Bakerfoto,
Somehow the other I think that your ears are much better than you the credit you are giving them!
The RS SPL meter is not very sensitive & it is quite flawed in that the freq. response is much tapered off owing to the cheap components & "incorrect" bandwidths used in the design. I'm sure that you know that there is a correction factor to be used with the RS *analog* SPL meter. Here is the link:
http://www.danmarx.org/audioinnovation/rsmeter.html
Your room is definitely part of the overall equation (That you absolutely cannot discount!) when you use the test CD to figure out subwoofer placement.
>>When I heard fairly dramatic volume drops in certain >>middle freq. ranges I assumed it was the speakers but >>when I set up the meter and recorded the db levels there >>was no drops of significance during those parts .
Did you measure at the same point as the point you were sitting/standing when you heard these drops in volume???
Before you figure out subwoofer placement, figure out your room response. That will tell you a heck of a lot + will set the baseline to which you need to add the subwoofer to.
Also use C-weighting & "slow" response settings on the meter. IMHO. FWIW.
Somehow the other I think that your ears are much better than you the credit you are giving them!
The RS SPL meter is not very sensitive & it is quite flawed in that the freq. response is much tapered off owing to the cheap components & "incorrect" bandwidths used in the design. I'm sure that you know that there is a correction factor to be used with the RS *analog* SPL meter. Here is the link:
http://www.danmarx.org/audioinnovation/rsmeter.html
Your room is definitely part of the overall equation (That you absolutely cannot discount!) when you use the test CD to figure out subwoofer placement.
>>When I heard fairly dramatic volume drops in certain >>middle freq. ranges I assumed it was the speakers but >>when I set up the meter and recorded the db levels there >>was no drops of significance during those parts .
Did you measure at the same point as the point you were sitting/standing when you heard these drops in volume???
Before you figure out subwoofer placement, figure out your room response. That will tell you a heck of a lot + will set the baseline to which you need to add the subwoofer to.
Also use C-weighting & "slow" response settings on the meter. IMHO. FWIW.