Bass Out - Subwoofer, Front, or Both?

math wizard

I have a Yamaha RX-V2500 driving Polk RTi10 Fronts and a Polk PSW 404 subwoofer. My question concerns the bass out setting on the receiver. If the bass out setting is set to BOTH (bass out of the fronts and sub) will special LFE signals from DVD's be sent to the fronts also or just the sub? I'm concerned if the 7 inch woofers on the RTi10's are able to handle that type of signal without blowing. Currently, I have the RTi10's set to small with a crossover of 80hz. I would love to set them to large and have the bass come from them as well as the sub (to me this sounds better). Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated.

tcrossma

You could set the fronts to Large so that they'll get the full range of signals sent to them, and set the sub-out to "sub only". That way dedicated LFE signals will only be sent to the sub and not the fronts.

math wizard

Thanks for the reply. If I set the Fronts to Large and the bass out to sub only, then the bass signals sent to the fronts will not be played through the sub. Only the bass from the center and surrounds will go to the sub. With this set up the sub will have miminal sound because normally, there is not much bass in the center and surround channels. My original question was would the LFE from DVD's be played through the fronts if BOTH was selected for bass out. I asked this because I don't know if the 7 inch woofers of the RTi10's could handle that type of signal without blowing the drivers.

obieone

I don't know if this'll help, but here it goes.
On the rcvr, set the sub to both, then set the LFE to 80 Hz, That way, anything <80hz. will go to the sub.
Does this sound right, or helpful?
Let me know, and good luck

kuntasensei

LFE will always be sent to the subwoofer unless you have subwoofer set to NONE. Setting BOTH still sends LFE to the sub... But bass from the other channels is reproduced from both the mains and sub.

Erik Tracy

I guess the answer to your question if the RTI10s can 'handle' the bass without blowing is dependent on how loud/hard you drive them.

I only have RTI4s for my L/R Fronts (along with the CSI3 center and RTI4s for rear surronds and a PSW3030 sub) using a Yamaha RX-V1800 in a mid-size family room (9x12 and open on the left side to the kitchen) and this set up can go really loud (yes, semi-metal head here from old school sabbath to megadeth, to smooth jazz, to classical).

But, admittedly, I haven't gone to the extreme yet - no need to.

The V1800 YPAO detected my RTI4s as "large"...so I've left them that way. But I did change the sub setup from using the sub out/RCA to LFE sub input to use the "Polk Way" (not sure why this gets equated to 'complicated', but then I'm an engineer by trade).

I set the AVR to Front Only with No sub so that LFE and all low frequency content goes to both the RTI4s and the sub (because of using the "Polk Way" of sub connection).

Sound is fine, and I can crank up the volume to head banging nirvana.

But, my "10" may only be a "4" to you...so it depends...how hard do you want to drive those RTI10s????

Erik

obieone

I agree with the 'Polk way', and, to me, it's LESS complicated, for the simple fact, that you DON'T have to tweak the rcvr. set up with EVERY different format-Dolby, DTS, SACD, etc.
The only tweaking I have to do now, is adjust the hz/ vol. on the sub. And that's rare!

math wizard

I usally run my RTi10's at a -32 db to -20 db volume level (depending on the source). This is on a Yamaha RX-V2500. I don't know how this volume level relates to other AVR's.

ben62670

I don't like Polk setup. If you are here asking about it that shows you can handle doing the setup yourself. Use the LFE function at 80hz, and set your mains to large. If you are not driving your setup hard then your receiver can handle the load fine. You won't have to change your settings at all.

Ben