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Large v. small fronts in HT 7.1 setup

post #1 of 6
12/18/07 at 11:00pm
Thread Starter 
Hi,
I've got a Paradigm studio reference speaker setup with 100's for front (full range) with an M+K MX5000THX mark11 subwoofer. This setup is 6 years old and I'm relocating it in my house. During the initial setup, I set fronts and surr. to small and set SW to take care of low freq. etc. My question is, is it a waste to use full range large speakers set to small in a HT setup? Are there any reasons to use full range speakers as fronts if set to small or should I be setting them to some other setting?
Thanks for any help.
John
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post #2 of 6
12/19/07 at 3:56am

Re: Large v. small fronts in HT 7.1 setup

It is not a waste to set large speakers to small in an HT setup. Depending on you receiver, it may allow to set the crossover differently for your fronts and your other speakers. For instance, you may be able to set the crossover for your fronts to 60Hz and the crossover for the rest of your speakers to 80 or 100Hz -- doing something along those lines would likely produce the best results. If you are forced by your receiver to cross all of your speakers at 100Hz then you are probably not getting the most out of your speakers.
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post #3 of 6
12/19/07 at 7:49am

Re: Large v. small fronts in HT 7.1 setup

Some receivers also allow "double bass" where your bass is sent to the front speakers (if they are set to large) and to your sub as well.
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post #4 of 6
12/19/07 at 9:59am

Re: Large v. small fronts in HT 7.1 setup

Quote:
Originally Posted by hodedofome
Some receivers also allow "double bass" where your bass is sent to the front speakers (if they are set to large) and to your sub as well.

Yep some do....that doesn't mean it is a good thing though, since it means dialing in the sub yourself or having an overlap and awful response.

I agree with what Seth said; it depends on your receiver and no it isn't a waste. A crossover isn't a brick wall; set to 80Hz, your speakers will still see some sound down to at least 40Hz.
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post #5 of 6
12/19/07 at 2:26pm

Re: Large v. small fronts in HT 7.1 setup

More than 12 hours and nobody coming to say how full range speakers are a complete waste in HT. There may be hope after all.

Sound is such a complex thing to reproduce. There is much more to it than a couple numbers. One thing is certain though, speakers work their best when they aren't pushed to their limit. So, setting the crossover well above the usable range of the speakers will almost always yield a benefit. My personal rule is to set it at least one actave (Hz x 2) above the usable low frequency of the speakers, which is generally the -3dB point. Unfortuantely, all speakers in the system typically aren't identical and have different capabilities, and not all processors let you set separate crossovers for each speaker. So you may have to experiment.

People spend a lot of money on good subs. I'll never understand why they continuously insist on NOT allowing them to do the job they are intended for.
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post #6 of 6
12/20/07 at 11:35pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Large v. small fronts in HT 7.1 setup

Thanks for all the fine responses. I'll keep the large Paradigms in my system.
Merry Christmas,
John
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