HT .1 bass (1 Viewer)

[BrendonC]

Hi,
I'm in the process of building a set of front satellites and separate transmission line subs. Since I'll be bi-amping, and have an interst in HT (and audio), I'm wondering how I should approach the issue of the .1 in the 5.1 surround when expanding the system. Should I be concerned about leaving the .1 unused, by having a very good full range system from my left and right satellites? Or would it make more sense to use the .1? I'm not sure how the .1 is created during the mixing, and I think this is my problem. Is it simply a combination of the left and right anyway? If so, there's not problem leaving it unused.
Another question I have is what frequencies are typically mixed into the center and the rear surrounds? Should I be concerned if these speakers have a higher low-end cutoff?
Thanks and forgive my ignorance!
Brendon

 

[Greg Monfort]

When properly mixed, and used, it only has digitized special effects, so if your mains go down to 20Hz you can use the .1 as it's intended for HT or 5.1 encoded music; and bypass it for stereo, unless you listen to organs, as I do.
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean

 

[Jeff Rosz]

for HT the .1 is a must do. you will miss out on so much without it for movies. is it a combo of L&R....no. all 5 channels are full range. if any set (front-center-rears) have a high low-end cutoff you use the bass management system of the prepro to send the lows (typ. 80-90 hz) to the sub. just set them to small. and like G.M. said, just bypass it for music.
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*why build one when you can build two for twice the price*
jeff

 

[BrendonC]

Thanks your help guys. Just one point of clarification. The front left and right satellites will probably go down to 50 Hz only, if I get get them there with a transmission line. Otherwise, if I go to a ported design, it will probably be around 70 Hz (I'll be using a pair of 5.5" Vifa woofers per speaker).
Either way, if it's 50 or 70 Hz, should I simply dedicate one of my TL subs to the .1? Or should I build three so I still have full range front surrounds?
If all 5 channels are full range, should I be concerned about building sealed boxes for my rear surrounds? They won't have much bass then, but I guess that's what the .1's for anyway. I just don't like the thought of missing information.
Are there good sites that digest HT? A good audio site I've found is www.tnt-audio.com an Italian Hi-Fi site. Something similar for HT would be nice.
Thanks again,
Brendon.
I hate asking newbie questions without having much to start with!!