back speakers, as well as adjust the front speakers spacing from their back wall. I've got about a foot of "play" for the subwoofer's placement, in relation to the couch, side wall and buffet.
Once I got my speakers cabled and connected with banana plugs, I played some music for a couple dozen hours with DTS Neo X activated to get all 6 speakers to get some breaking-in.
A few days later, I ran the Audyssey setup with the supplied Mic, for the three couch seating positions. It indicated what seems to be the appropriate distances for the speaker (7.5 feet for the front and center, 9 feet for the backs) but a very inaccurate reading for the subwoofer (something like 24 feet). I'd guess that reading error is due to the sub's placement behind the couch (about 6 inches behind).
Now, no matter what I try, the sub's output is a blurry, vibrating, muddy mess. The low frequencies are "loose", overpowering and undefined. It can also distort pretty easily when it gets to about 30% of it's power.
It seems to have plenty of power (I have it at 1 to 15% of it's capacity). It can shake the entire condo. Hell, at anything above 5%, it moves around, which is quite annoying.
In movies it seems like the low frequencies are too present in scenes when there shouldn't be so much.
In music, it's just not tight and defined.
I've got some reference tunes, that I've heard a hundred times on multiple sound systems and subs. On my system the bass sounds better when I actually do not use the sub, and run the speakers full range.
Doing so deprives me of the advantage of running a sub (lower frequencies and a bit more power).
I'm very disappointed in the sub, and I hope it's simply because I'm doing something wrong.
So far, I've tried:
With and without the ETC spikes. This only improve the sound marginally. I took them off because they were ruining my floor (the darn subwoofer doesn't stay in place).
Flipped the subwoofer to a front firing position. Didn't fix it.
Tried moving it a foot closer/away from couch, buffet, wall.
Tried all the phase settings.
Tried LFE only, and LFE+Main.
Disabled Audissey, disabled all the "dynamic" options.
Played with crossover points from 40Hz to 80Hz.
The last thing I can think of is to buy a subwoofer cable, instead of using the wireless transmitter.
Sorry for the long post, but I've got to say I'm disappointed. I've heard 300$ subs with similar bass qualities (albeit less power), and 500$ subs with much better sound quality and similar power. I read reviews that this was a "musical" sub, a quality sub, but so far I'm not hearing it.
Could it be defective? When I turn off the power switch, there's always a pop a few seconds later. Also, when I received it, the desiccant (silica gel) packet had exploded during shipping and there were tiny spheres everywhere. I don't think it could have inserted itself anywhere though, because of the sealed design.
Anyways, sorry for the long post.
If anyone has suggestions, please let me know.
Have a nice day
