Beolab 2

 I have connected a beolab 2 to my connection hub. It takes inputs from my Samsung television and Beosound 4.

 My query is the bass generated from the beolab2 to is not room shaking.  I watched a couple of YouTube clips of other uses with a beolab 2 subwoofer and the degree of movement generated by the subwoofer domes is significantly different to what mine is generating . 

The domes are vibrating but  not providing the desired room shaking experience nor do they vibrate like those on the YouTube clips .

 Is there a method of testing the function of my subwoofer .  Could this be because these are connected directly to the connection hub which would not be as good as an AV receiver . 

your comments would be greatly appreciated

Best results are achieved when you feed the BL2 with a LFE or dedicated sub-woofer line out from a audio processor.

Hi,

Bass is somewhat subjective when talking about “shaking the room”... but, it is still something one can physically feel, so it’s less subjective than the mid and tweeter range I suppose.

I’ll try to help with the “is there any way to test” part.

Do the following tests if you can, while you wait for others to chime in;

Often I run two tests when in subwoofer doubt.

These are specific subwoofer tests. Just YouTube “THX Subwoofer test”. This is a 5-100Hz test, and if you are really concerned about window shaking, this will do it. It’s a scary test to run. Run it as loud as you can, but comfortable enough for you. I’m not responsible for how loud you play it. Run it slightly at lower volume first, then turn it up on the second run.

The second search on YouTube is “subwoofer test”, and click on the 2000Hz to 1hz. This will give you visual feedback as you run the sweep.

These two will at least give you an idea of how your sub is performing mainly on its own. Use good enough volume to put it to the test, but again, to clear, the volume is to your discretion, not mine.

After that, for me personally, is to see how it performs with not just bass, but detailed bass - music.

Over the years, 3 songs in particular are good sub testers, BUT, most low end subs cannot control the bass and just end up booming. This is why these songs are particularly good. (They are remixes). They are not the craziest bass songs, but are difficult bass songs for a subwoofer to play.

They need good volume, and you will be sure if your subwoofer is working or not.

Lilac Wine - Nina Simone The Album Leaf remix

The Boy’s Doin’ It - Carl Craig Remix.

Turn Your lights Down Low - Bob Marley/Lauren Hill

All I can help with is the test recommendations, but I’m sure others will jump in with technical advice.

And make sure the wife is not home. Subwoofers are particularly annoying to the significant other for some reason

Also this for some tracks:

http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/stereo-recordings-bass/

And look at these articles by B&O’s Mr Geoff Martin on technical aspects of the B&O range:

http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/bo-tech/

Hi,

Have you tried adjusting the setup and position switches on the Beolab 2?  I'd start there before trying any sweeps or music tracks.  It needs to be setup correctly for your system/placement before you can properly judge it.

Can you share more how you’ve set this up? You only have a BL2 connected to the hub? so still using the tv speakers for audio and just add bass to it?

Has the connection hub been replaced by the core and could i mimic your setup with a core?

I have the BL2 feeding 2 x BL6000 speakers so I have the switch on position 2.

The subwoofer location switch is on wall, because the subwoofer is within 50cm of my wall.

There doesn't seem to be any more to set-up than this two switches.  Sound output from the TV is PCM.

I haven't figured out how to use the one samsung TV remote to control volume on the connection hub without adjusting the sound from the TV  (any ideas on this?)

Any updates on this?

I often hear lots about positioning. It can be tricky, but fortunately, for one reason or another its never really be a "gotcha" for me.

I recently came across yet another subwoofer placement exercise; the subwoofer crawl.

This involves placing the subwoofer in the position you usually sit, on the couch for example. Try getting it as close as you can to where you would listen to it from.

Then, without speakers connected, and playing just the subwoofer, crawl around the floor with your ear close to the ground in the locations you think you might put the subwoofer.

The idea here is that the location where ever the subwoofer (that is currently placed on the couch, or where you listen from) can be heard the best, would be the place to place it. Its basically just the reverse.

Its an interesting little exercise, and might reveal something about your room. It also goes without saying (as i say it), that its just one way of many ways of finding good placment.

Its also a good way of finding things the cat pushed under thing!

 

Let us know how it goes!

Thank you so much for the detailed information.

I tried these test and low and behold my subwoofer is working perfectly.  However I did find that I have to really crank up the volume on the connection to hub to get the benefits of the subwoofer.  I assume this is because I do not have a dedicated AV receiver, but I am not sure.  

So in summary I have found the connection hub to be a useful device in being able to switch inputs from a non-b&o tv to my beosound 4.  But the detailed sound output for a home cinema experience has been rather lacking.

Does the forum believe I should purchase an AV receiver and get some powered cables from Steve (https://soundsheavenly.com/line-in-connection/101-459-singletwin-rca-to-beolab-2-7-10-2500-powered-trigger-kit.html) to get a better home cinema sound.  I think this option would bypass the connection hub altogether

Yes, your regular TV output is useless.

I will be embarking on a none B&O home theater receiver myself in the next few weeks.

The source as you can imagine makes a world of difference. I mean, A WORLD of difference.

As such, and considering that I’ll be using a none B&O unit, im getting the best I can afford right now... anything that sells for more than $1,300; something in the top range of the usual over the counter top makers... Integra for Onkyo, Aventage for Yamaha, Elite for pioneer, Marantz over Denon, Polk etc.

Of course these are not Audiophile level, that’s a whole other can of worms, but I’m in the belief that this will do it for me.

The DACs in a lot of these are the same, look up the specs, you will start to see a pattern, and be able to quickly identify the better ones.

Cables are the next important thing. I assure you, cables will mess things up. Humming, buzzing, and just general lack of clarity. So already being privy to this, you should be good with Steve.

Oh, make sure you get an AV unit with a lot of pre-outs for all the theater channels, incase you end up with all B&O self powered speakers down the road.

The plus side of a new AV unit is that it will not only have all the latest wireless, Pandora, Amazon, Google stuff, you will also get all the latest full HDMI and HDR color and audio bandwidth pass through to or from your tv, and the latest Dolby Atmos stuff if you have enough speakers

Dear Howzit

Do let us know which unit you pick !