Small= ??

Tacitus
Tacitus Posts: 5
edited January 2007 in Basic Hookup/Wiring Questions
Okay, a real noobie question here. I know that Polk and most of the forum regulars write about setting the receiver to small or large depending on the speaker, etc. So, how does that translate into Hz. :confused: I've got an Onkyo 604 that adjusts by Hz in increments of 20. I assume that "large" refers to 120Hz or higher. Would "small" then be 80HZ, 60Hz, or lower? And what would be the preferable center channel setting, then?

Thanks.
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  • PolkWannabie
    PolkWannabie Posts: 2,763
    edited January 2007
    Large in essence means the full spectrum ...

    Small means above wherever the crossover setting is i.e. if you set it to 80 then a speaker defined as small would get all freq's above 80 Hz ...

    It's probably a good idea to set a center channel to small ... Check the spec's of the particular speaker to see what its range is.
    Rick
    HT+ Sunfire TG IV, Dual CG Sig II's, CinePro 1K2, Oppo 981, Audio Technica PL120, Polk SRT's & F/X1000's, Samsung 71" DLP
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  • Tacitus
    Tacitus Posts: 5
    edited January 2007
    Thanks for the reply, PolkWannabie.
    I think that's where my confusion is. The receiver doesn't have a simple "large" or "small" option. It is all in Hz, as far as I can tell. So, to set it as "small" I have to define the Hz level. If I follow what you're saying, the higher I set the Hz, the less the speaker's range will be.
    I'm dealing with the RM6750 center speaker. I checked out the specs, but I don't quite understand what they mean, or how to apply them.
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  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited January 2007
    For the RM series, you want to set the crossover to at least 150hz or greater. (There is a cutoff in the speaker to prevent damage so the speakers do not play lower than that) Of course the issue is that above 80-120hz (depending on the person) you may be able to tell where the bass is coming from and that could be annoying if the bass is coming from the font of the room and the rest of the sound is coming from the back. If that is the case, slowly lower the crossover until you cannot tell where the bass is coming from. (you will just kind of miss the frequencies between the crossover and 150hz that way.) Also try the Polk method of hookup and see if you like that better. (AVR to sub to front speakers, front speaker set to large (no crossover) and sub set to off)

    Small just means use the sub below a certain frequency to fill in the bass.

    Large means do not use the sub - all the bass I want to hear, my (front, center or surround) speakers can provide.

    I would not use large unless your speakers can play as low or lower than your sub. (this is for HT, not neccesarily for music)

    Also the crossover is not a wall, more of a slope. So the speaker will get less info as the sound gets lower and lower below the crossover, the sub will get less info to play as the sound gets greater and greater above the crossover.

    The info passed will be a slope from 100% down to about 0%-20% over about 1 octave (doubling or halfing the frequency) above or below the crossover.

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
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  • Tacitus
    Tacitus Posts: 5
    edited January 2007
    McLoki-
    Thanks for the input. I am using the bass management hookup as described by Polk. My issue is not so much with the sub, but with the center. What it comes down to is that I'm trying to adjuct the center so as to a) keep dialogue at an audible level while b) avoiding the occassional vocal distortion.
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  • TennesseeOutlaw
    TennesseeOutlaw Posts: 414
    edited January 2007
    Tacitus wrote:
    McLoki-
    Thanks for the input. I am using the bass management hookup as described by Polk. My issue is not so much with the sub, but with the center. What it comes down to is that I'm trying to adjuct the center so as to a) keep dialogue at an audible level while b) avoiding the occassional vocal distortion.

    If I were you I would play a few DVD's or whatever medium you have, and turn the volume up to about the loudest you will be playing it.. Make adjustments from there with the crossover points.. By doing this, you should be able to find a happy medium; however, this is not optimum but should address you immediate concerns..

    Good Luck,

    Josh
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  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited January 2007
    I would start with swapping the center and left channel speaker (just for a test, I know they are different.) Does the distortion stay at the center channel from the avr or does it move with the speaker to the left channel? If you change modes (center = off) does the distortion stay, or does it go away with the sub set to fill in frequencies?

    answer those questions and I may be able to help you out more.

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
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  • Tacitus
    Tacitus Posts: 5
    edited January 2007
    Josh and Michael-
    Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try them out and see what happens.
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