Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo two channel with sub - do you run mains full range

When you listen to two channel music - do you prefer running your mains with the sub with the mains not reproducing the lower bass, or do you prefer having the mains run full range and having the sub reproduce everything up to 60-80hz or so?

for me,it depends on the recording.sometimes i run them full range,sometimes i will use the cross over.i dont usually go over 60hz on the mains-90hz on the center and surrounds for movies..it depends on what mains and sub you are using...i set what sounds best to my ear....ron

I set all my speaker to SMALL , X-over at 80Hz . At first, i can hardly stand music with sub at all and gradually, i get used to it. One thing i notice that I can barely hear the diff. if i set my main to LARGE or SMALL.

I have also been more of a set all to small and crossover to 80 kinda guy. However, it does make me wonder if I will hear a difference if I tweak that a bit when listening to 2 channel. Something to do this weekend!
Of course that means giving up sound below 60hz since I have the M22s. I love them and will eventually replace them (M60s when I have space), but they don't do low end well.

jr

I run mine set as large with a sub cross at 60 or 80 Hz. (I've got M50s and a Cambridge Soundworks Subwoofer 1)

M60s at large, sub gain at about 10 o'clock, sub crosssover at 9-10 o'clock. Sub then only plays the deep bass notes that the M60s can't touch.

I have a 2 channel system only.I run my M80's using an Outlaw ICBM with the crossover at 60hz with 2 HSU VTF-2's doing the work down low.It sounds pretty good to me.I geuss you could say it's a 2.1 system

M50's set to large. Crossover on my trusty Onkyo is at 80 across the board and the crossover on my sub (SVS) is cranked to max. No need in it doing the same job my Onkyo is!

If your mains are set to large, and you cross at 80hz on your receiver or pre/pro, that means you are sending freqs below 80hz to the mains and sub. This is doubling the bass that both the mains are sub are able to play.

John, you've got the right idea in wanting to get the internal sub crossover out of the way, but since the SVS has a switch to completely disable and bypass its crossover, it's even better to use that instead of turning the control all the way up.

On the topic of the thread, when I'm playing two channel material on one of my setups that has a sub, I certainly use it, since it's just as helpful as with multi-channel material. I always set the mains "small" regardless of how good their bass is, to let the sub handle what it can do best while taking some of the lowest bass load off the mains.