Quick Speaker Size Question
TheMARPATNinja7
Posts: 150
I have a Polk Csi3 center channel and am getting a new Denon receiver. The Csi3 has two 5'1/4" drivers. On that receiver (and every other one) you can set the speaker size to either large or small I know 5 inch cones are usually considered enough to set them to large but I need some enlightenment here, large or small size setting on my receiver?
Post edited by TheMARPATNinja7 on
Comments
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Center channel = smallPolitical Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Gotcha, just making sure cause this is a massive speaker.
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Size of the cabinet has little to do with it. The frequency range does. In your case the CSi3 has a -3dB limit of 65Hz, so there's no reason to send a full signal to it as it can't produce it.
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/csi3/Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Sounds good, thanks.
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For home theater, I set all my speakers to small. (including my LSi15 towers)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) -
That seems like a waste.For home theater, I set all my speakers to small. (including my LSi15 towers)"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche -
i say try it both large and small and see which setting sounds best to you.
i usually run my center and fronts on large. I know they can handle it.. my rears I run on small. since I know they can't handle a full range signal.
i have played around with the large/small settings and found out these work best. once in a while when I want to send more of the bass to the subwoofer, i'll run them all on small. just depends on which setting I prefer that sounds the best to me.PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin: -
That seems like a waste.
Why? Only reason to run full range is if your main speakers will play as deep (and at the same volume) as your subs. Mine will not.
I also have a really bad room for bass so it helps to have the bass come fromthe subs where I can control it a little better. (Since I can locate the subs in a better place in the room for bass)
In a better room, I would still set them for small and cross them over at 40-50hz or so.
Seems more of a waste to set them to large and just miss out on all the decent bass that I paid for when I got my subs...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) -
Why not have the mains run full range with keeping your sub's x-over the same?"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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...you two stop fighting or I'll send you to time out......
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Not a fight at all. everyone does not have to agree with me - but I want to at least understand their side of the argument....
He has a valid point - and I have tried it in my system. In my room, it did not work out, but it may in others....
MichaelMains.............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) -
Alright then. I have my fronts set to large and center and rears set to small and subs XO'd at 100Hz. A little tweakin' here and there depending on the movie or music I'm listening to.
It's all a matter of preference.
You're still in time out though, Micheal.:p:p
Lightman Russ Rules! -
Ok well, the Denon can x-over much lower frequencies than the reciever I have now plus you can set up x-overs for every indivual speaker. I mean my fronts are towers with two 10" drivers a 3" midrange and a 1.5" tweeter so of course I'm gonna set them to large. They get cleaner bass than my sub occasionally. My backs are obviously small, but I mean is there anything wrong with setting my CC to large and just crossing over at a higher frequency (like 80-100 hz)?
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Nope. Just let YOUR ears be the judge on the end result. Again a little time spent on size selection and XO points should yield good results. Just believe in your ears.
Does the Denon come with the calibration mic? -
Yep it does, but I prefer customizing my settings as opposing to letting a machine choose for me
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Atta boy....
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Cheers
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Here's a great article...pretty much dead on.
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/128214.html"2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
I mean thats fair and I can certainly understand what they are saying, but what about my music? I do not get the kind of bass I want with my towers set to small for music. I used to have small speakers all around and sent every ounce of bass to my sub, it worked but ever since I came across the towers all the low ends sound alot better and louder (perfect for a bass junkie like me). I have my xovers set high enough so that I dont get any raw or distorted bass from my towers. I understand everything you are saying but I'm not getting a negative results from having my towers set to large. Is it possible I have some of the speakers that can handle the extreme lows? They are Sony SS-U501's (two tens, one 3" and a 1.5") if anyone knows.
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TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »Yep it does, but I prefer customizing my settings as opposing to letting a machine choose for me
dont you know that Audyssey is not just going to set the crossover of the speakers and the level, is going to EQ all of your speakers so you can get a flat frequency on your listening area. -
Mcloki, how do you have your speakers/ subs wired? Just curious.I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE!
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Speakers hooked directly to amp. (right to right, left to left, etc.)
LFE is a little more complicated -
LFE out to input on BFD (equalizer used for the sub)
BFD out to Y cable.
one end of Y to my powered SVS 25-31PC+
other end to my amplifier and then speaker wire to my unpowered SVS 25-31CS+
all speakers are crossed over at 80hz. (I have tried 40, 60, 80 and 100 and 80hz is the best sounding with my setup in my current room)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) -
Fot home theater usage I approached the crossover point from another angle.........speaker safety. Even if your speakers may be able to handle most of the lows of the LFE channel, unless you have a huge amplifier, few receivers have the headroom to produce the LFE spike cleanly into your mains/center during explosive scenes (war movies and crash scenes come to mind). This is why it isn't unusual to run 500 watts or more on subs. Square waves from amp clipping produced during explosions will destroy drivers faster than anything. I run towers/surrounds at 80hz for movies. BTW, it cleans up my mids too.HT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable
2 Channel Thorens TD 318 Grado ZF1, SACD/CD Marantz 8260, Soundstream/Krell DAC1, Audio Mirror PP1, Odyssey Stratos, ADS L-1290, ICs-DIY Twisted , Speaker-Raymond Cable -
Well my speakers can handle 270w continuous and im only throwing 80 into them so I dont think I'm risking any damage with them. My sub is only 150w and I like having the extra bass from the towers and believe me the bass they produce really rounds out the total sound package and give me what I want.
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TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »Well my speakers can handle 270w continuous and im only throwing 80 into them so I dont think I'm risking any damage with them. My sub is only 150w and I like having the extra bass from the towers and believe me the bass they produce really rounds out the total sound package and give me what I want.
The point was that your speakers get blown by not putting enough power into them rather than to much. (i.e. the amp runs out of steam, clips and blows a tweeter - not that you are just putting to much power into the speaker.)
If you like the sound you are getting, that is all that is important - but if you are ever cranking it and anything starts to sound distorted or just wrong, turn it down. That is true for any amp or speaker you have. With a lower power amp, you will just hit that threshold at a lower volume level.
MichaelMains.............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) -
Alrighty, and that is the case, I like the sound I'm getting and have no interest in changing it.
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TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »Alrighty, and that is the case, I like the sound I'm getting and have no interest in changing it.
RUUUUUUUUN with it!!!! -
That seems like a waste.
Understanding Hz and how a track is recorded, you will feel differently.
Remember , you are trying to build a replay system. the best suited place for Xhz is determined on the ability of the speakers. the lsi15's don't go that low, When I owned them, I also ran the in small crossed over at 60hz for movies and 40hz for music. I found this to really open up the amp driving them and the speaker excepting the signal. The system will perform better in this configuration.
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Yes, but a crossover frequency of 40hz or 60hz isn't the same as setting them to small."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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If a speaker is set "large" it runs full-range(or anyway, as full as it's capable of)and a crossover frequency doesn't apply to it. Where a crossover frequency, even one as low as 40Hz, is involved, yes that means that the speaker has been set "small".
