Recommended Speaker Crossovers?

hdflux
hdflux Posts: 2
in Speakers
I am your typical case of person trying to make a kick-**** home audio system but just an amateur or newbie. I have done a good job at following instructions and guides but there are some things which I was hoping to draw upon some veteran / expert advice from.

My system;
  • Marantz SR6010 AVR
  • Polk Audio RTiA7 x2
  • Polk Audio RTiA3 x2
  • Polk Audio CSiA6 x1
  • Polk Audio PSW125 x1

So it's a 5.1 system and I have wired the RTiA7 speakers in a bi-amp configuration via the Surround Back L/R amp channels on the AVR.

Initially I ran the Audyssey and while it did a decent job some of the distance measurements were out of whack so I manually corrected those.

I also noticed that it set all kinds of weird crossover, or is it frequency, numbers. I was reading elsewhere that THX is 80Hz so I set in my AVR to do all speakers as 80Hz instead, with my Subwoofer set to 120Hz. Honestly I don't know what I'm talking about but basically I want all low frequencies or something like that to go to the subwoofer; I made sure that all speakers were set to Small instead of Large.

Everything sounds great and I'm really impressed but I'm so confused with the whole crossover / frequency thing. Are there recommended values that everyone likes to use with Polk Audio speakers?

I'm half expecting a, "Dude, what are you doing that is all wrong!"

Oh, if it helps I'm using the LFE channel with some special subwoofer cable. It said I believe set to 120Hz and 0 Phase some where I read in one of the several manuals that came with my system.
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Best Answers

  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,086
    Answer ✓
    You have it setup just fine, enjoy!
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,729
    Answer ✓
    No, what I am saying is your AVR has only a single power supply to feed all those channels. It's rated at 110 wpc with 2 channels driven. The more channels you add, the less wpc it can provide. For example, it's not unheard of for the wpc to drop down around 50 wpc with 7 channels driven.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,729
    Answer ✓
    Oops, hit the post button before I was finished. It will absolutely not void your warranty to upgrade the jumpers. I mean, you had to remove the stock jumpers I'm order to do your ghetto bi-amping anyway.

    Gauge means a lot less (a whole lot less) than you might think when it comes to better cable.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • gp4jesus
    gp4jesus Posts: 1,990
    edited September 2016 Answer ✓
    Your choices of LCR & surrounds - great minds think alike! Your AVR - great foundation as you've deployed it for 5.1 that you can grow an Atmos system as time/$ allows.

    Consider changing your sub XO to 80* hz (the THX spec) leaving your the other channels the same*. But if you're HAPPY*, leave it! Otherwise you could tweak till your ears fall off & your fingers bleed and never get there*!

    I hafta go w/what F1 said about AVR power, jumpers, etc.

    Further, Dude!(?) You removed the jumpers to "bi-amp" the 'A7s. That the same as replacing Polk's jumpers w/speaker wire - neither voids the warranty.

    Where Jesse & I disagree: gauge DOES matter regardless of power - check my sig on this. Mo' bigga, mo' betta. Articles abound on this. I'll PM you when I get to it.

    Also get your read on concerning driving 'A7s* - many have traveled the road you've just started.
    * and, IME, to a lessor degree, applies to the CSI A6 too

    BTW: How much space are you trying to fill?

    Take your time, enjoy the ride. Tony
    Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED, Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga: LCR mids “Foamed & Plugged**”, inside* & out
    8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out
    *soldered **Rob the Man (Xschop) LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & Mids - 981, connected w/Monoprice Premiere ICs
    Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s
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Answers

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,729
    If you take the 7's off the ghetto bi-amp you will actually have more watts per channel available to all the speakers. Replacing the stock jumpers with high quality speaker cable will net better results than what you're doing now. Don't forget to upgrade the jumpers on your center as well.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • hdflux
    hdflux Posts: 2
    My AVR is rated at 110W per channel. Are you saying that by not bi-amping and instead only using 5 channels and not all 7 channels that I would instead have 770W / 5 channels = 154W per channel?

    Replacing jumpers on my speakers sounds like it would void warranty.

    I am using 16 gauge speaker wire cable from Rocketfish. It looked high quality, and was the most expensive brand they had.
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