How would you setup your speaker ? large or small using Denon 5800 receiver. (1 Viewer)

[TanD]

Hi, i am looking for your opinions.

I have 3 identical front speaker with freq. 38hz-22khz. and 4 identical surround with freq. 60hz-22khz, and i do have a subwoofer. How would you set this up with the Denon 5800 receiver. I am currently have the front 3 set up as large and the other 4 as small. I was playing the front three with small or large setting but doesn't find any different.

Even i didn't find any sound different, I would like to know how would you set this up, what should be the correct way to set those speakers, large or small?

Thanks for your input.

Tan

 

[Lewis Besze]

The specs you gave about your speakers are fairly useless since it was from the maker presumably taken in an anechoich[echo free] chamber.Not exactly real world condition,but since every room sounds different,they didn't have much choice.So unless you can determine by test tones and an SPL meter in hand what is a the real low end limit of the speakers,I would set them all small.

 

[Chris PC]

I would try both and see which sounds better. You could also take some measurements at the listening position and use a test CD, DVD or LD.

There are arguments for both, but it depends on the speakers, the subwoofer and your room etc. I know its supposed to sound best with the fronts set to small because that way there is less interference between the sub and the main speakers.

N.B. You will not find out the best setting until you locate your subwoofer for optimum performance, especially if you are just listening to do your testing and not measuring. For instance, if you try setting the fronts to small and then try the fronts set to large and you find one is better than the other and you base your decision on that, then you might be missing out if the subwoofer is not at an optimum position in your room. Example: You try the fronts as small and large and you find that setting the front speakers as large sounds better. What you don't realize, is that it might have sounded even better if the subwoofer was in its optimum location and the fronts were set to small.

Test it out and see.

 

[RichardH]

If your sub is up to the task, I would run everything small.

 

[TanD]

My sub may go down into the 20 or 20's According to specs. if i set it to small then why would i waste money on those B&W N804 across the front, I would get the N805 instead. I listen to music alot. Hope more opinions please.

 

[Nick G]

Tan, for HT setting all speakers small is usually the way to go. Here is a link to a thread that I think you will find informative. If you do not read anything else from the thread, scroll down a bit and read the post by Brian Florian.
Regards, Nick
http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003524.html

 

[RichardH]

Does the 5800 let you set fronts as small for surrounds modes and fronts as large for music modes? If so, you could do it that way. Your 804s are great speakers, but they can't do the "large" setting at loud volumes without compressing and/or rolling off the lowest bass. That part is best done with your sub.

You might think about setting up your system with a lower crossover point, like 50 or 60Hz, so that you use more of the 804's bass capabilities.

If it were me, I would run the fronts small for everything. Remember that it's not a brickwall filter at 80Hz. You're still using the 804's bass capabilities when they're run small. In fact, their bass performance is likely giving you a smoother interface between the mains and sub than would be possible if you had the 805s as fronts.

 

[Lewis Besze]

My sub may go down into the 20 or 20's According to specs. if i set it to small then why would i waste money on those B&W N804 across the front, I would get the N805 instead. I listen to music alot.

Indeed!
However wasting the the amp's power on frequencies that speaker can't do without distorsion,just as bad.
If you listen to music though alot then switch to the "Direct" mode,which removes any highpass filtering in the signal,and activates what Denon calls a "paralell bass managment" for the sub[analog lowpass filter],which can be defeated via remote if you wan't.This is true even if you selected "small" in the "speaker menu" set up.So you can have your cake and eat it too.

 

[TanD]

>Does the 5800 let you set fronts as small for surrounds modes and fronts as large for music modes? If so, you could do it that way. Your 804s are great speakers, but they can't do the "large" setting at loud volumes without compressing and/or rolling off the lowest bass. That part is best done with your sub.

the 5800 won't give u this option, but even it is set at large it still give u the option the bass go sub or sub + main.

>You might think about setting up your system with a lower crossover point, like 50 or 60Hz, so that you use more of the 804's bass capabilities.

the 5800 only provide a fix THX setting, i think it is at 80hz.

>If you listen to music though alot then switch to the "Direct" mode,which removes any highpass filtering in the signal,and activates what Denon calls a "paralell bass managment" for the sub[analog lowpass filter],which can be defeated via remote if you wan't.This is true even if you selected "small" in the "speaker menu" set up.So you can have your cake and eat it too

Oh, i didn't think of that, the 5800 provide direct, and pure direct mode, but i think it only bypass dsp and tone control, i am not sure about the lowpass filter?

 

[RichardH]

the 5800 only provide a fix THX setting, i think it is at 80hz.

What I meant was you could do a custom setup using an outboard crossover to let you split the signal where you wanted to. e.g. the Outlaw ICBM.

Again, don't think about it as "anything the 804s can do under 80Hz is wasted." Because the filter at 80Hz is like 18dB per octave or something like that. So, if you have a 100dB signal at 80Hz, it could be asking that speaker to do 80dB or so at like 45Hz. So, clearly, your 804s will still be getting use out of their bass extension. This is also the reason why some people advocate the use of fronts/center that can go quite a bit lower than 80Hz even though they're going to be used as small.

In short, I would just run everything as small for movies, and decide which way you like it for music. BTW, what are your rears and sub?

 

[TanD]

Thanks for your advice, and after reading the post link above i truly believe setting small is the right way.

>BTW, what are your rears and sub?

my front 3 are 804, and rears 4 are 805, and svs sub 20-39.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Oh, i didn't think of that, the 5800 provide direct, and pure direct mode, but i think it only bypass dsp and tone control, i am not sure about the lowpass filter?

Press the "channel select",or speaker select or whatever Denon calls this these days,this is the button that let's you see how many speakers,and what level they are at.If you cycle through in Direct mode[not pure],then it should show the sub or LFE level,this can be changed in the fly just like anyother speakers.Below the -12db setting is the "off" setting,by pressing the level down button.The front speakers remains large,in Direct mode no matter what's the setting in surround mode or DSP or "Stereo" or if you activate the sub.Hope this help.

 

[Robert M]

I am currently experimenting with the 5800, with small and large settings. I use M&K S150's in my H/T set up, but have never been content with their two channel reproduction. The 150's have a cross over point of 77 hz which to me leaves a gap with the fixed 80 hz X over offered with the 5800. What I intend to do is marry an MX350 sub with each main channel and use an external X over from M&K between the pre out and amp to deliver full range to the L/R 150's in stereo modes. I will then set the front L/R to large and all other speakers to small. The LFE and