Newbie weak bass problems in 5.1

[Sodje]

Hi.

I really hope sombody can help with this, I've tried searching on this problem but I have not found anything I think applies.

I am having real problems with weak bass from my subwoofer when my receiver is set to 5.1 mode. Listening on the 2 channel setting (my receiver is connected on both 2 channel and 5.1), the bass sounds great but switching to 5.1 when watching DVDs the bass sound from the subwoofer drop noticably and is weak when compared with 2 channel output.

As far as I can tell, everything is wired correctly and the DVD setup is fine (All speakers set to be present etc.), but I am sure something has to be wrong.

My setup is the following:

NAD T750 Surround Sound AM/FM Receiver
Pioneer DV-626D DVD Player
Mission FS2-AV Surround System

The Subwoofer (Part of the FS2-AV setup) is connected to the Pre-Out of the T750.

Any thoughts would be appreciated as I have run out of ideas! Apologies in advance if I am making any newbie mistakes here, but I am relatively new to all this!

Also, if anyone knows of a source for the manual for the FS2-AV system I would be grateful. The Mission site doesn't seem to have any guides of note at all unfortunately.

Many thanks in advance.

[markw]

...but what happens when you connect the sub directly to the NAD's LFE outs? It's possible that if you have the NAD set to "sub = yes" or whatever, it's trying to send any true LFE info out the LFE output which, as per your description, goes nowhere.

I know the early NAD DD receivers have some bass management issues with that series. Still, it may be better than what's happenin' now.

Also, when using a receiver's pre out/main in loop, you must set "sub = no" and "main speakers = large". The LFE will be directed to the main r/l channels instead of the LFE out.

Likewise, if all else fails, many subs have speaker level inputs which work quite well.

Lemme know if this helps.

[Sodje]

Thanks for your quick response.

The NAD only has a pre out for the sub woofer, and no LFE out. From you response though, I take it if I tried setting the DVD player to "No subwoofer" present, it would push the LFE to the main r/l channels (As it does with 2 channel presumably?). There are no settings on the NAD to indicate the presence of particular outputs.

I will try this when I get home tonight and let you know.

Thanks again.

[E-Stat]

Thanks for your quick response.

The NAD only has a pre out for the sub woofer, and no LFE out. From you response though, I take it if I tried setting the DVD player to "No subwoofer" present, it would push the LFE to the main r/l channels (As it does with 2 channel presumably?). There are no settings on the NAD to indicate the presence of particular outputs.

I'm with Mark as to the cause. It sounds like the current 5.1 settings are using the 80 hz high pass filter to your mains. I also have a NAD AV receiver and experienced a related problem with my powered sub. It was due to the large vs. small speaker settings that effect what is sent to the subwoofer pre outs.

rw

[Sodje]

Thanks both for your thoughts, your suggestions lead me to think about it in a different way and it is much better now.

Basically, all the outputs from the DVD player still go to my receiver except now for the subwoofer out. This I have connected to the subwoofer 'LFE in' direct which has a reasonable amp on it. This makes the bass much more substantial. I knew I was making a newbie error!

Thanks a lot for your input.