New receiver or I keep it? (1 Viewer)

[MaxLM]

Hi all,


I am currently in the process of upgrading my polk audio RM7 speaker with the SVS prime series.

I have the Yamaha RX V-375 and I just bought a new sub SVS PC-2000 (wich is so awsome btw).

I am planning to buy 2 SVS Prime tower, 1 prime center and 2 prime satellite for the surround.

I wanted to know if it's better to change my receiver or keep it. Currently this receiver work very well for the price and I'm very happy with it.


If I need to change, what receiver would you suggest me to buy for around 600$

I plan to stay with a 5.1 setting. 60% Movie / 40% Music.



Thanks in advance.

 

[Al.Anderson]

That's a good receiver and there's nothing really related to the speaker upgrade that would require you to change it; except (maybe) power. The sensitivity of the SVS's look to be 2 db lower (89->87); so there's a slight chance that you'll feel they are underpowered.


If you're happy with it, keep it until it breaks or there's some new feature that peaks your interest. If you find that they aren't going loud enough, then consider an amp instead of a receiver.

 

[Jason Charlton]

You will lose about 2dB of sensitivity moving to the SVS speakers, so your receiver will have to work harder to produce the same SPL as before (so don't be shocked when you discover you have to turn the volume dial up higher with the new speakers).


Your old speakers would hit 101dB at roughly 16W, whereas, the new speakers will probably need about 25-28W to achieve the same SPL.


Unless you were already really pushing the limit of the volume dial, I'd say keep it for now and see how things go. You'll certainly be able to enjoy the new speakers with the current AVR.

 

[MaxLM]

Thank you very much for the answers and the dB clarification.

I am not someone who are pushing the volume to the limit.

 

[MaxLM]

what crossover setting would you suggest me to set? 200h on the yamaha and the sub at 120h?

 

[Jason Charlton]

If you set a crossover in the receiver, you shouldn't set one on the subwoofer.


Think about it: if you set the crossover on the receiver to 200Hz, then everything less than 200 Hz is sent to the subwoofer.


If you then set the crossover on the subwoofer to 120 Hz, then only material that is 120Hz and less is played by the subwoofer.


Doing it this way, everything that falls between 120 and 200 Hz is completely lost and never played!


The SVS speakers are full-range, meaning you should set the crossover in the receiver to 80Hz or maybe even lower.


On the subwoofer, turn the crossover dial all the way to maximum - this will ensure that everything sent to the subwoofer is played by the subwoofer.


You can adjust the crossover a bit to see what blends best to you, but with your speakers, you should be fine at the lower end of the spectrum. 200Hx is WAY too high for any decent set of speakers. Crossovers that high are usually needed when you have teeny little satellite speakers that have virtually no lower frequency response.

 

[MaxLM]

Okay thx Ill set the crossover at maximum on the sub and 80hz on the receiver
I just bought a pair of prime tower 5 min ago but Ill keep 3 polk rm7 for the moment

Well explained btw

 

[Jason Charlton]

Oh, one more thing - in the receiver's speaker setup menu, there will be a setting for the mains: "large" or "small". This has nothing to do with their physical size - rather it is meant to define whether or not the crossover should be applied (this is referred to as bass management).


If you have a subwoofer (which you do) you should not set the main speakers to "large". Set them to "small" or whatever the other option is called. Doing this should enable the crossover.

 

[MaxLM]

In the yamaha rx v375 manual: LFE (Low Frequency Effects) 0.1 channel. This channel reproduces low-frequency bsae signals and has a frequency range from 20Hz to 120 Hz.


Does it mean that since my SVS PC-2000 are 16Hz-260Hz I cannot go lower than 20Hz?

 

[gene c]

The standard frequency is listed at 20-20,000 hz. This is the area thought to be heard by the human ear. The 16-20 hz area is what you will feel. Since your subwoofer is self-powered your receiver will simply pass the low-level signal on to the subwoofer amplifier. If the receivers amp had to power that low of a frequency then there might be an issue if your receiver was of low quality (which your's isn't). Some cheap car amps have a frequency response of 50-20,000 hz for example. I have a cheap Crunch amp tat's listed at 30-20,000 hz.


To make a short story long (too late!), don't worry 'bout it!


Also, for music listening, try a 60 hz crossover in the receiver since you just bought towers. For movies, stick with 80.

 

[ChromeJob]

In the yamaha rx v375 manual: LFE (Low Frequency Effects) 0.1 channel. This channel reproduces low-frequency bsae signals and has a frequency range from 20Hz to 120 Hz.

Does it mean that since my SVS PC-2000 are 16Hz-260Hz I cannot go lower than 20Hz?

No. This refers only to the .1 channel in multichannel audio.

When you set your mains to SMALL in speaker setup, you are enabling bass management . This redirects sounds below the bass cross over from all the speakers set to small to the sub. With a great sub like that, use use it for all below 80hz. Set all the other speakers to SMALL regardless of physical size.

If your sub is fed from a sub/LFE OUT connection on the 375, the sub should probably have the cross over dial at max , and LPF filter OFF. Check the SVS manual. Filtering and cross over should generally be managed only in the AVR or the sub.

 

[MaxLM]

yeah I set the sub on "LFE" in the back, all speakers are at ''Small", crossover at 60hz in the receiver. It's sound really great, this sub is really something.

 

[ChromeJob]

yeah I set the sub on "LFE" in the back, all speakers are at ''Small", crossover at 60hz in the receiver. It's sound really great, this sub is really something.

Even with tower speakers rated to produce low bass, that's a low crossover. Just because a manufacturer SAYS the speaker goes down to 50hz doesn't mean it will, or will CONSISTENTLY. Sending all below the thx reference crossover 80hz or even100hz will help the mains focus on freqs they can produce reliably.

 

[Al.Anderson]

Even with tower speakers rated to produce low bass, that's a low crossover. Just because a manufacturer SAYS the speaker goes down to 50hz doesn't mean it will, or will CONSISTENTLY. Sending all below the thx reference crossover 80hz or even100hz will help the mains focus on freqs they can produce reliably.

If the speaker manufacturer (Polks? It's too far to the top of the post) provides a frequency/SPL graph you can use that to see where the speaker rolls off. Set your corossover above that.

 

[MaxLM]

Allright I'll test @80hz and @100hz.

Any tips how I can test those news crossover frequency? I think I tried once but I didnt saw any difference in the sound.


@Anderson I have now 2 SVS prime tower (L+R)

 

[Al.Anderson]

I couldn't find a graph for the SVS Primes, but I did see that they were 30 Hz-25 kHz, +/-3 dB (which you may have mentioned, I'm just having an aversion to scrolling up today). While it would be nice to see the curve, at 30Hz -3db, there's no way they're going to roll off above 60Hz, so I think you're fine. But it's fun to experiment, so maybe try the 80; I wouldn't bother with 100Hz. I mean why bother with towers if you're going to pin them that high.

 

[ChromeJob]

If the speaker manufacturer (Polks? It's too far to the top of the post) provides a frequency/SPL graph you can use that to see where the speaker rolls off. Set your corossover above that.

I have a bridge in NY I'd like to sell you. Let's talk....

But seriously, yes some testing info is useful, but I'd put my trust in independent reviewers.

 

[Al.Anderson]

I have a bridge in NY I'd like to sell you. Let's talk....

I liked seeing the graph because, who'd alter a graph ... but now that I think about it, why not?

So as of now I'm swearing off all bridge buying unless I see an independent review!


But seriously, if a company as big as SVS fudged on their frequency response specs, I think the hobbyist community (e.g., HTF / AVS) would be all over it.