Rti-a1: Large or Small?

comfortablycurt wrote: »

That's kind of what I figured...setting it to full band is the same as selecting large. The Double Bass option seems like a pretty stupid option in either case...it seems like it would barely make a difference at all.

After reading that article, I think I'm going to try switching all of my crossover points to 80hz, fronts, center, surrounds and sub. I'll give it a shot tomorrow and see if it sounds any better than how Audyssey set it up. Audyssey set it up so that the fronts were running Full Band, but I switched them to 80 myself, the center at 150, and the surrounds/surround backs also at 150, with the sub at 100. I'm weary of changing the crossover point on my center and surrounds a bit though. Currently they're just crappy satellites from a HTIB...and I'm not sure if they'll even dig that low...I kinda doubt it. My fronts are full range speakers technically...but I really doubt that they're smooth all the way down the frequency range. I'll give it a shot though.




I don't know...120 is a pretty high crossover point for a sub. Personal preference does have a part in it...but personally I'd try turning it down to 100, if not 80. 80 hz would probably be the best crossover point for the A1's too really. I don't claim to be an expert or anything though.

Like I said though, tomorrow I'm going to try setting all of my crossover points to 80 hz...I'll report back with my results. I'm anticipating some improvements though, that article made a lot of sense.

mdaudioguy wrote: »

My setup is similar enough to yours... I'm currently running all my speakers SMALL, with a crossover of 80hz. I've experimented with different freqs, but haven't noticed a significant difference with my ears. A good sub is required for this. I checked out the specs on yours and it seems pretty robust. Run YPAO and then reset whatever speakers it sets to LARGE to SMALL, and try the crossover at 80hz. 60hz is probably ok, too, as the A7's can certainly pick up the slack. 60hz is really the lower end limit of the A1's, and if that's a concern, stick with 80hz.

The sub's crossover should be set to the highest freq, but this really shouldn't matter as the AVR's bass management should override when the sub is connected from the AVR's LFE out to the sub's LFE in.

comfortablycurt wrote: »

Well, I completely forgot that I was going to post back with my results from switching my crossover settings.

So I switched the crossover point to all of my speakers, including the sub to 80 hz. I've had a few days to listen to it now, and I must say that I've heard a big improvement in the whole frequency range.

I started with listening to a few of my favorite CD's in 2.1 channel, everything set at 80 hz. Before that I had my fronts crossed at 80 hz, with the sub crossed at 100hz. Turned the sub down to 80 and I definitely saw some improvement. Turning the sub down a bit definitely improved my bass response. Freeing the sub up from having to reproduce the 80-100 hz range really freed it up to produce the lower end a lot better. My bass impact is much improved, and it definitely seems to blend with my fronts much better. My lower midrange/upper bass response was improved as well. After switching it, it was coming through much clearer. I tried switching it back and forth a couple times, and with the sub crossed at 100 it kind of muddied up the 80-100 range. Comes through with a lot more clarity now definitely.

Then I popped in Iron Man on DVD, simply because it has an awesome soundtrack, and figured it would be a good testing point.

My suspicions about my surround channels were correct...they are nowhere near capable of producing sound down to 80 hz. I blame that solely on the speakers though. They're just crappy satellites, so that's to be expected. The crossover has been turned up to 150 on those now, and I still don't think it's really digging down even that low. As I said though, I blame that on the speakers. With higher quality speakers 80hz would probably be the way to go.

Audyssey set my crossover on the center channel to 150hz. Turned it down to 80hz, and WOW! My center channel is much improved now. Across the screen affects in the front are now much improved. The sweep from main to center to main is now much clearer. The dialogue is coming through much cleaner and louder now, which was always one of my complaints with that center channel. Big improvement there.

As far as the mains and the sub go. Results were similar to the results of two channel mode. The bass is now coming through a lot louder and clearer...it doesn't sound anywhere near as muddy as it did before. The deep bass affects in Iron Man were much more impressive than the last time I watched it. As for the mains, just like in two channel mode, midrange came through much clearer, due to blending with the sub better.

So, I would definitely say that in the last few days, my enjoyment in my system has definitely increased.