Hi All,

I got the VP150 as my centre speaker with the Denon 3808(upgraded firmware).

I would like to know if it better to selece the Centre as
Large or Small speaker in the speaker config in the Amp.

Current setting is at large.

What is the best settings for the VP150?
What difference will there be?

I read in another forum that if you choose small speaker, the lower frequencies will be pass to the fronts or Sub.

For large speaker config, all will be pass through.

Please advice.

Hi Asiatic

This question comes up once in a while, I like to have mine set to large. The VP150 is good to 85 hertz. That should cover most male voices in the lower register, even James Jones (this is CNN, I'm your father Luke, etc). However I am running a sep. power amp with 150 watts. So I have plenty of headroom to handle the lower frequences for the VP150.

Others on this forum will tell you to keep it at small, and since you are using a Denon, that may be the correct thing to do. Much depends on your room dimensions and how loud you like listen to your movies.

Remember it takes more power to reproduce lower freq. then higher. Some here will even tell you to keep you mains set to small. This will put less strain on your Denon. It all comes down how much available headroom you have. The best way to improve headroom is to increase power.

pn

Hello asiatic

I remember reading a post by Alan Loft (resident expert for Axiom audio) recently and he commented about the VP150 and recommended setting it to small in the bass managment settings. Axiom Audio in general sticks with THX in this matter and reccomends all speakers set to small and and the crossover set to 80. However, not everyone does that, ultimately it is up to you what sounds best.

Cheers

Small definately, no reason to pass full freq's to the center. The center is for dialog so really no reason to set it to large, if your using around 80hz crossover.

Asia, any speaker set "small" is rolled off below the selected crossover frequency and those frequencies are then handled mainly by the sub. Assuming that you have a good sub, the VP150 and all your other speakers, including the mains, should be set small, with a crossover frequency of probably 80Hz. This allows the sub to handle the frequencies that it does best(if it's a good one)and allows the speakers to play more cleanly where they do best higher up in frequency.

What did Audyssey set it to? Chances are it set it to small with a 60 or 80hz XO, I would run it this way.

John and Jakewash are probably right here. Looks like I should try to change some settings.

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/128214.html

pn

Careful going by Audyssey. They don't get to choose large vs. small. The AVR manufacturer does. Some, like Onkyo (maybe not this year's models) make any speaker capable of 80hz Full Range (large). Others, like Denon use 40Hz. Audyssey always recommends changing to small and crossing over at 60Hz or higher.

So if we set the M80s and VP150 to small and do not have a subwoofer in the setup (yet), we will miss those frequencies?

What is the optimal setting for Axioms if no sub is connected?

--Avi

Hi Asiatic,

Set your VP150 to Small. The VP150 is NOT a full-range speaker. In fact, most centers and surround speakers do not have useful bass output below 80 Hz.

Setting your VP150 to Large risks overdriving the woofers by routing low frequencies to drivers that are not intended to reproduce them.

There's no point in setting the centers to Large when lower frequencies are handled far more effectively by a subwoofer or the woofers in your main speakers if you don't have a subwoofer.

Don't rely on auto-setup systems to determine the Small-Large settings. With the vagaries of room standing waves and errors in frequency response readings of auto-setup mikes, you are far better off to manually set the Small/Large settings.

Regards,

Just to let everyone know,it is not Audyssey that sets the speakers to large/small, that is the receiver manuacturer's setup routine. The Audyssey folks tell you the same thing, to follow THX recommendations, set your speakers to small and then start with 80hz crossover.

Actually, you are half right, from their FAQ:

"Why does Audyssey set my speakers to Large (or Small) when I know they are not?
MultEQ does not set the speakers to Large or Small. This is a decision made by each individual AVR manufacturer and each uses a different speaker roll-off frequency to make this decision. Audyssey recommends the decision should be made using 40 Hz as the roll- off frequency. That is to say, if a speaker is found to roll-off below 40 Hz it should be called Large and all other speakers should be called Small.

If your AVR manufacturer sets your speakers to Large then all content below the crossover frequency is lost as it is not redirected to the subwoofer. Audyssey recommends changing the speaker setting to Small manually after the calibration is finished"

I know Chris (Audyssey) many times on the AVSforum has stated you should set your speakers to small, and start with an 80hz crossover to follow Tom's (THX founder at Audyssey) recommendations. He has mentioned that many speakers are capable of a lower rolloff, but you should still use small and let the sub do the work it was intended to do. Sounds like something Alan has been preaching for years.

If you have no sub, I would still set it to small as, IIRC, most avrs will then redirect the LFE and below the XO to the mains which will be set to large automatically when the subwoofer setting is to no sub. You will only miss the lowest of the frequncy range as the M80s play quite low ~35hz.

So how do you know what your AVR manufacturer uses for a speaker roll-off and what is the frequency roll-off for the M80's, M60's? I have an older Rotel processor, the instruction manual just says set your mains to large if they are, well large. I would bet most people would view the M80's to be a large speaker, yes, no?

pn

Hey PN,

I usually look at the specs for the speaker +- 3dB and the graph if you can find one. Yes, the 80's go low, but a 12" subwoofer can move more air in the lowwww regions.

And move more air in the other frequencies with more power to them unless you have 300-800watts/channel. That is why you set a the speakers to small and let the sub(s) do their thing, they are more efficient at doing the lower range from 100hz down.

exactly, I thought that is what I was saying the whole time.