Speaker set up/ low frequency's (1 Viewer)

What is the norm for setting up speakers? I mean, should I be allowing low frequency's to pass through to my center, fronts, rears and sub or should I restrict the low frequency's to just the sub?

Depends on the speakers, but most systems work better with the speakers set to small (so bass is rerouted to sub).

-V

I am running phase Tech speakers.

And I drive a chevy, doesn't really tell you too much. Could be a chevette, could be a corvette.

Phase makes Teatro, Velocity, PC- even indoor/outdoor speakers.

In most cases, unless you have a powered sub section of your speakers, the bass works better rerouted to the sub, ESPECIALLY for movies (some will argue in terms of music quality). There is also no "right" answer-- you can try it both ways and see if you have a pref...

But in most cases, bass on a movie soundtrack extends lower than a standard tower speaker and amp combo can produce- and certainly lower than you'll get out of a smaller bookshelf speaker.

-V

Vince is right (Though I'm tempted to argue about whether a Chevette is drivable ).

It depends on your mains/center/rears. If they're "full range", try setting them to large. Else, try small.

What sounds best to you? That's all that counts.



I *assume* you're referring to LFE? If so, it [rant]only[/rant] gets routed through the sub out. True?

Well, true and false.

True, if you have a sub, LFE should be routed to it (the only way it won't is if you have no sub, or if your receiver offers alternate routing).

However, false in that when I said "bass" I was not referring to LFE. When i said above " bass on a movie soundtrack extends lower than a standard tower speaker and amp combo can produce" this is not confined strictly to the LFE channel- EVERY SINGLE MAIN CHANNEL HAS THE ABILITY TO CARRY FULL RANGE SIGNAL. There is often SUBSTANTIAL bass signal carried in the main channel, and much of it is below 60hz.

I have found that the average tower speaker (even ones specified as "full range") will piss out at 60hz when driving a full range signal. Adequately driving high amplitude, low freq signal takes a lot of power-- and usually without a dedicated amp and driver for bass, a tower speaker simply cannot produce well when also expected to use power on the rest of the full range signal.

-Vince

A lot of people define even their tower speakers as SMALL and are pleased with the bass response. As we debaited this, 2 possible reasons came up:

- The reciever does not even try to send low frequencies to the towers if they are small and this reduces the power demand on the reciever.

- Bass sounds best in a room if there is only a single-location source of bass. Your center & tower speakers CAN produce bass, but it creates complex interactions and there are many nodes in the room where the sound from one speaker is reduced/eliminated by the sound from the other. And, there are spots where the bass adds up to too-high levels. Just moving your head a few inches can change the volume.

(Find the old posts in the Speakers and Subwoofers fourm where the SVS guys advise members with multiple subs how to place them. The answer from guys who have done a lot of testing is: put all the subs in the same corner and on-top of each other if possible.)