Speaker Settings: Large vs. Small (1 Viewer)

[Ron Reda]

I read in another posting that it can be detrimental to your system to have some of your speakers set to "small" and some set to "large." I understand that setting your fronts to "small" frees up some of your amp's power (by letting the amp in your sub handle the low frequencies), but what about the frequencies that fall in between the range that the fronts handle and the low frequency range that the sub handles? I'm REALLY trying to understand this!
Here's my set up...presently, I've got two front towers (freq. range 35hz to 22khz) set to large and the rest of the speakers in my system set to small. I've also got a powered, 250 watt JBL PB12 sub. By setting the fronts to "large," am I causing undue harm to my system???

 

[Vin]

I've got two front towers (freq. range 35hz to 22khz) set to large and the rest of the speakers in my system set to small. I've also got a powered, 250 watt JBL PB12 sub. By setting the fronts to "large," am I causing undue harm to my system???

I wouldn't say you were causing harm but you are asking your receiver to work harder than it would otherwise have to if the mains were also set to small. Despite what the stated range of your main speakers are you can be sure they won't produce the really low stuff as well as your powered sub.
With that said, if you like the way it sounds better with the mains set to large, then by all means set them to large.....some people do prefer it that way.
Hope this helps.
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