RTI12 and bass management setup

marcpam

I still can't get a straight answer as to what do i set my front mains to, small/large. I have the rti12 w/ psw505 sub. People are telling me to set to small and let the lfe portion of the sub handle the rest, but the polk website says otherwise. They say set the mains to large. I just want to get the most out of both my mains and subs, that is all. I am currently using the Outlaw 950/770. For those of you who don't know, the amp puts out 200 @ 8 ohm. Can someone please direct me as to what to do concerning the bass management. I have done countless searches on all of the major forums, but i weigh you guys opinions the most because we are all Polk brothers. Please ring in with your opinion.

Thanks

VR3

Large

POLKOHOLIC

There is no 'RIGHT' way. Try it both ways and choose the one you like. Keep in mind that setting it on Large will use up more amp power.

PolkThug

You already have the answer, just use your ears! Which way sounds best to you?

In my particular setup, it sounded a little muddy when set to large, so I set my speakers to small.

Regards,
PolkThug

walk

Originally posted by PolkThug
You already have the answer, just use your ears! Which way sounds best to you?

In my particular setup, it sounded a little muddy when set to large, so I set my speakers to small.

I have the RTi150s, but yeah.
It's gonna depend heavily on your room.

If you do use Small, set the xover to 80 Hz.

marcpam

The way i have them now is:

mains are set to small and the xover for mains are 60.

I have switched from large to small and back, I can't really distinguish between the two. This is why i need someone with experience to guide me. This is my first home theatre and I am not use to hearing anything prior to this. Basically what I am saying is, anything sounds good at this point.

Just for kicks, I turned off my sub while the mains were set to small just to see what they sounded like. It still had a good amount of bass mixed in. Thought i would share that with you just in case that means anything.

gregure

If you aren't noticing much of a difference, then judge by bass output. I have the Rti 10's and I like setting them to large, as it adds to the bass. If you like a lot of bass, set to large. If not, set to small. If you don't notice a difference, maybe how you have it now works well. I also use 60 Hz for crossover, even on my surrounds. I think it helps to give the bass a more encompassing feel, and the surround effects are a little more pronounced.

marcpam

The only reason i don't want to set the mains to large is because it will take away some of the impact of the sub. Although my rti12's put out some good bass, it doesnt have the impact like the psw505. I have the main xover set to 60 and that gives me a good amount of base out of the woofers in the towers. If i didn't have a sub in my setup i would have to set the mains to large in order to accept the bass content, such as the lfe and the .1 material. I don't see any reason to set the mains to large unless you have a powered tower that already has a subwoofer built in. Does anybody agree with me on this?

Thanks

walk

This is what I did.

Get DVE (Digital Video Essentials).

FF to chapter 10 or 11 where the audio test tones are.

Select the "40 to 80hz sweep" for the MAIN channels (not the LFE).

Set mains to LARGE, sub to OFF. Sit in the listening position(s) and listen to the sweep a few times.

Then switch the mains to SMALL, sub to YES, and listen again a few times.

For me it was easy to see that without the sub, there was a huge dropoff in output all the way up until about 85-90hz. (I also tried the 15-150hz "bass management" sweeps). In other words my sub does a much better job of 0-80hz than the main speakers (RTi150) do.

It's gonna depend greatly on your sub and/or your room acoustics. I think the RTi150s have great bass output all the way down to the 30s HZ but where they are located in my room they just don't push the SPL to the listener like the sub does, corner loaded...

cdubya

Agree marcpam. Brody05 has touched on this in the thread tothx or not. If your speakers are powered then large is good. If not its a big ask of any amp and i personally only heard one amp that coped ok, the plinius odeon. But... in the end its your choice,and your ears that need to please.:)

Terrax

My single Parasound HCA1500a handles my 150's set to large and with all LFE going into the 150's, with no sub at all.... without breaking a sweat. Now...... I really don't think the 12's are going to pale, compared to the 150's. I watch all movies set this way... and it sounds fantastic, not to mention, shaking the house. I'm taking about bass...... you feel! Not just hear.

Airplay355

i had rti150's and i ran them on large....i still think they had more bass then the sub i have now. they hit alot lower too

marcpam

You must have a very crappy sub. I have the rti12's and ran 400 watts per speaker, set to large, and my psw505 still put out way more bass. Nothing can compete with a decent sub, compared to front towers. I have heard the 150's and 12's and my 12' put out more bass. I know what i am saying. Everyone says, you don't need a sub with the 12's, I say that they don't know what they are talking about. There is no comparison

Terrax

Then I would suggest you check room placement.... because if those 12's put out more bass than the 150's, ( ---> /clears his throat and grins. ) and you feel more bass from a 505, then somethings not right. I would also invite anyone to bring their 505..... or just about any "sub" $500 sub to my house and let you experience the diff. This is not meant as a pissing match, just a simple fact of the matter.

Airplay355

marcpam,
you dont know how my system sounds or how things sounded in my room with my gear. thats fine that you think the 12's put out more bass, and im glad you know what you are talking about.

my sub is an 8" b&w.....of course 6 6.5 inch sub drivers are going to be louder, the move a much greater volume of air.

people dont mean that you don't need a sub with the 12's, they mean it doesnt have to be priority #1, especially when money is tight. the bass from the rti12's or rti150's is good enough to keep u satisfied until you can afford a good sub.

marcpam

i don't mean to come off arrogant, but bottom line is the rti12 don't put out enough bass to match with the 505 or any sub after. The 12's will put out a lower htz level but it is by far no louder than your average sub. You can't get better placement than where i have my 12's positioned. If you don't believe me Terrax, call polk. I have already discussed the use of a sub and you will find my solution unanimous. If you don't want a sub because you feel your 150's are better than any sub polk has to offer, than more power to you.

