Active riser, bass trap?

[JStewart]

I played with this for quite some time. I turned the subs off through the Marantz, and ran he fronts in full range. If I have the Audyssey MultiEQ set to L/R bypass it sounds best. As I remember it used to be.

The reason I suggested trying full range was the 15dB rise in LF coupled with your cotton stuffed in the ear comment.
Your observation suggests the issue is with the subs, either level, calibration, or integration with mains. The easiest thing to try at this point might be to re-run Audyssey, being sure shakers are off, of course.

 

[gatestick]

Sorry it's been a while since I've worked in the theater area. I had to replace my furnace and some other life obstacles happened. I have re ran audyssey. I see only very slight changes in the measurements. I attribute these changes to the new furnace sounding different. At this point I believe that the riser is absorbing sounds that I don't want it to. I hate to get rid of it because of the amount of work and cost that went into it. The shakers effect is fantastic, but the trade off isn't worth it to me. I think that I can mount the shakers to the chairs. Thanks everyone for your help. I'm not ready to give up on the riser yet. I just don't know how to fix the problem I made.

 

[Anatoliy Gavrilov]

I also noticed the traces were different at each respective speaker

I suggest setting each channel separately via Audyssey MultiEQ.
These are measurements from the latest REW packet, and they all show poor frequency and phase response :

 

[gatestick]

Updated pictures. I removed the shakers from the platform and installed them into the chair arms. I didn't like the effect of this. The arm shook and not much else. I then removed them from the arms and mounted a piece of plywood to the bottom of the frame. With Velcro and a couple of screws. In the process of doing this I found 3 shakers were making noise and 1 was inoperative.

 

[JStewart]

In the process of doing this I found 3 shakers were making noise

Unwanted noise? Or did you mean working?

 

[gatestick]

It was an unwanted noise. Much like when you overheat a voice coil, and it makes a scratching noise. When I called Parts Express, he made it sound like it's somewhat common.

 

[JStewart]

It was an unwanted noise. Much like when you overheat a voice coil, and it makes a scratching noise. When I called Parts Express, he made it sound like it's somewhat common.

Bummer. The plywood to bottom of chair idea looked like a good one.

When I had the ButtKicker LFEs connected I found these helped.

RI-4 Large Rubber Isolator Foot

ButtKicker Rubber Isolator Feet maximize system performance and are critical to any type of haptic feedback installation. As energy from a ButtKicker haptic transducer travels through a couch, chair, platform, stage, or sim rig, these rubber feet create a buffer between the fixed floor, allowing...

thebuttkicker.com

The sofa feet fit in them perfectly so there was no work at all to install.

 

[gatestick]

Ok, I think I have the final shaker placement done. I have 3 shakers mounted to a piece of plywood, that is then Velcroed to the frame of the chairs, I also have a couple of screws to solid mount the shaker plate to the frame of the chair. This works very well. No unwanted noises. The chairs are siting on the original platform. I then reset everything. I followed the tutorials for sub alignment and EQ using the Mini DSP 2x4HD. ( I previously made my own filters.) I couldn't believe how flat the auto EQ feature got my sub response with a room curve built in.. I then ran Audyssey. I do not understand what Audyssey is doing. It took a flat response and messed it up. Anyway things sound better, but not as good as I am remembering from the past. I am likely not remembering correctly. I am struggling with the dialog. My cheap 3 channel system upstairs is winning on the dialog front. Any suggestions of things to try would be great. New pics, and measurements included.

 

[thothsong]

I don't see anything in the Center measurement that would indicate a problem with dialog, sorry.