How do you set your towers up? (1 Viewer)

[steve nn]

I have the CHT.com level three towers and center on the way and I was wandering if I should still keep my speaker settings to small. I have the Kenwood 504 and am going to use the stock mains I have now for the surrounds temporarily. The new level three's go down to like 42-45 along with the center so I just want to be sure I have them setup the best for HT use,DVD. I use the Velodyne ct150 sub to. What settings will give me the most or utilize what I will be using. All speakers set to small still? The rookie

 

[Harold_C]

Yes. All speakers set to SMALL. Subwoofer connected to the sub output of the receiver.

Use the receiver's built in 80 Hz (or 100 Hz, if it doesn't have 80) crossover.

If you set your towers to LARGE, you will have two problems. First, you lose the benefits of biamping and the amplifiers driving the LARGE speakers will need to produce a bunch more power. Figure you will need 200+ watts per channel to get near Dolby reference levels. Second, any speakers set as SMALL will have noticeably better bass than the LARGE speakers because their bass will be redirected to the powered sub. You really don't want your surrounds to have better bass than your front speakers.

Let the subwoofer do what it can do better than any full-range speaker -- play deep bass.

 

[steve nn]

Thanks Harold. I had my thinking down for smaller speakers but did not know for sure on the larger speakers. Thanks for confirming. Am looking forward to see how it will sound. The intro to ARMAGEDDON will be first up to the plate.

 

[John Doran]

well, i'm going to go against the popular wisdom around here and suggest that you at least try them on "large" for a while.

i had mine on "small" for more than a month and just recently decided to give 'em a whirl on "large", and have found the bass to be more robust, but without any loss in mid- and upper-range detail or imaging. i'm happier with them now...

anyway, i believe it is something you should experiment with - who knows which you'll prefer until you try?

- jd

 

[steve nn]

If I set my fronts to large it will shut down my sub unless I turn my cinema EQ on when I am in the sub gain mode on my VR 507 kenwood receiver. This is where we adjust the sub volume. I don't know, but I will have to give it a try. It will be nice to have the option unless I here different't. I just know what I know and that's not to much yet!

 

[Will Gatlin Jr]

I use all tower NHT spks in my 7.2 (two subs) set up. I have them set as large. My front/rear spks play down to 26hz, and my side spks play down to 35hz. In today's DD/DTS sountracks, there's bass in them rear/sides. I can't understand why a person with Tower spks (will play below 40hz) will set them as small and send all the bass to the sub, when if the spks are set as "large" you can have an even flow of bass and LF (.1). A well balanced, powerfull, and dynamic system is where it's at.

 

[Harold_C]

I can't understand why a person with Tower spks (will play below 40hz) will set them as small and send all the bass to the sub, when if the spks are set as "large" you can have an even flow of bass and LF (.1).

Not everyone has seven tower speakers like you do, that's why!

In a 5.1 system, having five tower speakers and a sub dedicated exclusively to the LFE channel is probably the best possible configuration. However, it is not the most cost-effective system because it requires five tower speakers, very large amplifiers of at least 200 watts per channel to drive them, and subwoofers that are underutilized since they will only be used for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS source material and, even then, only for recordings that actually use the LFE channel. Despite its poor "bang-for-the-buck", this is a great system configuration.

What is not a great configuration is a "mixed" system with some LARGE fronts and SMALL center and surround speakers. Assuming you have a decent powered subwoofer, the redirected bass from the center and surround channels will have more impact than bass played by almost any passive full-range front speakers. You don't really want the surrounds to have more bass impact than the fronts.

The specific question in this thread was about a pair of tower speakers that have two 6-inch bass drivers. Specsheet aside, there are limits to the bass output of a system with 6-inch bass drivers, particularly with receiver amplifiers driving them. If these were set to LARGE, these 6-inch bass drivers would be required to reproduce not only their own bass, but the bass from the center channel and the surround channels as well. There's no advantage to that configuration; might as well send all the bass to the speaker most capable of handling it (the subwoofer) and take maximum advantage of bi-amping for source material that places unprecedented demands on dynamic headroom.

 

[John_VI]

I asked that very question of the folks at Def Tech. Their response? Connect the BP-2006TL mains (w/8" powered sub) using the speaker-level connections only (ie, do NOT split the LFE connection for use on the mains) and set the mains to large. That's the way I have it set up today, but I'll probably experiment with it some more.