Airplay355

its fine, im glad u like your 505 so much, most people dont like polk subs

EDUARDO

hI
Im just an old guy who had spend many time listen and listening, and tring to learn but not concerning about opinions in THE RIGHT WAY. The right is the best for you, how it sounds or if in other way it can sound better. Try and try again.
Watts, room, set ups, furniture, cables, ohms, gear, etc ,etc
We all have a particular set of things. The equipment does not waste any thing we are the ones to listen to the best sound we can set up for ourselves.
What we can try to find here is ideas and then try them!!!
BUT LISTEN AND CHANGE AND LISTEN AND............

EDUARDO AH.

EDUARDO

I think is logic:
In same conditions, you add a sub to a pair of given speakers you will have more spl. At ? frecuency is the question.
So you may like without a sub better, or you dont like how the sub sound. Remember in your particular conditions(all of them)

EDUARDO AH.

scottvamp

marcpam, you have a good capable sub - set to SMALL and enjoy!

marcpam

scottvamp, you are correct sir. They are set to small on all my speakers and I am using the sub for the intended low frequencies. I am not saying the 505 is the best sub, I am simply saying it has better low end capabilities than the rti12 or 150's.

RuSsMaN

Large, period.

You guys are hilarious.

Terrax

I still can't get a straight answer as to what do i set my front mains to, small/large. I have the rti12 w/ psw505 sub. People are telling me to set to small and let the lfe portion of the sub handle the rest, but the polk website says otherwise. They say set the mains to large. I just want to get the most out of both my mains and subs, that is all.

Hm........

Can someone please direct me as to what to do concerning the bass management. I have done countless searches on all of the major forums, but i weigh you guys opinions the most because we are all Polk brothers. Please ring in with your opinion.

Hm........................

i don't mean to come off arrogant, but bottom line is the rti12 don't put out enough bass to match with the 505 or any sub after.

Hm......................................................

scottvamp, you are correct sir. They are set to small on all my speakers and I am using the sub for the intended low frequencies. I am not saying the 505 is the best sub, I am simply saying it has better low end capabilities than the rti12 or 150's.

Not trying to bust your chops..... but when ya ask for opinions, thats what your going to get.... It seems you already had your mind made up, therefore, our opinions became mute. I'm happy your are digging your set-up. But as to what your originally wanted input on, "I'm saying, you are wasting those wonderful 12's with them set to small...... And I believe you even said Polk told you so. And you must believe Polk because you stated "The 12's will put out a lower htz level but it is by far no louder than your average sub. You can't get better placement than where i have my 12's positioned. If you don't believe me Terrax, call polk."

Anyway...... Run them the best way you see fit. After all, they are yours, and it's your ears that are listening to them.

Peace Out!
Terry

Dr. Spec

RTi12 - Large (you have the power to drive them)
Remaining Speaks - Small
Subwoofer - On/Yes

This will send the LFE channel and the RB from the speaks set to small - to the subwoofer.

Remember, the LFE channel is boosted 10 dB relative to the other channels, so the subwoofer can appear to have greater impact when in reality it's simply the source material.

The only way to tell for sure if the 12's can outgun the 505 is to test them both for FR and THD-limited output and see which one wins.

If that doesn't blow up your skirt, then use the above set-up.

If you realy like a lot of bass, try setting the sub to "LFE+mains". That will send the sub the LFE channel plus the RB from ALL the speakers, even if the mains are still set to large. It basically doubles the amount of bass you will be hearing from the L/R front channels.

Plenty of options, but setting the RTi12 to small with 200 watts of Outlaw power behind it doesn't make much sense.

Of course I wouldn't have bought the 12's in the first place, thus avoiding the whole dilemma, but that's just me. The RTi8 set to small would be my first choice.

Doc

Airplay355

why buy rti12's or rti150's to set them to small? rti8's or rti70's are not going to have a problem going down to 80 hz. the xo in the rti12's is at 120 hz for the subs so you are only using them for 40 hz. seems like a waste of 6 subs to me but oh well, whatever frosts ur cookies.

brody05

Well, what can I say. This is an interesting subject indeed with many differing views and opinions and the thread mentioned above " to THX or to not THX" was very similar.

I think the best thing you can do is watch a couple of movies with each setting and find what you like, it is hard to distinguish the difference sometimes - especially when your trying, so just relax and take your time, the right answer will come to you.

I am running 175watts into my speakers and have them set to large with the sub also doing the LFE and mains but I'm a real bass head, thats how I like it. 200 watts is plenty enough and it would seem a waste to run capable speakers on small, if so you might as well have bought smaller speakers, after all the only difference between big and small speakers is their ability to produce lower frequency sound, Go for it and enjoy.

It is good to see there are others getting in on the large setting that I like where the 'support' was a little lacking in the afore mentioned thread.:p
Brody

Loud & Clear

Originally posted by marcpam I still can't get a straight answer as to what do i set my front mains to, small/large.

There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. I can only show you the door, I cannot make you walk through it.