Folks,

Just wanted to BUMP this thread to let people know that I meant what I said back on November 28th: that I would eventually order an SMS-1 the next time I was travelling to the US to try it out.

I placed my order with Steve today and expect to see it arrive at my hotel next week.

As described in the past I'm running a not-so-typical set-up with four subs in my main theatre. At present I run one cable from my 950's LFE output to a B&W sub, which has a pass-through connection that then heads to a pair of Velodynes. The signal is split just before them and they each see the same signal. The fourth sub is actually a homebuilt that takes the end result of a dbx 100 subharmonic synthesizer. I don't plan to include it in the SMS-1 set-up / loop, since I dial it in purely by/for "taste" depending on what I'm listening to.

(Here's where some comments / feedback would be appreciated.)

I'm planning to keep the other three subs hooked up exactly the same way as they are now - except with the SMS-1 inserted between the sub chain and the 950. Right now the three subs are pretty much perfectly level-balanced so my thinking is that all I need do is to pretend that that chain is just a single sub and let the auto-EQ funtion do its trick. (I'll likely try some manual adjustments in future, but right now the user's manual is not the clearest in that regard - so I'll stick to keeping it simple at first.) I still plan to leave all of my speakers set to "small" with a 40Hz crossover - since they truly are large full-range speakers. Anyone using an SMS-1, especially with multiple non-stereo configured subs, have any reason to believe that this whole set-up won't work well for me?

As reported over on the S&V Forums, I'm presently re-doing my main theatre and expect it to be completed in a couple of weeks. I'll post a link to fresh pics over here shortly thereafter. For now it seemed like a good time to add the SMS-1 to my system.

Regards.

I think you've got a good plan, Jeff - run all three subs from the trio of sub outputs on the SMS-1 and treat them as a single entity. You can start with the Auto-EQ, but I'd definitely recommend following up with a manual adjustment. We can walk you through it if the manual doesn't get you on track, but basically the manual allows you to have much more control (each EQ channel can be moved to a different frequency and its "Q" adjusted to control how widely its effects are felt, whereas the automatic mode leaves those settings at their defaults).

One other thing to consider is playing with the crossover - if you mute the SMS-1 (which effectively mutes your subs), you can vary the crossover on the mains and watch how they respond. Then you can un-mute the SMS-1 and see how the subs and mains interact. In my case, I had a dip near 60Hz that I resolved by raising the crossover so the sub was responsible for that frequency and then letting the SMS-1 flatten out the dip. It's worth keeping an eye out for.

Thanks Gonk.

I won't be changing the physical cabling between the three subs - for layout / cost reasons. That means all three will be driven from one output - as is now the case direct from the 950. My assumption is that this should make no difference whatsoever.

As to manual mode. I will give it a shot - eventually. Neat suggestion regarding the crossover point / your mains. In my case, I'm looking at three stacks of two speakers each, across the front, with response that's flat to below 30Hz (with a combined count of six 10" woofers - and tons of available power amp output.) Add a pair of matching surrounds and you can understand what a waste it would be to offload an octave (or so) of bass from them onto the three subs - whose three 12" drivers and internal amps are at best an equal match to the mains - in the 30-60Hz range. Having so many woofers, spread throughout the room, is likely the reason why the overall bass response in the room is already very smooth. In fact I'll probably experiment with setting all of the speaker outputs on the 950 to "large" and let the subs handle only the true LFE output. My guess is that "small" and "40 Hz" (as it is now) is still the best way to go, but using the SMS-1's display to confirm this or not is an excellent suggestion. (And I will experiment with higher crossover settings as well.)

I'm sure I'll have questions once I roll up the sleeves and get into it!

Regards.

There should be no problem with the cabling approach you describe, Jeff. And I think that once you get a chance to try some manual EQ adjustment, you'll be pleased with what the SMS-1 will let you do. Ask away as you start setting it up - several of us around here have spent some quality time with the SMS-1 now and can help you along.

Your crossover selection certainly does seem to be the best fit for your system. Since you'll be letting the subs handle all of the LFE track, you might want to temporarily bump your crossover up to 80 or even 120Hz when EQ'ing the subs - that way you can flatten the subs' response with LFE channel signals that extend beyond the 40Hz crossover point as well as with low-pass data under 40Hz that is redirected from your full-range channels. Afterward, you could pop the crossover back down to 40Hz. If you are looking for a quick approach to setup, the "Self EQ" approach (triggered by hitting "3-2-1" on the remote) will do something very similar to this because it adjusts the EQ by sending the test tone sweeps straight to the sub (bypassing the processor's bass management) - so it'll flatten your subs' response from 20Hz to 100Hz (the default positions for the EQ's).

Thanks again Gonk.

I'll start with the auto EQ and see how it works out. I really am looking forward to eventually playing with and getting the heck of the unit - it will be just a matter of finding the time. That's what's so appealing about the auto EQ funtion. It sounds like I can quite literally connect and apply it within minutes of opening the box.