I read the term a lot when setting up speakers and I assume that this a standard setting on the more popular receivers - like Yamaha or Denon? I have an Onkyo and haven't discovered that option yet. Should I stop looking? Is there anything similar on the Onkyo?

Thanks

Larry, "small" isn't meant to be descriptive of the size of the speaker involved. It means that the speaker set "small" in the receiver won't receive the full range of bass, but will instead be rolled off below the frequency set as the crossover, e.g. 80Hz. The idea is to take some of the load off the speaker so that it'll play a bit cleaner in the higher frequencies and let the sub instead handle those low frequencies that it does best. All HT receivers have a similar provision. What is your Onkyo model?

I've got an inexpensive Onkyo that I use in my bedroom with a small sub, in the speaker setup it allows me to put them on small.

My receiver is an HT-R510 and it doesn't seem to have any setting that allows a choice between large and small. It does have a crossover setting but no 'small' or large setting I can find.

Just downloaded the manual. No setting for large or small, thought I was missing something but I guess this receiver doesn't have that feature.

Thanks

The 510 uses a "Subwoofer Mode" instead of small/large, but it is the same.

The "Subwoofer Mode" on page 26 shows the functions available. Picking mode 1 sends low frequencies from all speakers to the sub. Mode 2 - center and surround.

Crossover defaults to 80 Hz, which is what most of us use anyway. It is a global setting for all speakers.

My Onkyo has a much wider range of speaker settings for the speakers. I would strongly suggest that you read the Onkyo manual where they describe individual manual speaker setup. That should give you a few ideas.

Which Onkyo do you have?

Larry, Doug(bug)is right on in his reply. The "subwoofer mode" setting on your 510 does the same thing which most HT receivers do with a "small" setting, i.e. it rolls the lowest bass off from certain speakers and instead directs it to the sub. For example, using Mode 1(which you probably should)takes the bass below the crossover which you set(typically 80Hz)from all the speakers and sends it to the sub. This is the same thing which results from setting all the speakers small.

Thanks very much for the info. Have always had Mode 1 set for my 2 M22 mains. I only listen in stereo and have tried all the crossovers wth the HTIB Onkyo sub, which is pretty crappy. I think it sounds best at 60 which leaves most of the lower frequencies to the M22's if I understand the science.

Again thanks for the explanations.

Larry