Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Bass below speaker freq = distortion or nothing

I just got the m80's and I have a setting on my AVR to send LFE to Mains, Sub or both. Now, if I'm watching a movie and the LFE dips below the m80 freq, is the speaker going to start distorting or just stop playing the freq?

It rolls off the frequency just like the graph.

So, just say for instance that the m80 freq response is 22hz. If I watch a movie like Eragon that dips to 10hz, then the m80 will play to 22hz and then slowly stop playing the freq?

The reason for asking is because I have a PC13-Ultra and if I send Bass to Both the Mains and Sub, I don't think that I'd hear if it distorted.

Alex, you didn't clearly state which of the settings that you're actually using. If you set the M80s "small" and LFE to the sub alone(generally suggested), then the M80s don't have to be burdened with any of the low frequency effects which are occasionally present during movies(this isn't regular "bass") and the sub which is designed to handle them better will do the job. In addition, the regular bass to the M80s would be rolled off below the selected crossover frequency(e.g., 80Hz), usually at 12dB per octave, and sent to the sub instead. If the M80s are set "large" and LFE to both the sub and mains, the M80s will attempt to play the LFE(and regular bass)within their ability, down to the lower limits of their frequency response in the particular room location being used.

My receiver is pretty weird that way. I have the mains set to small, but I also have the option of sending LFE to the Mains, Sub or both.

I guess it sort of contradicts itself like that, but I have noticed that if I set the Mains to Large and LFE to Sub, there's not much LFE being passed to the sub.

I have the mains set to small and LFE to both right now and it sounds pretty good and adds to the LFE effect. That's why I wanted to know if the m80's would distort (Bass wise) at lower freqs then they were built for.

Alex, if you set the LFE to sub alone then ALL of it goes to the sub. Of course, keep in mind that LFE is only occasionally present in some movies and that there isn't any in regular music sources.

Sure, the M80s(and all other speakers)show increasing distortion when required to play the lowest bass frequencies.

The loss of fidelity would come mainly from the amp chewing up headroom delivering a LFE signal to the mains which rolloff and can't reproduce the signal. Also keep in mind that Dolby soundtracks replicate LFE effects in the main right and left channels as well so running the mains large with the both setting causes cancellation and reinforcement so it is not a recommended setting for systems with capable subs and speakers. You may want to try the small setting and crossing the speakers at 40 or 50hz to ease the burden on the amp, improve dynamic range and minimize nodes.

I actually don't have a manual crossover on my receiver.....well at least none that I've found anyways.

What receiver?

Yamaha RX-V2200