Confused about THX and Bass Mgmt

ncstatesman · October 2001

I have an Onkyo 898 THX receiver to go with my new RM7600 speakers which I haven't had a chance to set up yet (receiver arrived yesterday). I want to take full advantage of THX, DTS, and Dolby Digital movies and yet not have to change subwoofer settings, or re-wire speakers, or any other changes other than switching the receiver setting for THX, DTS, or Dolby Digital via the remote control.

I ask because I saw one issue of the Speaker Specialist that spoke on Bass Mgt ('The THX Exception') and it mentions that when you switch to THX mode that bass mgt filters are activated and the front L/R and centers are high pass filtered at 80 Hz (bass removed below 80Hz) and that the subwoofer output jack is turned on to high pass filter at 80Hz as well - which I guess means that I should hook up my PSW650 to the sub-out jack - I thought that the best set up was to not to hookup the woofer to the sub-out because it has a fixed cut off - I'd rather use the PSW650 to adjust the bass roll-off and not be constrained by the sub-out's inflexibility yet at the same time take full advantage of THX, but not at the expense of DTS, and Dolby Digital.

- can you recommend the speaker/woofer wiring that lets me to all 3 formats at there best? Your help would be greatly appreciated as I need to know what to do before I get started on setting up this system :-)

Thanks,
Angel

eaadams · November 2001

I would like to hear a reply to this post.

ntculenuff · November 2001

i had my onkyo set for THX going on the notion that that was the sh$t but then I also read on the polk web sight about the sub and main deal. THX by passes the subs cross over and sets it at 80hz also crossing over your mains @ 80hz on up. well that made me think; i've got these great polk mains and two great definitive subs that just are not being used to there potential. so I changed I don't use THX any more. Set my mains and center to large and wired my 10" sub to my mains via pre outs(don't like the sound of the sub when you do the speaker wire deal) to cover my low mids and have my 12" plugged into the LFE and picking up where the 10" rolls off (wiring your sub to the mains is also something else i picked up on the polk web site http://www.polkaudio.com/home/faqad/q.php?article=hookupsub this page kinda talks about what i mentiond but not any great detail, sorry cant find the exact page) any how since i have quit using THX. Now i just use DD and DTS; and after a few tweaks with gains and crossover points I am a much happier home theater geek.

JUST REMEMBER AFTER YOU GET YOUR THEATER WHERE YOU WANT IT IT WONT BE GOOD ENUFF AND YOU MUST PLAY SOME MORE!!!!

On aside note it took me about a year or so to find the speaker placement for optimal pleasure. and yes my wife just laughs at me now, because i'm always thinking of some other way to make it better. MOST of the time putting it back to how it was, but you have to try..

CHRIS · November 2001

Something I did a long time ago was to hook my sub up straight from the DVD. Take the L and R anolog outs from your DVD player and run them diectly to your subs high filter input. Set your receiver to NO sub. With this setup your sub is getting all the info it can so you get all the bass on the soundtrack and bypasses the receiver. Set all your speakers to large and they will get all the bass info from the soundtrack as well. Newer DVD players are now coming out with a sub output on them. I don't know if they will work the same way as this setup. I am planing on getting one soon and will find out.
Chris

Aaron · November 2001

That's all well and good for DVD's, but then you won't be using your subwoofer for any other sources!

Aaron

CHRIS · November 2001

I have seperate H/T and H/S rooms sorry didn't think about music with this hookup.
Chris

ncstatesman · November 2001

I just finished setting up my onkyo 898 w/the rm7600/650 sub and it sounds great, the problem that's gnawing at me is how do you know you are getting the best sound possible out of this system. Between the spkrs and rcvr I spent +$2500 (got some good deals) and I just 'gots' to know that I'm doing the best I can!! There are countless settings on the rvcr and the sub, so this is gonna take me forever to figure out - I guess that's have the fun. I'm going to start playing with the Avia calibration DVD to help me refine things further. . .

By the way, I ran my L/R spkr wires from the rcvr to the 650 and from the 650 to the L&R fronts with the correct setting on the fronts (large), etc.

Next, I gonna hook up my x-box to the system!

Micah Cohen · November 2001

You're all NUTS! Don't you hate that nagging nagging nagging feeling that you might not be getting the prime utmost performance from your system? Does it keep you awake at night? You guys are NUTS! (We at Polk Audio thrive on your nuttiness, tho. And most of us are up nights reading and reading our receiver manuals to figure out how to get EVEN MORE -- it must be in there!)

ncstatesman: I think you're fine. You are fine. I repeat, you're system sounds like it will rock!

ntculenuff: When you said JUST REMEMBER AFTER YOU GET YOUR THEATER WHERE YOU WANT IT IT WONT BE GOOD ENUFF AND YOU MUST PLAY SOME MORE!!!! you were not kidding.

WE MUST TWEAK! :cool:

MC

TroyD · November 2001

you aren't kidding either....it's never enough. Then there is also sooo much hardware out there. I hooked up my new Carver amp last night and of course it is awesome. Then I got to thinking, man, an amp for the center would be sooo bitchin' (I am thinking a Marantz MA700 monoblock, they sound sweet). Power is cool.

My interconnects and speaker wire could be next......

Wendi is hoping that this madness will end at some point.

Troy

BTW, I told you cool manuals are a plus.

Confused about THX and Bass Mgmt

Comments