bass management and denon avr-3300 (1 Viewer)

[Michael Weingar]

Quick Question.
When selecting all speakers as "large", and selecting subwoofer "no" the .1 channel (LFE) is simply redirected(not lost) to the front large channels correct? I do have 2 subs and I am running one sub for the front and one for the rear channels. so i want to set the subwoofers to act descretely, so i have daisy chained the sub inputs off the pre outs of the outboard amps used to run the fronts and rears. So in theory, the receiver thinks i have full range fronts and rears, and that maeans that the LFE is redirected. I do not seem to be at a loss for bass at all, from the material i have played so far, but i could be worng techincally Am I right in this assumption?
Thanks!

 

[Mikey B]

I'm not sure I understand completely how you have your subs setup, but assuming it does work, what is the reasoning for setting it up this way? The LFE channel will only play through your front speakers and subwoofer. The 2nd sub will only help out the lower bass regions for material sent to your rears. Depending on your speakers, the front and rear speakers could have some frequency overlap with the subs. This could cause some bass cancelation. You can mitigate this with the subs crossover control, but to me this approach seems too tricky to get everything dialed in. Knowing what kind/size speakers you have may help in getting knowledgeable replies. I would assume you want to connect this way because your speakers are fairly bass shy? If that's true, then sending all your speakers the full sound spectrum would be a mistake (IMO). Not only do the fronts get LFE information, but ALL speakers including the center channel (which has no sub support) would get the full range of audio. In high volume listening sessions, you run the risk of over-taxing all the speakers (not just the center). This being because all speakers and the sub are getting all frequencies sent to them. The subs would be OK because you can filter out frequencies that are too high, but the other speakers have no filter for frequencies that are too low. I imagine your setup sounds fine, but what happens when you turn the volume way up for demos? Do the mid-bass and woofer drivers of your speakers sound like they are going to blow their guts all over the room?

Just to be clear, your comment about your setup making the system think you have all full range speakers is not because of the subs. It's because of the setting to "Large". The subs only help out with the bass. ALL bass is still being delivered to all your speakers. I believe the proper way to setup a system using the subs as only "fill-in" bass is to use the speaker level inputs/outputs on the sub. Most people do not see many benefits of this type of setup. My belief is to set all speakers to small and use a very musical subwoofer (or two) using the line level input(s). This allows the system to be it's most dynamic and the subwoofer to do what it does best. JUST MY OPINION.

 

[Chuck Kent]

Michael: If I read your post correctly, then yes, you should be getting everything (bass signal-wise.)

But I also agree with Mikey. I'm skeptical that you're geting the best bass performance that is possible...

 

[Todd Hochard]

Yes, that should direct the bass correctly, although I'm not sure if it will direct dts 5.1 correctly.

But, I also agree with Mikey. I have the 3300, and have all speakers set to small, even though the fronts will extend to 32Hz (measured in my room) at -3db. I let the sub do the bass work, and I feel this is the most dynamic. I've tried it your way as well.

Not to mention, with two subs getting two different signals, in two different parts of the room- you could be getting big bass cancellation from that alone. You could try using the 200-20Hz sweeps on AVIA, and with the RS db meter, figure out what's missing.

 

[Michael Weingar]

Thanks guys!
I will take a look at the response this weekend.