setting on av for speakers

smkngstv

what is the best settings for speakers on my onkyo898, rt1000i,cs400i ,l/r surrounds fx500i and rears nuance book shelf.should i set the fronts &center to large or fronts large and center to small.ALL SO i have ordered the psw-650 sub but right now i have a omage 12 inch sub. should i run both together in the same corner and if so what is the proper way to calabrateall 7 speakers are set at 75 i have heard that the sub should be set 10 db higer is this right or should i set it to 75...

Troy LaMont

This is what I'd recommend;

Set all of the speakers to small with sub=yes.

Running speakers at 'large' sends the entire frequency range to that speaker (20Hz-20KHz). None of the speakers you listed should really be ran with those lower frequencies, especially at higher volumes. I also have the CS400 - (for now ) and I have it set to small. I've tried both and the integration with the sub and the rest of the speakers works better with small. I also got some very, very slight distortion at higher volumes when I had it set to large.

Most sub-heads recommend putting two subs close together for the best bass response, although you'd have to experiment to see which actually sounds better in your room. Some have even stacked subs with good results.

You should follow the standard calibration as outlined in either Video Essentials or AVIA (or other calibration software). As far as the sub being set higher, that's really dependent on the capabilities of your sub. If it can handle 85-90db at close to reference volume, then I'd say do it.

I have an SVS 20-39 set to around 80db, which I find more than adequate for loud, slamming bass.

Hope this helps.

Troy

sgtgto

Hi:

I respectfully disagree. The 1000s and the 400 will take the low frequencies. The center is for dialogue and a lot of effects are reproduced there also. You lose a lot of that with it set to small. With the setup you mention I would definitely set the L R C to large, sub to yes.

Troy, the distortion you are getting could be from your amp or receiver and not the fault of the speakers. That is usually the case.


Gary:p

pdebaum

I rewspectfully disagree with the disagreement
It's not a matter of what the RT1000's or what the CS400 can take, it's about sub integration. Of course the 1000's and 400 can handle bass on their own, but they will never do as nicely as a good standalone sub. You don't lose anything if you keep the mains and center small, because the sub will easily take over for them in the low frequency region, provided you've calibrated your system properly of course.
Moreover, if you let your center and fronts to large, then basically your sub does nothing besides LFE channel during 5.1 movies. What a waste.

schumach

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong, but if the 1000's are set to small doesn't that defeat the purpose of having the internal sub. The sub only receives a signal below 80Hz. With the receiver set to small on the mains anything that low will be sent to the seperate sub. If I am correct in this statement, I would make the center and rears small and the mains large.

Greg

johnnyamerika

I would tend to agree with shumach's disagreement...the 1000s have a sub for a reason. Although not as powerful as the stand alone 12". So....my question is doesn't the subwoofer when set to ON automatically recieve a duplicate or pick up the LFE frequency of the mains, regardless of their setting? The reason I ask this is because I've listened to the 1000s coupled with a sub and found they still rocked with their woofers. I've also turned the sub out 'ON' and physically turned the actual sub 'OFF' and the 1000s produced LFE still.

But I would definatley say set center and surrounds to small.

scottvamp

I have the sub's on my 1000's hooked to the lfe along with my other two sub's. That solves the big and small problem. Set all to small let your sub's do there job.
pdebaum, well said.

Troy LaMont

It's not a matter of what the RT1000's or what the CS400 can take, it's about sub integration. Of course the 1000's and 400 can handle bass on their own, but they will never do as nicely as a good standalone sub. You don't lose anything if you keep the mains and center small, because the sub will easily take over for them in the low frequency region, provided you've calibrated your system properly of course.
Moreover, if you let your center and fronts to large, then basically your sub does nothing besides LFE channel during 5.1 movies. What a waste.

Exactly!

sgtgto,

Althought the RT1000s are rated from 36Hz-26kHz @ -3dB they aren't capable of sustaining that much bass energy for an extended period. Those specs are based on the manufacturer's laboratory testing which are not true to 'real-world' capabilities of a speaker. Typically you wouldn't even get close to the 36Hz in the RT1000s.

