Rear Sub via Speaker level (Polk Way)

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ezc
ezc Posts: 426
Has anyone else tried hooking up thier rear sub via speaker level (Polk way)? I have just tried that a couple of weeks ago & seems to work well. I set the rear speakers to full / large & run both rear speaker cables into the sub & out of the sub to the speakers. I have only watched a few movies so far but seems the impact from the lows are greater. My main sub in front is hooked up via LFE, main speakers set to small & crossover to 80. This seems to work well so far but I havnt had enough time to really sit down & listen. Is there any disadvantages of this type of hookup? Ill post a follow up once I get to listen more!
Post edited by ezc on

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  • dcarlson
    dcarlson Posts: 1,740
    edited July 2003
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    What's the crossover on your rear sub set at?

    That sounds very cool. Who thought that one up?

    I wonder if it would affect the mixing at all.
    SDA-2a, Anthem Pre-2L, Anthem Amp 1, MF A324 DAC, Rotel RCD1070

    Senn HD650 Cardas, Mapletree Audio Ear+ HD2, Kimber KS1030, Bel Canto DAC2, M-Audio Transit, Laptop.
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited July 2003
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    what does ur system consist of?
  • ezc
    ezc Posts: 426
    edited July 2003
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    I havent changed the crossover to the main sub the receiver is still set at 80. All I did so far was rerun the speaker wires through the rear sub & change the speaker settings from small to large. I dont really have time now & it probably wasnt the best time to experiment but I had the tewak bug! My system consists of: Here is a link to a pic of our system
    http://www.ezconnection.org/ezcsystem.htm

    Display Mitsubishi WS-55819
    Left & Right Mains Polk LSi15
    Center Polk LSiC
    Rear Surround Polk LSiFX
    Front Sub Polk PSW650
    Rear Sub Carver Knight Shadow
    Equipment Rack Boltz 5 Shelf W/Super Spikes
    Front Main Speaker Cable L/C/R Monster Cable Z2 Bi-Wire 15’
    Rear Surrond Speaker Cable Monster Z1 Custom Made 40’
    Front Sub Cable Monster Cable Z100 12’
    Rear Sub Cable Monster Cable M1000 24’(Not used now)
    Surge & Noise Filter Clean Power Monster HTPS 7000 Signature Series
    AC Voltage Control Monster AVS 2000 Signature Series
    Sub Surge/Clean Power(rear) Monster SW 200
    A/V Receiver Rotel RSX 1065
    DVD Player Yamaha DV-C6480
    VCR Sony
    Digital Coax Cable Monster M1000 Silver
    Digital Fiber Opt Cable Monster M1000 Reference
  • rs159
    rs159 Posts: 1,027
    edited August 2003
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    Originally posted by dcarlson
    ...

    That sounds very cool. Who thought that one up?

    ...

    Hmmmm.......well I was thinking about doing the exact same thing back in like.......March, I think ;)
  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,126
    edited August 2003
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    Hmmmm.......

    I thought of doing that to my entire system

    (one wired to mains)
    (one wired to surrounds)
    (one wired to center)

    Then 2 seperate LFE powered subwoofers!

    NOW THAT! Would RULE!
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
  • John K.
    John K. Posts: 822
    edited August 2003
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    EZ, the only disadvantage is that it's impossible. If you set the main speakers small you can't set the rear surrounds large. With the main speakers set small and with a 80hz crossover the signal to the surrounds would likewise be crossed at 80hz and any sub connected there would be rolled off under 80hz.
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited August 2003
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    Welcome to the forum :)

    I agree with this as it pertains to my Sony ES, only the large/small issue that is. The Rotel guys can relay what they know about Surround Sound settings on Rotel. If EZC says he set it on large, he probably did.

    I only have one choice, large or small setting.... BUT as far as a crossover(filter), I am able to set each set of speakers individually. I am not bound by a 80hz filter on my mains, at my surrounds. Same goes with the sub, and that rolloff only effects LFE.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • ezc
    ezc Posts: 426
    edited August 2003
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    As a follow up, I switched my rear sub back to LEF input. I did it cuz I just dont have the time currently to play with my system, Im rebuilding the motor for my car & am spending 99% of my free time working on the car. With the rear sub was hooked up as speaker level. Take both L /R surround speaker cables in to the sub & out of the sub to each speaker. I didnt make any speaker level adjustments or any adjuastments to the rear sub. Only change I made was set the surrounds to large. I hooked up that way & had a watched the DTS demo disc ( the one with ET, Insane Clown Possie, Bourne Iden) The rear surrounds effects seemend to have more impact & sounded much fuller. Im not sure but I do beleive my Rotel with the crossover set to 80 will roll off the lows at that piont for the speakers that are set to small & the ones that are set to large will get full range. I cant be 100% sure beacuse I had it set up that way for only a week or so & didnt get to play with the system or have a friend come over with his sencore analzer which would have shown any differences. This is somthing Im going to do again as soon as I have time to mess with my system. I wanted to run test tones through the speakers & do a balance but I just never had the time. Thats the reason I plugged the speaker cable back into the surrounds & the sub cable back into the sub. Did it make a difference to me yes, was the system calibrated for that setup probably not, would it sound better calibrated I couldnt say at this point!
  • John K.
    John K. Posts: 822
    edited August 2003
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    EZ, to save you some time take a look at p.27 of your 1065 owners manual in the surround section. Note that if the main speakers are set small, the surrounds can't be set large; they're automatically also set small. Also, on p.28 in the sub setting section you'll see that although the 1065 has a choice of crossover(or filter) settings from 40-120hz, once you choose a frequency(e.g.80hz), that applies to all the small speakers. There's no provision for setting different speakers at different crossover frequencies.

    So, you should stay the way you are now, since you've switched back. The other way just doesn't work.
  • bryanr72
    bryanr72 Posts: 53
    edited August 2003
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    Please give me your opinion about my setup.

    I have my Fronts set to Large, and my Center & Surrounds set to Small.

    I have speaker wire going from the receiver to the top connectors on the RT2000i. I HAD the Sub Out split 3 ways going to each RT2000i sub and the floor sub. NOW I have the Sub Out going to the floor sub, and the RT2000i subs connected to the Pre Out on the 5.1 Left & Right connections. Since the fronts are set to Large, it sends full bandwidth out of the Pre Outs, and the RT2000i cuts off the high frequencies going to the subs.

    Does this make for a better sound since now you have Stereo bass in the front? Or does it not matter and the Sub Out setup is basically the same?
    -Bryan

    Equipment Used:
    AVR: Sony STR-DA3000ES Digital 7.1
    Front: RT2000i
    Center: CS400i
    Surround: f/x500i
    Surr. Back: FXi50
    Floor Sub: Infinity BU2
  • ezc
    ezc Posts: 426
    edited August 2003
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    John,

    Thanks for the info. yes your right! I had a few min. this morning to turn my system on & check the setting. Yes my fronts are set to large. I must have set the fronts to large to get the rear to large, when I hooked the rear sub up via speaker level. I didnt think I did change the fronts to large but I must have. My normal is everything small w/ a 80 crossover. My fronts & rear is large & center is samll. Hope to have time later this week to go & reset my system settings & check the speaker balance! Just no free time now! Almost done with my car! Motor is back in! Just need to hook everything up fire up the motor & break in the cam!