speaker settings for receiver (1 Viewer)

[Joe*J]

I hope this is the right place to ask these questions.
I have a Yamaha RX V3000 receiver. Definitive Technology BP 2004 TL main speakers. These speakers have built in powered subwoofers. Def Tech C/L/R 2002 center speaker. The 2004 speakers are hooked up using speaker level and line level (LFE using Y adapter going into each main)
Ok now for the confusion: How should the speaker setting be set?
Mains- LARGE or SMALL
Subwoofer- SUB or MAIN or BOTH

I don't really understand what the BOTH setting does but its there. I have asked these questions in other forums but I never got a clear answer. Maybe someone out there has these same speakers with a Yamaha receiver and they could give there settings.
Also the Def Techs are rated at 4-8 ohms, the manual says to use the 4 ohm setting. The confusion here is that some people tell me to use 4 others say to use 8. Does anyone know for sure which is better.

 

[Joe*J]

Still looking for answers, maybe someone has a similar set up.

 

[Carl Johnson]

If It were my system I'd set the sub at main and the mains at large (assuming your speakers pretty good at producing bass, I haven't heard them). I've never heard of that main/both setting but I would assume that the both setting is for people who don't use a sub and want to redirect their .1 bass to the mains.

 

[SvenS]

The "sub - both" setting tells the receiver to send the LFE audio to both the sub AND the front speakers (if they're set ot large). I think you will need to experiment with setting your front speakers to large then try it with them set to small and make your own decision. I myself use 15" three-way JBL's that handle deep bass very well so I have them set to large but it will be up to you to decide if your speakers can handle the lowest bass well.

If It were my system I'd set the sub at main and the mains at large (assuming your speakers pretty good at producing bass, I haven't heard them). I've never heard of that main/both setting but I would assume that the both setting is for people who don't use a sub and want to redirect their .1 bass to the mains.

If he sets the sub setting to main he will get NO signal sent to the sub and that is obviously not something you want to do if you have a sub. This setting is only for those without a sub to use.

 

[dave alan]

yammy is rated at 100 watts/channel

set to 8 ohms
speakers set to small
lfe set to sub

get a bigger power amp....different story

 

[Cliff]

The "sub - both" setting tells the receiver to send the LFE audio to both the sub AND the front speakers (if they're set ot large).

No, this is not it, although a number of people believe this at first until they carefully read Yamaha's description a number of times and test it for themselves. The setting called "Both" is confusing due to Yamaha's nomenclature, but it simply means that the subwoofer receives bass from the main channels (even when main speakers are set to "large") in addition to the LFE channel and bass from any other channels with speakers set as "small". Therefore, with the mains set as "large" and the LFE/Bass Out set to "Both", bass from the mains is output from both the main speakers and the subwoofer. If you change the LFE/Bass setting to "SW", bass from the mains (set as "large") is not directed to the subwoofer. In both cases, the LFE channel is played only through the subwoofer, not through the main speakers.
The purpose of the "Both" setting can be any of the following:
1. You want subwoofer-enhanced output of bass in your system that includes full-range main speakers set as "large". Some people accomplish a similar (not identical) enhancement by running their sub calibrations "hot" by 3-5 dB, or even more.
2. You have main speakers that are not quite full-range (e.g., output down to 35-40 Hz), you want to set them to "large" so as to use as much of their range as possible, and you want to capture the remaining low bass (that the main speakers cannot deliver themselves) by routing to the subwoofer.
3. Two-channel sources decoded by Dolby Prologic do not have an LFE channel and therefore can benefit from bass in the main channels being passed to both the full-range main speakers and the subwoofer.
4. Ditto #3 for two-channel music sources, with or without any format decoding or processing.
I use the "Both" setting for reason #2. With careful system calibration, it can sound terrific.
Cliff

 

[Bill Kane]

Cliff,

This makes my head ache, trying to rethink bass management back to the fundamentals coupled w/ Yamaha BOTH.

Gonna ponder it, especially in light of this very post this very day by "Secrets" editor Brian Florian at avsforum:

The LFE channel is an independent channel. What is on it may or may not be duplicated in the main channels. That is up to the guy or gal who did the mix. If bass is indeed duplicated across one or more main channels and the LFE channel, then the total sound energy, whatever it may be, is in fact what the artist intended.

When you run main speakers as large and send only the LFE channel to the subwoofer, there is no inadvertent doubling up of anything. Assuming for a second everything has reasonable performance and the system is balanced, you will get the correct total spectral balance of the mix.

IF, as is more common in peoples mind, you set mains as large and send a copy of their bass, along with the LFE channel, to the subwoofer then you will most definitely have a doubling up of the bass which was put by the mix artist in the main channels (specifically the band over which the mains speakers and subwoofer overlap will be 6dB higher than the rest of the channel - in room). Most processors call this the "super" or "ultra" subwoofer setting (no relation to THX Ultra). Yamaha calls this setting BOTH.

__________________

 

[Cliff]

Bill,

Yes, Brian is absolutely correct. The bottom line for me is that most "bass management" schemes are compromises in one way or another, even the highly touted "use a sub and set all speakers to small". (I say this because, with the typical crossover frequencies of 80-90 Hz, the listener is deprived of directional cues in the 60 Hz region of the audio spectrum that would otherwise be provided by 5 full-range speakers of a 5.1 system, assuming that the listener can perceive directionality at 60 Hz, which I believe I can.)

So compromise is the order of the day, except for those with truly full-range speakers in all 5 positions. If you accept this, then the only other issue is what compromise do you (or anyone) prefer? Doubling up bass from the mains by directing a copy of it to the subwoofer? Calibrating your sub to run "hot" by a few dB? I would not fault any of these solutions, or a combination of them, as long as the system is calibrated and equalized (for sub) using the intended playback arrangement.

Cliff