 

[Harold_C]

Main speakers with built-in powered subs are the leading exception to the "all small" rule. But, that is a very unusual system configuration.

 

[steve nn]

OK guys. I think I get the just of it now. My new center will go down to around 45 too but the surrounds will be small. If I set the fronts as large and the center as large It will limit me to choosing large for the surrounds or surrounds off. I just wanted to be sure, I really do like my sub and don't want to put any limits on it. Thanks for your help.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I run my mains as large.. Of course they go down to 32Hz
with authority and they go lower... No external sub yet...
Maybe one of these days I will get a dedicated sub (when I
win one of these SVS Contests!)

 

[steve nn]

Brett you will really enjoy having one. I just can't imagine HT with out one. Well I did turn the sub of once and it was horrible. Now your mains go much lower so it would not be as bad. But still? Right after I ordered my towers with the center a few days ago I thought this will be it for a few years. " Long story in five months of HT". Was I ever wrong. I decided to check out the HTF before I got of line and there was a review by Barry on the new HSU-3. Very good review! I use the vel ct-150 now and really like it but darn! You know the intro to ARMAGEDDON when Charleston Heston says " It happened once and it will happen again ". I think maybe he just might have been talking about us HT addicts upgrading. I will wait until the first of the year though, at-least today I can say that. I just checked your sight out. Looks good! I think I could say with authority you have the HT bug. You have subs, just not dedicated.

 

[Will Gatlin Jr]

Harold C...

Take your time and read my quote again. I'm not speaking about folks that use small spks w/a small setting. I'm speaking about folks who use full range (tower spks/below 40hz) spks. BTW, I use 6 full range NHT spks with a double centre set up. Hope this helps!!

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Steve,
I have Dual 12's running @ 2 Ohm in a 3 Cubic Foot Sealed
Enclosure in my Dodge Stratus (I know what subs can do) and
to be honest, I am not missing "much" granted there are dedicated
subs that will do high output @ 20Hz but at 32 I am roughly
pushing 100Db from the dual 10" subs.
Like I said, I will eventualy get a sub. But I am in no rush.
And thanks for the compliments

 

[steve nn]

Ya Brett when I started out my reply to you I had not seen your sight. After I checked it out at the end of my post I just about scratched the whole reply thinking to myself that he knows what's going on. I have a acquaintance who states he will never get a dedicated sub because his towers with the built in subs do such a good job.

 

[Will Gatlin Jr]

There's no spks (woofer) that can outplay a good dedicated sub. A good sub is a "MUST" for HT. Adding the .1 channel to the L/R spk is a set-back in HT. Just my opinion.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I disagree Will, but that's okay....

 

[Will Gatlin Jr]

Come on Brett!! I want to hear why you disagree. Hopefully, we all will learn something. Isn't that what's it's all about?

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I disagree because I believe that there ARE Towers out there

that can and will compete with seperate subs, not only in

sheer numbers (DB) but also quality of sound. And I don't

feel that they cost a fortune either.

I know how good my AR9's sound.. AR1's have 15's and go

down into the low 20's with high output and probably taper

into the 18hz range.

Do they cost a fortune? They can be had for less than 2K a

pair.. I believe there are others out that that can perform

also.

Will they do 120DB at 20Hz? Most likely not.. But do you

really need to? Unless you have a 30' x20' room it's doubtful.

Of course other people have other opinions, I am sure TV

for example wouldn't agree with me.

It's nice to know what we have options.

 

[Mike_T_]

I have some Studio 100's that have a ton of bass, however movies wouldn't ever be the same without my sub. What bothers me is the notion that setting your speakers to large will reduce the amount of LF sent to your sub so much so that it will be dramatic? Because my receiver sends a dedicated LF channel to my sub, I don't think it really cares what my towers are doing. If I set my mains to large, the overall dynamics across the soundstage are much better than if they are set to small and the LF is concentrated in one area. The mid range also benefits from setting them to large. My sub puts out huge amounts of bass no matter what my mains are set to in Home Theater.

Either way, it depends on 1) your system and 2) your personal preference. There certainly may be a general rule to abide by, but there are many circumstances where you just have to do what sounds right with your particular equipment.