As long as you are running a digital connection to the 950, and have assigned that digital input to the DVD source input, and the player is outputting in digital(Dolby-Digital as well as DTS-you may have to go into the players setup menu to make sure the digital stream is active), everything should work normally.

Hello Incognito,

It's true that bass frequency wave lengths are quite long, so I suggest putting the sub in the same place you plan to sit. Next, calibrate your sub so that it is 10db hotter than your other channels. Finally, walk all around the room while playing a bass track you're familiar with. When you find a place that the sub sounds really good, consider placing the sub there. Do this until you find a place where the sub sounds "right", and where it would also be in a place you can live with.

Best,

Scott

if i were a betting man, i would say it is a wrong setting somewhere or perhaps a switch in the wrong spot. perhaps a lose power connection/bad outlet/bad something. placement for subs is mucho importante, but if you are right next to it and it still sounds like poop, it probably always will (if it is setup correctly of course).

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Thanks Scott and everyone else for you comments!

Last night I put some wood under the spikes (strips of wood) to get the sub up a little bit from the carpet. That seemed to help a great deal. I was curious how to calibrate it though. So, Scott, I appreciate your comments. I will set it to 10db higher than everything else.

Since we are kind of on the calibration topic, I have a very dumb question....when reviews talk about calibrating things to "reference" level, what is that. I have always used the test tones and set the speakers to 75db all the way around...but where should the volume on the 950 be set when playing the test tones? Do you set it to the level that you would normally listen to movies and music, or do you turn it way up and then calibrate the speakers to 75db? I have typically always set the the 950 to 0db, and then calibrated the speakers (using the test tones) to 75db on the sound meter. Is there a better way to do it?

Thanks for all of your help guys!

Incog

P.S. Gonk, I tried Finding Nemo last night...poor fish.

I'm not sure how the 950 calibrates. With the 1050 I start with the front left main, set the master volume until my SPL meter reads 75db, and use the level trim (+/-db) for the center, surround and LFE channels. If the front left/right levels are not matched, I have to use the balance control to even those out. The sub is tricky, and usually calibrated to what sounds "right" to me. Reference level, I think, is the volume setting used to achieve the 75db calibration. So, if you set the volume to zero when calibrating, then zero would be reference level. Anyone have a better explanation please chime in(Gonk!).

I'm under the impression that 75 db should be 0 on the master volume. All channels are trimmed so that they play a reference tone at 75 db when the master is at 0.

****I was listening to a music CD and it had very rare frequencies that went to the sub. I put in a music DVD and I actually couldn't hear any noticable bass from the sub. I was playing "Santana: Supernatural" DVD. In one fo the reviews, it said the DVD-Audio version of that disc has some good bass. I don't have the ICBM yet, so I didn't think using SACD or DVD-A would be a good sound test yet.****

I don't know what kind of music you listen to, but any kind of CD music I play with my sub (diy Tempest) it comes into play big time. The sub is very responsive in SACD and music DVDs also (you definitely would notice the bass in Supernatural). I would suspect that something is amiss in your setup or the sub is not working properly. While listening to music and you turn off the sub, there should be a noticeable difference. Hopefully you'll be able to track down the problem.

Is that the best way to do it...set the calibration setting on the left front speaker to 0db and then adjust the main volume until you get 75db on the meter, and then calibrate the rest of the speakers to 75db with the main volume being untouched? It sounds like we probably achieved the same result, but if that is the best way to do it, it sounds easier to me.

As for the music listening comment...it might sound "correct" now that I got the sub up off the floor. I haven't done much music listening since I got it elevated...I'm more of a movie person.

Thanks again all!

Incog

The 950's manual has a fairly good section on calibration. Basically, set the main volume to 00dB before entering the 950's menu, then calibrate each channel so that the test tones measure at roughly 75dB in the primary listening position. As an example, I think all of my speakers vary up or down 2 to 4 dB all the way around the room. The sub is a bit different, as the Radio Shack meter that most of us use behaves a bit oddly with low frequency measurements. I tend to do a fairly "rough" calibration on the sub (getting it to around 70dB or 72dB using the 950's test tone) and then tweak it to suit my listening preferences, but that's just me being a little odd...

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