Set speakers to 'Small' or 'Large' ?

[The Big Blue]

I just got a new receiver & it's been a looooong time since I messed with setting up a reciever.

Back in the day everyone recommended setting all your speakers to 'Small' no matter what size they are and letting the sub handle the low end. Is this still the recommeded method?

I ran the auto cal. on the receiver and it wants to set all the speakers to 'Large'.

[rigpig]

.....if any of the speakers, let's say the front L R mains can handle any bass output on their own, they should be set to large....ie maybe they are floorstanding towers w/ a decent bass driver. Or maybe you have 5 small monitors and a sub & the monitors don't have much for low end freq response in which case they all should be set to small & all bass & lfe sent to sub. Information on your speakers would help people to help you.

[The Big Blue]

Thanks.

All Boston Acoustics

Front L & R: T830s, 3-way floor standers w/8" bass drivers
Surround L & R: 361s I think, in-ceiling w/6" bass drivers
Sub: PV600, 120W 10" down-firing
Center: no center speaker

[Kratos3]

^^^What he said. It depends on the frequency response of your speakers. If you could watch movies w/out a sub and still have plenty of bass, then I would say set your setting to large. If your front speakers have audible output to, say 40Hz, then set them to large. You'll still get LFE content from the sub, it's just that the front channel sound won't be augmented by the sub. Most center and surround speakers don't come close, though. So either way, I'd set them to small. BTW, get a center speaker soon. It makes all the difference in the world.

[rigpig]

Originally Posted by The Big Blue

Thanks.

All Boston Acoustics

Front L & R: T830s, 3-way floor standers w/8" bass drivers
Surround L & R: 361s I think, in-ceiling w/6" bass drivers
Sub: PV600, 120W 10" down-firing
Center: no center speaker

L & R to large, surrounds to small as a starting point.

[dobyblue]

THX Certification recommends 80Hz and "Small" for all speakers.

I have floorstanding towers for my rears and fronts - I only set my speakers to Large when I'm listening to audio.

When I'm watching a movie I set to Small and 80Hz.

[jomari]

id go with small on all accounts, and just lower your crossover settings to match or be slightly above the lowest level your speaker could hit.

if they can reach 40hz, set your crossover to 40 (if possible) and keep your speakers to small.

then again, this is all a matter of preference.

[CptGreedle]

so if they have any bass at all they should be set to large? Even if they are not physically all that big?

What about my speakers?..http://www.jbl.com/home/products/pro...at=BFS&ser=COS

[CptGreedle]

The speakers I have do not reach the floor, but the center speaker does not handle bass.... yet.
Should I set on large or keep it on small?

I am no audiophile and I am not sure if I understand what the requirements are for "large".. but i guess these are small afterall.

[jomari]

as mentioned,

keep it set to small, then see how low your crossover settings can reach the lowest point your speakers can, and go from there.

[dobyblue]

You should only set them to large if they are full range, extending closer to 20Hz.

I don't know of many speakers you can buy right now with that sort of range without getting into Martin Logan Summits, Paradigm S8's, etc.

Keep your speakers on "Small" and base your crossover on what the +/- 3dB frequency sweep is.

You don't want to base it on what the maximum low frequency extension is because that will have drop outs.

For example, my speakers extend down to 32Hz (Paradigm Monitor 11v5) but the sweep shows them as +/- 2dB from 48Hz to 20 kHz, so setting my crossover to 50Hz is the lowest I'll go.

I currently keep it at 80Hz though because my centre is +/- to 100Hz (CC370v4 Paradigm)

If I had a crossover per channel like the Onkyo, I'd set my fronts and rears to 50Hz, my centre to 100Hz, and everything to SMALL.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

If I had a crossover per channel like the Onkyo, I'd set my fronts and rears to 50Hz, my centre to 100Hz, and everything to SMALL.

if your receiver can achieve different crossovers for EACH speaker, so be it, but if ever you cant do such, do consider setting it to the speaker with the highest low frequency possible.

C-100hz
LR- 40Hz
Surrounds-120Hz...

in this scenario,
SMALL speakers,
set it at least to 120hz.

[dobyblue]

100% agree.

The only time I set my speakers to LARGE is when I listen to CD's and I set the center channel to "NONE"

[GotToyota?]

What should I set mine to? Here are my speakers that I have:

Front - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....#productdetail

Rear - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....#productdetail

Receiver - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1169512522811

I can only set the frequency to overall, not for individual speakers. For now, I have the fronts set to large, the rears set to small, and the center set to small. I also have the fronts, and center set to 3+ DB, along with the rears set to 4+ DB. Let me know if this is correct.

-Matt

[T-Town Oil]

toyota, i think if i was you i would set them all to small. youre probably missing out on quite a bit of bass since it is sending it to the front (since youve got it on large) as opposed sending it to the sub(if it were set to small)

[T-Town Oil]

each application is always gonna be different though, just dick around with it until it sounds good to you.

[tjhart78]

While we're all at it, can anyone give me advice on how I should have mine set up

http://www.dbdynamics.co.nz/vega.htm?

I don't have the SW listed on that site, it's a Krix:

http://www.krix.com.au/Product/Detail.aspx?p=44&id=10

Thoughts appreciated!

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by GotToyota?

What should I set mine to? Here are my speakers that I have:

Definitely all set to small.


Guys, you should only have your speakers set to LARGE if they look something like this:




Or like this:



Or like this:



Or like this:



You know what I'm saying!



Matt in terms of +/- db's, you should use a test tone and go between the speakers, you want it to sound seamless.

Any THX DVD with Optimizer should have audio tests that allow you to check for this.

[T-Town Oil]

damn those things are sexual

[The Big Blue]

That last pic is insane!