Austinbman,
To answer your first question, yes, i believe i can set all the speakers in my dvda-p to 'large' such that its internal crossover is not used at all. I think the crossover used in my dvda-p is 120Hz but i would have to double check.
I believe it was soncfox who
once picked up on a
possible drawback of setting up the speakers in this fashion. What happens to the surrounds and centre channel? I believe the question had basically asked, "In using a 50Hz crossover on the subwoofer with the mains set to large, is there a dropout in the frequency response then between the subwoofer and centre and surround channels?"
The answer is yes, of course.
Does this matter?
No, it does not.
There are two reasons why not using an 80Hz receiver cross (or the dvda-p crossover) does not matter.
First, conside the rolloff point of frequency response for most centre channels and surround speakers. Let us take the VP150 and QS8s as an example (and incidentally they are what i own). The VP150 has a rolloff above 80Hz (Axiom specs 85hz) as do the QS8s ( 95Hz). Using an 80Hz crossover from the receiver with these speakers set to small or large, would not change much of anything. Both units are down in dB by the point 80Hz is reached anyway. Setting one's receiver to handle the crossover at 80Hz and allowing the subwoofer to start picking up sound around that range will still result in a 'dropout' with a frequency sweep.
Second, why would anyone want their centre channel and surround speakers to perform bass duties under the 80Hz mark? These speakers were not designed for such a purpose and i highly doubt any sound mixes alot of those bass notes in that range specifically for the centre or surrounds to playback. That is what your subwoofer and main speakers are supposed to handle. If someone ever tries (and i have) using a lower frequency tone with their VP150 or QS8 you will see what i mean.
In playing around with frequency sweeps with all channels driven (or listening to music), there is no audible loss or dropout across the 100Hz and less range with the way my system is setup. INDIVIDUALLY if you listen to each speaker vs. the sub and depending on crossover settings, you may always have a hole in the range if you use any crossover under the speaker's lower frequency limit.
So for those concerned about the dvda-p bass management, if you own towers and you can change the dvda-p speaker settings to large, then that is the way i would recommend to go. Forget about the limited 120Hz or up cross those things have. A subwoofer playing bass up that high to me sounds like someone thumping a 15' drum under water.
