Want to bypass HTIB crossover and rely on sub c/o and only have L/R&SUB speaker lines

GastonLillo

Hi guys I just bought a Samsung HTIB Model: HTE6500W (i know don't kill me)
I'm trying to upgrade speakers now and got 2 Polk RTiA1 for Left and Right Channel which work fine
but little too bright (i suspect crossover from receiver is not set right for these kind of speakers)
Now I wanted to upgrade passive subwoofer with the active Polk PSW111.

I know i could connect it by feeding the receiver's Sub speaker line to the PSW111 speaker line in
but , as I said, I don't think the receiver crossover level is good for this new configuration and i would like to bypass it.

My receiver only has 6 powered speaker lines output (Front L/R and Center, Subwoofer and R/L rear channels, NO LFE/RCA out.

So i was thinking to use the PSW111's crossover, connecting via speaker line but in order to do that i need to feed him with full spectrum signal therefore i should plug left, right and sub channel of the receiver to it
but i only have to speaker lines IN on the PSW111...

should i feed the PSW111 with left and right channels from the receiver together with the sub line from the receiver
double wiring the connections ?Would that work?Should i just double wire one channel or both?
Thanks for your input

B Run

First, welcome the the forum! I know you're trying to make it work but you really need a new receiver to do it right, that htib isn't designed for that and you'll never get the most out of your speakers that way.

GastonLillo

I know B Run thanks for the welcome!
I will! I promise:) but for now i was wondering if that "temporary" solution,
which I hope i described clearly, could fly.
Could you tell me what you think about the specifics of my solution?

John K.

Gaston, welcome to Club Polk. I wasn't at all familiar with the HTE6500W, so I looked it up on the Crutchfield site. The conclusion I came to is that it's very hard to "upgrade" it effectively. The components in it are so dependent on each other that adding a different one, even if it's of better quality, doesn't work out as well as you'd hope. For example, the auto calibration system may work well with the designed speakers, but could have a treble boost for them which results in the brightness with your RTiA1's. So, I'd suggest that it would be better to use it as a second system, possibly for the bedroom, after you're able to get an entire new system of fine Polk and other components. Don't try to mix them at this time.

Since the crossover between the sub and speakers takes place in the bass frequencies it wouldn't be the cause of the brightness you mention. Even if it was, though, you couldn't correct the problem by using the PSW111's "crossover", because subs don't have an internal crossover. The control which Polk correctly labels as a low-pass filter rather than a crossover, just rolls off the sub response above the frequency set, but has nothing to do with the main speakers, even if they're connected through speaker outputs on the sub. So no, the solution you proposed won't "fly".

GastonLillo

Thanks John for the exhaustive reply,
it really helped me understand what's going on,
I'm going to do some research about what a crossover is compared to low/high pass filters!

Calibration seems to work : it did lower L/R front (RTiA1) by 6 steps!But still i get your point.

I'm thinking that the RTiA1 "bright sound" might come from
the fact that they don't really get fed the full range signal,
infact (and correct me if i'm wrong) the lower frequencies go directly to the sub with a separated channel (The .1 in 5.1)

so probably the the passive, cheap subwoofer that came with the HTIB is not able to fill up
the low frequencies the same way the RTiA1 do with the high ones.That's why i'm feeling something is missing.
I'm getting the PSW111 hoping that i can better blend in high and low sounds.
I'm sure is going to be an improvement anyway, so thanks again
i'll just hook it up via single Sub speaker level connection directly from the main
and leave the RTiA1 alone also connected to the main.

John K.

Here's a little more detail about the difference between a crossover and just a low-pass(or high-pass)filter. The low-pass filters which subs have roll off the frequencies above the selected number and fully pass the frequencies below it. The high-pass filter does the opposite for the higher frequencies. A crossover has to have both types of filter in it so that the low frequency driver is rolled off above the set frequency and the high frequency driver is rolled off below it(the "crossover" frequency).

Yes, there may be some validity in the point that if the included sub-woofer(probably should be called just a woofer)is extremely weak, it can't balance the highs in the RTiA1s and makes them appear more prominent.

Note that the specs show a 140Hz low limit for the 2.75" drivers in the main speakers and a 160Hz high limit for the 5.5" "sub-woofer". This indicates that there almost certainly is a fixed 150Hz crossover in the included receiver. This will also apply when you connect the Polks, and although the sound will certainly be improved, an appropriate crossover for best performance with them would be on the order of 80Hz. If you can also fit a new receiver into your budget at this time, I'd suggest a unit of modest cost such as this factory refurbished unit from Accessories4less at about $190.

GastonLillo

mmm..that is actually a very good observation John, thanks for following up on me and for getting past my silly newbie questions!
Actually that does confirm my original impression that my main c/o setting wasn't serving justice to the RTi ...

Hopefully the PSW111 will make me happy otherwise i'm gonna have to take drastic measures like you suggested and change the receiver.The thing is that i like that receiver because it has wireless rear speakers, onboard wifi, BluRay reader and a front usb port/media reader all in one! Plus i just bought it!
We'll see... anyway i learned a lot today and that's priceless!

goofyGAguy

Disgusting douchebag spammer who needs to die in a fire reported.