Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Bass Management Confusion...

Hello guys...I have got the following for my home theater...

Harman Kardon AVR65 Digital Receiver

Polk Audio Speakers:
RT800 (left/right)
CS245 (center)
RTFX (rear surround speakers;bipole/dipole)

Velodyne Subwoofer (CHT-12)

Sony 32 inch flatscreen TV...NON-HDTV!

What do you guys recommend me to set my bass-management (Small/Large) to for each speaker that I have listed?

ALSO:
When your bass management on your home theater receiver is set to Large ...
Is the subwoofer being "completely bypassed" for that particular speaker, or will the sub still work with the crossover on the Large setting, for that speaker?

Thanks so much, and looking forward to hear your replies!

I pretty much always suggest setting all speakers to Small with a receiver crossover of 80hz. Since the receiver is managing the crossover, put the sub crossover knob on bypass, or turn clockwise to highest setting.

Receivers can differ from brand to brand. Most people that set their mains to large, then put the receiver in LFE+Main mode. This way your mains will be receiving the full frequency as does the sub, it is not bypassed. The sounds from the other speakers will be directed to the sub, based on the crossover setting on the receiver.

Thanks for replying SirQuack...2 questions...how do I get my replies sent back to my email address..?

And Also...my receiver does not have adjustable crossovers, but my subwoofer has the option of using the built-in crossover, or the receivers crossover...which is best to use?

I think the email settings are somewhere in the "My Home" link above. I don't use that option.

Are you saying your receiver has no crossover options, not even for ALL speakers? Or are you saying your HK is unlike other HK models. Most of the HK receivers will let you set seperate crossovers for each speaker. My Denon only lets me set one crossover setting which applies to all speakers.

Generally, you want to let the receiver handle the crossover management and turn the sub to bypass, or turn the sub knob clockwise to the highest setting. If your sub has an option for receiver management I guess that would be the choice, if your receiver allows you to set an 80hz crossover and adjust speakers to large/small settings.

My receiver has NO crossover options...I'm pretty sure it's fixed, but I'm not sure what Hz.

I believe it is fixed at 100HZ.

So then I should set all the speakers to "Small?"

I would try it both ways. Try setting the mains to large so they will get the full frequency as will the sub. Then the other speakers will be set to small and using the 100hz crossover. 100hz is pretty close to 80hz, so you might find that setting the mains to small will be ok. This stuff will drive you nuts.

I've been thinking that if I set the mains to large, it might be better then cause it would be less taxing on the subwoofer, since nothing is going out from the mains into the subwoofer, but you still would have the center and rear speaker crossovers going to the sub...am I on the right track?

Subs are built to be sturdy. They typically have beefy amps because low frequencies are difficult to drive loudly. Don't worry about taxing the sub--that's its job.

It's more taxing on the receiver to drive a speaker full range.

As to making the settings small or large--listen to both and hear which one sounds better.

If your using LFE+Main then the sub is receiving those signals. The point of setting the receiver to small on all speakers is to let it be less taxed, and let the sub pickup the LFE it is designed to do. The sub has its own amp.

Mitch, no you're not really on the right track; as was said, the idea is more nearly the opposite. The sub is designed to handle the lowest bass frequencies better than the mains and to take some of the load off of them. You need to let it do that by setting all of your speakers "small" and assigning the sub alone to handle those frequencies.

John, not sure this is a problem, but his AVR is locked at 100hz. My guess is thats close enough to 80hz he should not have a problem?

Sure, if it's 100Hz(I haven't read the manual), then that's what has to be used. The localization probably wouldn't be a major problem.

Would it be better to allow my subwoofer (Velodyne CHT-12) to use its internal crossover, which I would then set at 80hZ, instead of using my receiver's built in crossover?

No, Mitch, the sub's internal crossover just rolls off the sub above the selected frequency; it has no affect on the main speakers, which would continue to play full-range if they weren't set "small" in the receiver(unless the CHT-12 has a separate high-pass filter on an output to the mains).

hi Mitch
I have the same sub, and as John mentioned, it does have a high-pass filter. That would allow you to send the entire audio signal to the sub which would then seperate anything above the selected crossover point on the sub and send it to the mains. However, for ease of operation/cabling you are probably better to rely on your receiver to handle the crossover functions. Continue to use a coax cable to send the audio signal to the sub and crank the crossover knob on the sub to the max.

Thanks all for replying...forgive...I'm confused...if I set my subs crossover to max..
What setting should I be using on the subwoofer.
A) Internal X-over or
B) Direct
????
Thanks Again
Mitch

Don't you have a manual? I just did a search on Google and found this...

"Subwoofer Direct input This input bypasses the CHT Subs' internal crossover to provide direct connection to a preamp-level subwoofer or LFE output. This exclusive feature assures the highest levels of performance and compatibility with all digital surround processors, now and in the future."

Sorry about that SirQuack...
when setting to direct, should I set it to 150Hz, or 85Hz?

Mitch, Dude There is nothing to be sorry about. Not sure I understand what your asking. Are you asking about the sub being 150hz or 85hz? I'm not familiar with this sub, but I would think "Direct" is the same things as "Bypass", in other words it bypasses any settings to let the receiver handle the crossover management. On many subs you don't have a "Bypass" option, so we just tell people to turn their crossover knob clockwise to the highest setting to get it out of the way of the receivers setting. You don't want to use both. To be safe though, you could still crank the knob to the highest setting, in addition to using "Direct" option. This is fun stuff, and can be confusing. Believe me, I still think of myself as a newbie compared to most of these Axiomites.

OK, Thanks SirQuack..now I get it!