Speaker size setting & Subwoofer cut off

[Shadowman82]

Okay here's the deal .

My speakers are capable of the following bass frequencies .

Front L/R: down to 60hz
Center: down to 60hz
Rears: down to 80hz

In my receiver manual it states that if a speaker channel is set to "small" any sound below 100hz will be output through the subwoofer .

The manufacturer of my subwoofer recommended that I set the subwoofer cut off frequency to 80hz .

So here are the two questions , which speaker channels should I set to large and which to small ? Should I really set the subwoofer cut off to 80hz?

[Iguana Man]

Need more info....

Can your receiver be set at different cut offs? IE: Not just 100

Can your receiver be set to -->fill in the blank<-- if the speaker is set to LARGE?

Can your sub be set to any other cutoff other than 80?

Can you list the make/model of both your receiver and sub?

Can you please send me all your money?

Ok, scrap that last question.

Questions always get more questions....ain't it great!

[chlngr1970]

I have main speakers capable of 42Hz, surrounds at 52Hz, and rear centers are 65Hz. My subs are set to 80Hz ceossover and I'm not sure what the receiver crossover is set at. I am quite happy with that setup so far.

What kind of speakers are they?

Can you set your receiver to Large and set the subwoffer output to Both?

And Iggy's question about all the other gear are good questions...

j

[Shadowman82]

The speakers are Athena Audition series , AS-B1 , AS-C1 and AS-R1 .

The receiver is a Marantz SR-5500.

The receiver is capable of the following subwoofer cut off frequencies : 120hz, 100 hz and 80hz . According to the manual with my speakers I should indeed set the cut off to 80hz so I guess that's out of the way .

The subwoofer is an SV PB12-ISD. It has a bypass function which the manufacturer recommended I set to on , in other words I should let the receiver handle the cut off .

I read the manual again and if I read it correctly the subwoofer cut off only affects the speaker channels set to small . In other words if I set a a speaker to small and then I set the cut off to 80hz the speaker will output all frequencies down to 80hz and the subwoofer will do the rest .

I think it's best if I set them all to small and set the cut off to 80hz .

[Iguana Man]

EDITED: Uhmmm.... ....see the next guys response....

Those Athenas are nice man....

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Shadowman82

Okay here's the deal .

My speakers are capable of the following bass frequencies .

Front L/R: down to 60hz
Center: down to 60hz
Rears: down to 80hz

In my receiver manual it states that if a speaker channel is set to "small" any sound below 100hz will be output through the subwoofer .

The manufacturer of my subwoofer recommended that I set the subwoofer cut off frequency to 80hz .

So here are the two questions , which speaker channels should I set to large and which to small ? Should I really set the subwoofer cut off to 80hz?

set all channels to small, subwoofer cutoff to as high as possible will sound best, reason being because your mains need to be capable of ~30hz if you plan not you use a sub, and if you set the sub crossover to 80hz you will lose 80hz-100hz from your speaker channels and 80hz-120hz from the LFE. So setting all speakers to small and sub cutoff to maximum will be best.

[Shadowman82]

An edit here . The manufacturer of my sub told me that I can set the cut off to any of those three frequencies as the cutoff will be applied to both the speakers and the sub as long the speakers are capable of the frequency I set the cut off too there will be no gaps.

Since the rears are capable of 80hz I might decide to go with a 100hz so that the rears don't have to go too low , I bet the sub can handle that better .

Anyway yes I really like Athena speakers , they are really good but also very economically priced . Their only weakness seems to be subs which is why I got one from SV.

[Jellodyne]

I think that sounds like an excellent plan.

If you've got an SVS then you shouldn't have any trouble filling below 100 Hz and I think that it's better to not push your speakers all the way to the lowest frequency they're capable if you can help it, because they're not going to be as comfortable in that frequency range as your sub. 100 Hz is plenty low, and I've heard some convincing arguements that you're better off crossing all of your speakers at the same frequency.

Of course I say that and I've got my rears crossed higher than my mains, but that's out of neccesity since my surrounds they can't do south of 140 Hz at all, and I'm not going to cross my mains that high.

[Shadowman82]

Oh yeah in your case I can understand , I mean no one wants the mains to be cut off at 150hz or whatever and such high frequencies are generally not the strongpoint of a sub so the mains really should handle that .

According to a chart outlining the output of the sub I ordered it seems to play the 100hz frequency with more output than any of my speakers so setting the cut off to 100hz would not negatively affect the soundfield I think .

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Shadowman82

Oh yeah in your case I can understand , I mean no one wants the mains to be cut off at 150hz or whatever and such high frequencies are generally not the strongpoint of a sub so the mains really should handle that .

According to a chart outlining the output of the sub I ordered it seems to play the 100hz frequency with more output than any of my speakers so setting the cut off to 100hz would not negatively affect the soundfield I think .

Would still advise setting dial on sub to maximum or 150hz or whatever it is. Your receiver is doing the 100hz crossover for your speakers, it will sound worse if you do two of them at same freq point.

[Shadowman82]

I don't follow you on that one .

[Iguana Man]

I think you are putting the emphasis on the rears and their 80Hz cutoff, whereas the fronts (which take the brunt of your listening pleasure) are good to 60Hz.

Forget the surrounds....it's the mains (fronts) that give you the bulk of the sound.

Since the receiver cuts off 100Hz to small speakers, set the sub higher to get a better integration of the sound. I think that's what he's saying.

Then again, I was wrong earlier in this thread, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

[Shadowman82]

Well the highest I can go is 120hz on the receiver , the SV people suggested I let the receiver handle the cut off and set the sub to bypass. They said I should set it to 80hz.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Shadowman82

Well the highest I can go is 120hz on the receiver , the SV people suggested I let the receiver handle the cut off and set the sub to bypass. They said I should set it to 80hz.

yep thats exactly what i was tryin to tell u heh.

[biglyle]

I use the R1's as side surrounds, (B1 rears, B2 fronts) and I set my reciever crossover at 80Hz, sub set to bypass. I crank the snot out of my Athenas and the R1's seem to handle it just fine.

As long as they arent the mains, it should be fine.

[tomdkat]

Here is an article on Subwoofer Crossover frequencies.

Peace....

[Shadowman82]

Interesting article , I guess it really would be advisable for me to set the cut off to 120hz especially considering that I have a good sub .