first of all i love my axioms and my outlaw, but i have a question.
Every post Ive read says to put the ep500 on bypass, but for just the heck of it i put the ep500 on 80Hz and in doing so i got a dramatic boost in lower end bass responce, in fact im so happy with it I left the ep500 at this setting.
The outlaw 990 was configured as per instruction manual with the automatic speaker setup.Bypass set to 80hz for all speakers, front ,center, surrounds and rear surrounds set to small.
thanks
Could anyone explain why bypass is not the best for me

Sounds like the EP500 is getting full range signal. This could happen for many reasons, but most likely it is because in the 990 you have selected "LFE + Main" to subwoofer or something to that extent. So when the EP500 is on bypass, it has to amplify full range signal, and when its crossover is engaged on the subwoofer, it has to amplify 80Hz and below. The bump in acoustic impact is occuring because of the amp having to amplify full range signal in bypass mode vs. having to amplify signal below 80Hz only when the crossover is engaged on the subwoofer.

The bottom line: Where the crossover is processed should not change the sound of the subwoofer. The two options are,
1) EP500 on bypass, 990 crosses over at 80Hz
2) EP500 crosses over at 80Hz, 990 sends full range signal to subwoofer.

your right i do have the 990 on LEF + main.I think you have answered my question thanks
however i like what im hearing so im going to keep it this way
2) EP500 crosses over at 80Hz, 990 sends full range signal to subwoofer.

It would be worth the experiment to see if it sounds good when it is set up 'right':

990=LEF
EP500=Bypass

Should sound just as good. It would also be interesting to know who does the filtering better - 990 or 500?

-Brian n8wrl

Z, what you've reported is puzzling, since setting the EP500 to a crossover frequency rather than bypass can only decrease, not increase, the bass output of the sub. Also, if you mean the setting for having the sub play both the LFE bass and the low bass from the LR mains(with the mains also playing the low bass), that setting only applies when the mains are set "large", and you said that all of your speakers were set "small".

The basic suggestion is still all speakers "small", sub "yes" with internal crossover bypassed, and all crossovers in the 990 at 80Hz.

your right i errored in what i said, speakers were set to small ,x- over set to 80hz. however i definitly get a boost in the very lowest bass if i set the ep500 to 80hz instead of bypass.
If memory serves my old yamaha never gave me bass this deep when the ep500 was set to bypass, i dont think i ever tried the 80hz on the ep500 , with yamaha.
Keep in mind the bass sounds fantastic both ways , i just get a little boost to the lower end when i set the ep500 to 80hz instead of bypass.
I would be interested if anyone else gets this boost as well.