The CS400 is only rated from 50Hz-25kHz @ -3dB so you could really damage your center channel using bass material that's lower than the rated specs.

Troy, the distortion you are getting could be from your amp or receiver and not the fault of the speakers. That is usually the case.

Not the case, the distortion that I did experience was definitely caused from too much lower bass information being sent to the center channel speaker.

As I said in my first post, I've tried my speakers both ways and I didnt' get any distortion when they were set to small.

You lose a lot of that with it set to small.

This is absolutely not correct. If you have a subwoofer in your system and you've properly calibrated all of your speakers, you won't lose anything. You may gain a better overall, enveloping, integrated sound, but you won't lose any frequencies.

This will always be a matter of personal preference (as is the case with most HT issues when it comes to setup) and I made that clear in my first post "I'd recommend...". There's a very, very great thread about this same issue going on over at The Home Theater Forum which also has links to a couple of other threads. Some good information and knowledge being shared.

Lastly, THXs specification for it's THX surround mode calls for all speakers set to small and sub=yes. That's how the professional's do it.

Troy

johnnyamerika

Originally posted by scottvamp I have the sub's on my 1000's hooked to the lfe along with my other two sub's. That solves the big and small problem. Set all to small let your sub's do there job.

That's a great point, there's the solution!

sgtgto

Hi:

Still respectfully disagree. I have, Mains 2 RT2000s and 2 RT 800s, Center CS400. Infinity sub. The five plus one channel sound tract has a lfe tract on it's on. The other five have their own as well. With the volumn set right on your 1000s and your sub you should not get any distortion. If you do, you are too loud or your amp has a problem. It's called clipping. The sub is not meant to process the center nor the left and right channel information as an independent signal, that is what the lfe is for. They are entirely on their own. I have all my fronts set to large, they process the lows in their range and my sub does it's thing. Even on FM CD or record.

The signal from CD or Fm that is sent to your speakers depends on the setting on your receiver. Dolby, direct, matrix, thx, cinema,
5 or 6 channel stereo. I have plenty of bass from my sub in most any mode be it FM CD or DVD. Same with the subs on my RT2000s. Like I said if you are getting a lot of distortion from your speakers you have the sub volumn too loud. I have my 2000s at about 11 oclock, sub never over half way. All fronts to large and my system sounds awesome, enough to hurt your ears with 0 distortion.

As far as the thx setting, a lot of people don't like it.

It's all a matter of proper set up.


Gary:p

scottvamp

Interesting argument, but many speakers CAN NOT handle the full fange sound from DVD soundtracks. My first cs400 I got I did a demo to see what it was made of with Lost In Space and I pop one of the drivers right off the bat. It may have been a bad speaker though. I noticed on some loud soundtracks that the cs400 was distorting on the low bass freq. I have a good amp and it wasnt too loud either. Because of the way I have my 1000's set up I havent had a problem with them. If you have LARGE speakers with good built in crossovers, large my work fine but I have done alot of tweaking and small IS the way to go for me. If it is true that the low freq. are sent to your subs when set to small than your subs are taking care of it and I do not think I am missing much. Point being----(MY speakers can't even achieve the low freq's in question that you are sending to the lfe sub.)
It's that simple. Also I seem to gain power and clarity from my amp because it doesnt have push those low freq.'s to my speakers and it works great with all sources.

scottvamp

. Like I said if you are getting a lot of distortion from your speakers you have the sub volumn too loud.

Also we are not talking about the sub's distortion, we are talking about the mid drivers distorting with low freq.'s. All my SUB'S are running in parellel with the ever important lfe output.

sgtgto

Hi:

I just did an Avia audio test of my new setup and here is what I came up with. L&R front RT2000s low limit cutoff=35Hz, Rt800s low limit cutoff=50Hz, FX300i low limit cutoff=80 Hz, CS400 center cutoff= 75Hz, Infinity BU2 Sub=around 22Hz..

Gary