So, I finally ran the ARC software and calibrated the M80's and my subs the other night. Took an hr as I needed to set the mic in 5 different seating positions. That was the min ...up to ten I can select.

So, after i run this program ... actually have to do it twice once for music and once for movies. The I select the input ( CD, BR , TV, SAT, USB, AUX, Game ) I can go in and select either use the Movie calibration settings or Music Settings.
I noticed though that, it set the M80's to small and 60hz.
But, if I change it manually to large, and then go play some music the subs don't even come on.


If the Mains are set to small and 60hz, does that mean all frequencies below 60hr are not even going to the M80"s

Set you M80's to 80hz , all other frequencies above that go to the M80's and the everything below will go to your subs. That is a generalization since a crossover is not a brick wall but a gradual roll off of frequencies. I know it seems kinda silly to buy floor standers then send the lows to the subs but that's how its done. Some recievers have a setting where you can send the lows to both the mains and the sub but I find that to be too much.Also it has been suggested that floor standers tend to play better in the 60 to 150 range than bookshelves, though I had M2's and 2 subs and it sounded damn good to my ears. I have M80s and love em, go big of go home I say.

I think you can also use the M80 full range if you use 2 channel pure direct. My denon does.

Right, Troy; when you set the M80s "Large" in the MRX500, all of the main channel bass goes to the M80s, not the subs. The subs would still get the LFE that's occasionally present during movies, but of course music has no LFE channel, so the subs would get no bass in music. The setting has to be "Small" with a crossover frequency for the subs to get the lowest bass(as they should). Keep the small/60Hz setting, or if anything, manually raise the crossover to 80Hz, to give the subs more work where they do best.

I wish they would have a setting like the Denon does, in that I can select Main+LFE

So by having these big towers that can go to 40hz comfortable it would be nice to set to large and crossover at 60 hz.

Love my Anthem MRX500. ARC is not the easiest thing to set-up but its worth the effort. Combined with the Anthem blu ray player and the Axiom speaker setup (I have M22s in front) - I'm in heaven!

have mrx500 with axioms & emotiva xpa-5 is just great!.. waiting for the M100's