Reader Q&A: Why is my Sub Alignment inconsistent?
Question: “I aligned my subs using the Delay Finder, but they still sound ‘disconnected’ from the mains. What happened?”
The Answer: Phase Slope vs. Peak Arrival
The “Delay Finder” finds the Peak Arrival (the loudest part of the impulse). However, subwoofers have very narrow bandwidth and often have significant internal latency due to DSP and cabinet design.
The Fix: Don’t just trust the Delay Finder. Look at the Phase Trace. You must adjust the delay until the *slope* of the sub’s phase line matches the *slope* of the main’s phase line through the crossover region (usually 80 – 120Hz). If the slopes don’t match, they aren’t actually in time.
Smaart is excellent on its own, but most users find they get much more out of it after some structured training. That’s where our seminars come in. At TZ Audio we run practical seminars, both online and in-venue. We offer seminar-only or full “all you need packages” including software & hardware. It’s simply the fastest way to become comfortable and confident with the measuring a sound system.
If you’re in Norway, Sweden, Denmark or Iceland – or elsewhere – we offer is online seminars and traveling to Norway is a valid option too of course. We’re here if you have any questions about the software or upcoming seminars.
Thanks for reading!