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.