Studio 40's set to large anyone? (1 Viewer)

[James Bergeron]

Ok I'm wondering if anyone that is running studio 40's have set them to large.
Here is why I ask:
I was going to set to them to small (probably still will) but I just had this CRAZY experience.
I plugged all my speakers in (4 40's and a CC + velo CHT-15)
I was having problems with the sub connection so I had cranked the volume to full (a few days ago, forgot to turn it down!).
So anyway, I throw in my Diana Krall DVD (live in paris) and start playing it, I jumped up as soon as the first bass note hit, OMG my entire room is vibrating, I forgot to turn down the sub..... So I ran to turn it down, hmmm that's odd I didn't even turn it on!!
What the heck is going on here, my speakers are set to small! What happened is I was in direct mode on my receiver (denon 4800) and it was pumping all the bass to the 40's! I was BLOWN away by how much bass I was getting it was absolutely insane, the cement was moving!
I finally set them to small and got my sub on there, still sounds great, but man, I'm considering setting them to large and testing the differences, as they are certainly capable of almost everything down low. They don't do 20hz but damn near (so it seemed).
So if you have 40's set to large and have been thinking of a sub, you might want to hold off You're not missing as much as you would think!

 

[James Bergeron]

Wow another story, I just tried Fifth element with my speakers set to small and my sub on (starting scene) and it wasn't too bassy, then put them to large and the walls were moving! Of course I have yet to calibrate, I'm assuming my sub isn't up high enough yet!

 

[Evan S]

James, I run them as small now in a 5.1 setup, but before getting my processor, I had them running full range in a bedroom two channel system.

I would have to equate much of your experience to your room because in my two channel setup I felt the 40's could definately use the help of a dedicated sub.

They did a decent job at bass reproduction, but in my environment it was far from cement shaking.

Then again, my receiver I was running them on (prior to going to separates) was a HK AVR 35...a far cry from the Denon 4800.

 

[John Garcia]

What you are likely hearing is more lower midrange, not bass. What is the crossover point of the 4800? The 40s can definitely put out plenty of bass when driven with ample power, most notably for music. For movies, I would definitely set them to small. My Monitor 5s do very well when set to large with my sub off for music, but I prefer letting the sub handle the heavy stuff in movies. Even my Minis have respectable bass in my bedroom setup set to large.

 

[James Bergeron]

The crossover point is 80hz, it is DEFINETELY not mid range bass, check out the first scene of the Fifth element where the big ship is flying is space before the egypt scene. There is some very low bass there, room shaking, gut wrenching!

Maybe it's my room it is sealed and having 5 of these monster speakers in a room 11' x 21'! I am VERY happy with my purchase.

Like I said, I'm sure my sub will help I just didn't have it up enough.

 

[BrianWoerndle]

I agree that you are probably getting a lot of mid-bass when they are set to large (60-100hz). Right now I have Mini Monitors running large in stereo in my bedroom and I am impressed with how low they go. I can only imagine what Studio 40s with a 4800 could do.

Still, you will be better off setting them to small. Let the sub handle the hard work of the low frequencies and the 40s should be able to open up in the higher range.

 

[Greg_R]

My findings after taking some in-room measurements of my system (Denon 5700 + Studio 40s) were that the 40s can cleanly reproduce lower bass until you get above 85dB or so... then the THD rapidly increases (at 40Hz). Although your 40s are reproducing a low frequency at semi-high SPL, the majority of that is probably distorted. Keep in mind that with a 80Hz crossover your mains fall off (usually) with a 24dB/octave crossover. That means that at 100dB your mains need to reproduce a 40Hz tone at 76dB. There are plenty of reasons to run your mains as "small" & none to run them as large (additional SPL is offset by the increased distortion).