Questions about my receiver. (1 Viewer)

[Justin Ward]

I have a Pioneer VSX-D510 receiver. As you probably know it is entry-level. Now, I plan on purchasing Paradigm Titan speakers for fronts. I believe the Titans have capable bass handling but they may not do the low stuff really well. So this is how I plan on setting up my receiver. I have a Kenwood CRS-159 center/surround speaker set(not great, but better than most HTIB speakers and I got 'em for only $100 Canadian unused). I would plan on setting the surrounds and center as small(they only have a single 4inch and dual 4inch drivers respectively). I would set the Paradigms as large. The receiver has crossovers of 100,150 and 200 hz. I think the best choice would be 100hz because I notice if it is higher I can localize the subwoofer easily. So I guess my real question is should the Paradigms be set as large. I could put the subwoofer setting to PLUS which sends stereo bass to the sub as well as the mains, which would re-enforce the bass right? Or would I be better of by setting the Titans as small and sending all bass to the sub?


Now my other question. Many have told me that a higher end receiver even with a lower power rating will actually have more clean power. I find that I watch most movies at -25dB and most music at -40 or -45dB(-30dB or -40 dB in surrouund). The sound is very clean and powerful in my small room. I don't notice any distortion until I turn the volume past -10dB, I only did this once and never will again. It was quite loud and I'm sure it would have damaged my hearing if I kept it there.Does this mean I would probably not benefit from a more powerful receiver?

 

[ThomasL]

Justin, it depends on whether the Titans change the balance, so to speak. What are you using currently for front speakers? The Titans may demand more power from the receiver than what you are currently using. But I would say in general, power wise, many people are fine with what budget receivers put out. I am in my "budget" setup. But a higher end receiver may also give you better DAC/ADCs, better isolation of circuitry to lessen crosstalk/interference/distortion, etc. etc. And it's fun upgrading anyhow
As for how you want to set up your bass management, I think I did some tests with my Pioneer using Avia and I found that if I had a sub and the Fronts set to Large that the Small surrounds only sent their bass to the sub (with PLUS mode on). I can't recall exactly but using Avia, you can find out exactly where your bass is going on each channel. You may find with movies that you should set everything to Small and put the crossover at 100. The crossover isn't a hard line in the sand. It is a gradual descent so your fronts will still be getting some bass under 100Hz.
cheers,
--tom