question about small vs large speakers (1 Viewer)

[ELSock]

ok i have a set that claims to have 3 and 1/2 inch woofers... so now do i set them as large or small? and on top that when i set them to large, my actual woofer quiets down.. am i doing somethin wrong here to make my woofer got whispery... or is that the way its supposed to be...

thx for the help (i hope)
~ELSock~

 

[troy evans]

When you set speakers to "large", you basically set them to have full range capability. When you set speakers to "small" you redirect the bass portion of those speakers to the subwoofer. So, yes your sub quieted down because of the "large" setting. Try setting your receivers crossover at 80 or 100hz and set all speakers to "small." Even if the speakers are large in there size, the "small" setting would still apply for most. Also, turn the subwoofers crossover all the way up. If it goes from 40 to 160hz, then, set it to 160hz. This way you won't have any crossover interference from the sub, since you will be using the crossover in the receiver.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Troy is correct. Except for the most capable speakers (and there aren't many), the proper setting is small. The reasons for this are two-fold. (1) When set to large, lower frequencies that the speakers are incapable of reproducing either produce distortion or disappear altogether and (2) Even if the low frequencies are not produced by the speakers, your receiver/amplifier is still trying to push power to the speaker for the power hungry bass frequencies. This robs power for the rest of the frequencies. Allowing the (usually) self-powered sub to handle the frequencies it is made for frees the receiver/amplifier to concentrate all it's power where it should.

Now you just have to get over the "small" designation. It's tough, but you'll learn to live with it.