Subwoofer hook up

SuperG

Without starting an all out war on this subject, I would like to know if a lot of you guys have blown the woofers out of your mains (set as large) while having your sub hooked up through the speaker out of your AVR.

I'm asking this because I prefer this set up as it seems to produce better sound out of my current system (mains set as large, sub No, hooked up with speaker wires). But I've heard that the bass produced during explosions while watching a movie can blow out the woofers if using this set up as the mains can't handle the bass coming out.

Right now I only have some old Energy 2.1e bookshelf speakers as mains but will soon have the Polk RTi8, CSi3 center, PSW 505 sub, R15 rears and Denon AVR-1706.

It is quite possible that i just dont know how to set up properly though the sub out. I've tried it in different configurations but just cant get it to sound right. Mains as large, mains as small, crossover at 40,60,80,100...

Frank840

well i cant say i know much but on my pioneer reciever I have Mains Set to Small Presence set to Normal Center Set to small. rears are set to small and same for surround. And know of my speakers are actualy small CSi25 is BIG My jbl fronts are HOLD and huge. But I Follow the guide lines that came with the psw505 and it work out great. The BASS is more Depth and crisp with the fronts being set to small. I have never blew a Speaker ever so i cant help you with that. I had a Kenwood receiver that didnt have a LFE/Rca preout for subwoofer and had it setup for speaker wire you really cant gett that good of a tune that way i think.

Meechsterlee

...just my 2 cents

Only use the large setting of your speakers can handle the low Hz that will be sent to them. Otherwise, set the mains, center, and surrounds to small and adjust the x-over to 80-120 Hz...which ever sounds best to you.

I learned the hard way with using the large setting...blew out a pair of RT16's that "should have been able to handle the duty". In retrospect, I wish I would have set those to small so I could have them around for 2 channel in my garage.

Erik Tracy

Meechsterlee wrote: »

...just my 2 cents

Only use the large setting of your speakers can handle the low Hz that will be sent to them. Otherwise, set the mains, center, and surrounds to small and adjust the x-over to 80-120 Hz...which ever sounds best to you.

I learned the hard way with using the large setting...blew out a pair of RT16's that "should have been able to handle the duty". In retrospect, I wish I would have set those to small so I could have them around for 2 channel in my garage.

Not meaning to poke anyone in the eye here - but what caused you to blow your RTi6s?

If the RTi6s are rated to handle 125W, did they 'blow' because they were over-driven beyond 125W?

Or were they not matched properly and under-driven and so blew because of clipping from the amp?

I've heard the recommendation that for Home Theater set-ups that ANY setup using a separate subwoofer should have ANY main speakers set to small because of doubling up on bass, over driving the mains for the seemingly harsh/taxing/demanding bass and LFE effects.

I'm trying to understand how this relates to a given speakers specifications to handle a given amp/avr's power output.

If properly matched - is it really the bass/LFE portion of the spectrum that would cause a speaker to 'blow' - and if so, then has the manufacturer correctly rated the speaker?

Power (watts) from the amp is what produces acoustic output from the speaker - there does not seem to be a separate spec rating for bass output capability before 'blowing'.

Should there be?

I'm running my RTi4s as Large with a PSW303 wired up the "Polk Way" to a Yamaha RX-V1800 (rated 110W/ch).

When using Pure Direct mode for stereo listening I can get room filling sound.

When I watch movies in 5.1 Surround - I get the bass/LFE effects as well.

I recently watched Fellowship of the Ring and could not resist turning up the scene of Gandalf vs the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dum(lots of very low effects). :eek:
The whole room was shaking and my kids plugged their ears - it was that loud.

RTi4s seemed to weather it fine.

Again - not trying to finger poke - just trying to understand a properly HT setup and how speakers and avr, if properly matched, could blow.

Thanks,
Erik

ShinAce

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Again - not trying to finger poke - just trying to understand a properly HT setup and how speakers and avr, if properly matched, could blow.

Thanks,
Erik

If you play a record, the rumble can blow the speakers with as little as 5-10 watts. A vented woofer will unload and allow the speaker to 'bottom out' before ever frying.

If you crank the volume on a small amp too high, the bass will clip and cause odd order harmonics. This energy is absorbed by the tweeter until...'fizz'. This is why many people recommend bigger amps, because there won't be any clipping and the tweeter might survive.

I build my own speakers all the time and that's the one thing I've never been able to do, rate their power handling. A 60 WRMS woofer and 60 WRMS tweeter could easily be rated for 60 WRMS total and just leave it there. In reality, if you bi-amp, it becomes 120 WRMS. If the speaker does not protect itself from subsonic notes, again, it can blow before you get to 60 WRMS.

A wattage rating is not set in stone.

SuperG

Just got my new RTi8's and they sound great. Don't want to risk blowing them so i set them to small and hooked my sub via Sub out although i prefer the Polk way. The bass does not seem to blend in well hooked up this way.

Might be my receiver Denon AVR-1706, might be underpowered. I'm not very satisfied with the bass coming out.

What would you receiver would sound good with my setup

RTi8 fronts
CSi3 center
PSW 505 sub
R15 rears

tonyb

Set them to large.Play with the crossover somewhere between 65-80,to see what sounds best.Do you still have them hooked up by the sub or direct from the receiver?

obieone

Welcome to the forum SuperG. Have you tried: Fronts wired direct, setting the fronts as large, LFE+main? I have the Denon 1905, which is ony 10wpc more, but I also DON'T have the RTi8's(Monito60's). I would tweak it a little b4 replacing the recvr.

SuperG

I set the crossover at 80, RTi8 through the receiver set as small and the sub through the sub out. I tweeked a bit with the sub volume, turned it down a bit, same as the bass level on my receiver and Wow...i'm experiencing mid's that i didn't know existed...

I think i was trying to get too much bass that it was just too much thump and was drowning the mid's.

I believe this configuration sounds pretty good except the highs are a little harsh. Hopefully this will sound better as the speakers break in a little more.