E.A.R.S.

Everyone likes a bargain. I do, too. Whenever I hear a buyer of expensive toys, such as audio components, say that they have to get a bigger discount because they have a tight budget and can't afford a couple of hundred bucks more, I have to laugh. Are they giving up food to buy a new preamp? Are their children going without shoes or schoolbooks because their new cables cost too much?

Here is how I dial in a sub. I do this procedure fairly often and it works very well. You can dial in a pair of subs in less than 10 minutes. It helps to have another person making the adjustments while you listen. We'll use the sub's level control and the sub's low pass filter (frequency) control.

1. Play something with good bass content. I use Michael Jackson's "Thriller" CD, and play Thriller.

Sustained listening to sound pressure levels (SPLs) above 85 dB has been shown to cause permanent hearing loss. There is a great iOS app from Studio Six Digital called “Mobile Tools” that includes RTA, FFT, and SPL analyzers. And there are similar apps for Android devices. There is also the free SPL app from NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). Search NIOSH SPL.

I can’t tell you what to buy. Even if I found the perfect component…well, what is “perfect”, anyway? Take an amplifier, for example. Let’s say that I thought that the Cary 300SEI amplifier was the absolute best amplifier on the planet. In my room and with my speakers, it just might be the best choice out of the hundreds of other amplifiers out there.