Newbie Setup Questions (1 Viewer)

I have searched the site and read the FAQ's but still have some questions unanswered. Right now I have a hodgepodge of equipment. I am using a Pioneer VSX-D511, RCA STS-830 Fronts, a HTD Level One Center and HTD Level One Surrounds. My Front Speakers are 150watt 3-way design, and are rated from 60-20000hz,90db. They have a 8" wooofer, 3" mid, and 1" tweeter. On my reciever should I set all speakers to small even with the three ways? Also what should my Sub Cross over be set to? I have the HTD Level One 8" sub. I have 100, 150 and 200 as options. I will be upgrading all speakers in series and will probably go with Fluance as I just got all of this last year and the wife would have my head if I went with the Axioms I have had my eye on. I plan to get the center first, then the the Surronds and finally the Fronts last. Any different Ideas on this order? TIA for all your help

OK, first you should set your speakers to small if you own a sub (unless your main speakers have built in powered subwoofers). The problem with setting speakers to large is that your receiver directs all of the bass material to those speakers rather than allowing it to go to your sub. By bass material I mean the low frequencies which are not encoded in the ".1" LFE channel. When speakers are set to large, your sub will only get the LFE ".1". What you want to do is set them all to small and allow the sub and mains to have a nice transition based on the crossover settings.

As for the crossover on your receiver, I'd set it to 100. It may not be perfect but its probably the closest to correct. If you are using the subwoofer pre-out on your receiver and your receiver's crossover that should eliminate the need to use the subwoofer's internal crossover.

Regarding your future speaker purchase. The center and mains are the most important speakers. It is important that they "match", meaning they use the same tweeters and midranges. Right now, with a mis-matched set you may notice your soundstage isn't quite right. Sounds which pan across the front aren't as smooth as they could be. The center speaker handles almost all of the dialog and is considered the most important. The surrounds handle very little information and are the least important. Surround matching is not as important as smooth panning really can't be achieved front to rear anyway. You do want to try to keep within the same speaker line for surrounds, but matching is not as critical.

When you make your speaker purchase, I strongly recommend you get the Center and Mains first and surrounds last.

Here is a good, simple discussion about setting your crossover. I'd recommend reading it in order to clarify what I said...my explanation may not have been as clear.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=169204