Wire RM6700 thru reciever or sub?

thoomplonk

Have a RM6700 with the PSW303 and 2 extra sats for a 7.1
The reciever is a Harman Kardon DPR 1001. which has full bass management and the LFE out is unfiltered.
The polk speakers ofcourse say to wire the fronts thru the sub but is that necessary or better?
Any opinions?
Thanks

gatemplin

The more common method around here is to use the sub out on the receiver. Set all speakers to small and sub to yes. Run a sub cable to the sub in and play around with phase and crossover settings. You can also try the "polk way" and pick which one you like best.

PolkThug

I prefer the "polk way" because then the sub is on all the time with any source.

thoomplonk

The manual for the RM6700 speakers read
"Overall frequency response 95Hz-24kHz
-3db limits 130Hz-20kHZ"

What do these numbers mean?
I read somewhere that the sats have a x-over of 150Hz. Is that correct?

Same question goes with the PSW303 sub.
"Overall frequency response 28Hz-200Hz
-3db limits 35Hz-160HZ"

Thanks

fireshoes

+/- 3 db's means it's relatively flat to those extremes, while the other range shows what it is capable of, ableit with some steep rolloff.

section19

Originally posted by thoomplonk
The manual for the RM6700 speakers read
"Overall frequency response 95Hz-24kHz
-3db limits 130Hz-20kHZ"

What do these numbers mean?
I read somewhere that the sats have a x-over of 150Hz. Is that correct?



Thanks

You are correct about the 6700's having an internal x-over of 150hz. After reading about it here I called Polk CS and they varified it. It isn't mentioned anywhere in the manual for some reason.

So I followed their recommendations and have the fronts running through the sub. Sub set to off and fronts to large. All other speakers set to small and the receiver's x-over set to 80hz. The Sub's internal x-over is set to 150hz. Everything sounds great this way IMO.

However if your receiver's internal x-over setting goes up to 150hz. (my only goes to 120hz) I don 't see why you couldn't run all your speakers through the rec. (all set to small) and the sub to the sub out as long as the rec. x-over is set at 150hz.

Hope this helps.

thoomplonk

OK the Speakers are mounted and the reciever arrived yesterday and yes I still have not yet connected the system. I am trying to read everthing in sight before I do any connecting.
Section 19 thanks for confirming the 150Hz x-over on the RM6700 sats. The reciever I have (HK DPR 1001) has the option to set the x-over between the sats and sub to 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 and 200 Hz.

Logic 7 requires that the center channel be set to small.

According to the Polk PSW303 manual if I connect the sub thru the LFE then the subs internal Low-pass filter is disabled.

So here is what I am thinking.
Connect all sats/center thru rec.
Connnect sub to rec. via LFE
Set all sats/center to small.
Set x-over on rec. to 200.

and if the system sounds like there is not enough bass (bass is too localized from the sub) then change the x-over to 120Hz. .....but then won't there be a hole in the 120Hz - 150Hz range because the sats will not play below 150hz?
Thanks

section19

Yes, I believe you would have a gap in the 120 - 150 hz range if you set the rec. x-over to 120 and used the sub out. According to the specs you posted and fireshoes response to them (as best as I can understand) the 303 can operate from 28 - 200 hz but performs best in the 34 - 160hz range. Setting the rec., then, at 200hz may be pushing it at the top end for the 303 and 120hz is too low for the 6700s. Too bad you don't have a 150hz. setting in the rec. since that seems like it would be ideal for the 6700s and the 303 combo.

It probably is a good idea to try both ways and see what sounds best to you. I know it's a hassle to do, especially if your sub isn't too close to your mains in which case you will need a substantial bit more speaker wire to go from the rec. to the sub to the mains. Also it sucks if you already bought a nice sub cable and now face the possibility of not needing it if you go through the sub with the mains.

I did originally use my sub cable and have all my speakers set to small. But after reading things here and talking to Polk CS I decided to wire it the "Polk" way and see how it sounded. To be honest I'm not sure I noticed a huge amount of difference. Those 6700s really do hit pretty low for such small speakers IMO. Those power ports really do help alot. Still I did seem to notice that there was a smoother blend between the mains and the sub, one of the advantages Polk said would happen if wired their way. I think they sound great now wired the "Polk" way and I don't plan on switching back.

Good luck.