Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Hsu VTF-2

John, it's highly unlikely that you'll benefit by lowering the 80Hz crossover. Your center and surrounds would be down considerably at 60Hz, which would lead to some weakness in that mid-bass area. Stay with all speakers small and an 80Hz crossover. This isn't something that was selected arbitrarily; extensive tests by THX and confirmed by Nousaine among others showed this to be the best compromise, being high enough to take a significant part of the load off of the speakers and the receiver, but not so high as to make the sub easily localizable.

Yes, turn the crossover control on the sub all the way up to 120Hz to try to get it out of the way of the 80Hz cross the receiver does. As Nousaine's test on the LW-12 showed, there are less boomy subs available, so don't expect to get an ideal balance.

johnk-

i think i will give it a listen to this weekend(when i have time to jack with it), but i reckon i will change it back to the original settings if i dont like the way it sounds.. cool part about this is, i can mess with it and tweak it out, and go back to the original settings when i am done. i figure since i got the technology and ability to check out what it can do, i would be cheating myself if i didnt at least experiement with it a little. it will also give me more 'real-time' experience with how changing settings can alter the sound stage, which will make me more informed when the next guy asks the same question.. make sense??

but i will for sure, crank the sub crossover to its highest setting. and the 'boomy' of the vega sub is very evident to me. i bought it before i really knew what i was getting.. if i would have known then, what i know now, i would have never got it.. but, so it is, and thats what i got.. i have already been dropping hints to the wife about wanting a new one, so she will get used to the idea.. next sub will probably be the HSU STF-2..better days

bigjohn

I've got the STF-2, John. Are there subs that go lower and play louder? You bet. Would you be disappointed with the STF-2? NO WAY! And when you think about what you paid for it, you'll REALLY be happy.

Hey bigjohn, I'll sell you my EP350 (it's no slouch) and I can get one of those SVS cylinders. Just want to get rid of the squalt black box, y'know?

Actually, I watched Fnding Nemo the other night and the EP350 had NO problem with the Darla scene or the whale scene. It did protest during the big fight scene of the Matrix Revolutions, though.

The THX standard for setting up FLOORSTANDING speakers is NOT an absolute standard that applies to all siutations and all ppl and their personal preferences.

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it's highly unlikely that you'll benefit by lowering the 80Hz crossover. Your center and surrounds would be down considerably at 60Hz, which would lead to some weakness in that mid-bass area.

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There is no basis for this statement.
If a surround speaker such as the QS8 has a lower range of 95Hz, then lowering the receiver crossover from 80Hz changes nothing. The QS8 would already be down several dB at 80Hz let alone what it would be at 60Hz.

Weakness in mid bass?
How?
With the mains set to large, the mid bass is still very prominent. With a crossover at 80Hz for surrounds and mains set to small, the only thing playing mid bass is the subwoofer. With the mains set to large, you could potentially have BOTH the mains and the subwoofer playing mid bass sound depending on where the subwoofer crossover is set. You WILL get less boomyness from the mid bass (tighter bass) which is a sound that i prefer.

Come on JohnK, the fear monger attempt at getting ppl to only use a THX method of setting up their home HT/stereo system is sad. Both methods of setup have merit.

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extensive tests by THX and confirmed by Nousaine among others showed this to be the best compromise, being high enough to take a significant part of the load off of the speakers and the receiver, but not so high as to make the sub easily localizable.

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Load off the receiver. This is an old discussion.
You have to consider those who do use separate components with their processor as well as those who do not crank movies to the 100dB range or beyond. To date, my less than top of the line Onkyo is powering 5 speakers and i've had no 'load' problems reaching 90+dB levels. No clipping and no protection shut off.
This argument about receiver load becomes invalid in many situations.

Sub localizable?
Lowering a crossover doesn't change that any. Regardless of the speaker, lower frequencies are not localizable.

For anyone who has a dual use for their sound systems, both music and HT, and do not like the boomy presence of a subwoofer for music, use the mains set to large if you have FLOORSTANDING speakers and disregard the THX standard.
The standard is ONLY a recommendation, not a an absolute rule.

bigjohn, I tried the large setting and not surprisingly, my un-audiophile ears didn't catch any improvement. Fact is, small and the SVS sounded better to me.

On another note, I believe you have a room only marginally smaller than the State of Texas. While spiff rightly hawks the HSU STF-2 as a good sub, you may be well served to call the folks at HSU and SVS. You will find them very similar to the Axiom staff. I believe that you will need a more robust sub than the STF-2. I'm thinking the STF-3 or the SVS 20-39 PC+. You need to fill alot of space. They will really help you with the selection. The guys at SVS actually sold me down to my 20-39 PCi (I had a PC+ in mind). And keep in mind that excellent audio doesn't need to be inexpensive. (I'd double the hints to Shannon)

ray-

i do have a big room.. i just went to the svs site and was looking at the 20-39 PCi. it went for $599+ shipping. i think that would be just about at the limits my wife would let me spend on one component. the PC plus series is around $150-$200 bucks more, and i just know that is a battle that i dont want to fight. it will be hard enough trying to convince her that $600 isn't too much. dont get me wrong here, my wife has been totally cool with all this, i aint trying to bad mouth her none. but to her, it sounds awesome now, but i know it can sound better. plus, with the baby coming, i am sure we can find a much more useful way to spend $600 bucks.

this is still a long ways off.. i figure maybe christmas of next year. but at least that gives me plenty of time to do research.

bigjohn

Bigjohn,
The offer still stands to hear my SVS 20-39 PC+ when you are in town for Rush if that works out...

WhatFurrer

steve-

i just might hit you up on that. i would love to come hear the 20-39 pc+.. i still dont know my plans for that weekend. i got the tix to the show, which is on friday, june 25th, but i dont know if i am gonna stay in austin or SA. i am still waiting to see who is gonna go with me.. if my buddy from austin goes, then i will definitely be there, and will be staying the night, so that saturday(26th) would be grand.

i will PM you and we can discuss there. thanks again, as always.i still got your cell #.

bigjohn