[PC1975]

I have the Onkyo 609, Marantz CD6004, Tannoy Rev Sig DC6T, DC4, Tannoy Rev DC4 LCR, BK XLS200.

Ive had this system for a few months now with the following settings:

LFE: 80hz, Front: full band, Double bass: on.

I have been experimenting today and noticed a considerable improvement in clarity when I changed the setting for the front speakers to 40hz instead of Full band. This automatically turns the Double bass setting off. The improvement does come at the cost of bass though. As I increase the Hz from 40 through to 200 the bass becomes stronger and stronger.

Question 1: If I set the fronts to 40Hz do all frequencies below that figure get sent to the sub and the fronts handle the rest? At 200Hz does the AV reciever only send frequencies above 200Hz to the fronts and anything lower to the sub?

Question 2: Would I be best advised to set the front speakers to 40Hz and turn up the gain control on the sub to make up for the lost bass in order to achieve the best sound quality?

I quite like the sound when I set the fronts to 60Hz, where a higher level of bass is retained than at 40Hz without having to adjust the sub.

What is the general percieved wisdom in this scenario in order to get the system sounding as good as possible?

[davepuma]

Follow the sticky post on bass management in the av receivers forum.

[PC1975]

Thank you Dave. After tryinging out the different settings I have opted for Front Speakers at 60Hz, LFE 80Hz and I turned the gain on the sub up by one notch. I also upgraded my cd player interconnect from a £20 Cambridge Audio 300 optical lead to £40 Chord Crimson VEE Plus analogue. From what I can gather this also means that the DAC in my cd player is now being used instead of the one in my AV reciever. The end result is a smoother sound that is easier on the ears and recordings sound more together than before.

Overall (after turning double bass off as well) I am much happier with the sound of my system now and think I am getting more out of it.

[goujam]

Have you run the auto setup ?

If not run it ! It will show you where about you crossover should be ! The crossover value will be dependant on your speakers my onkyo 609 sets my mission e54 to 60hz which suits them well. Then it sets the lfe to 120hz this means frequencies upto 120hz on the .1 channel go to the sub.

Also once setup I changed the level on the amp for the sub up a few db's just for my liking. I also found with music on the 609 I have the audyssey curve set to music some say to turn dynamic volume off for.music but I leave it on light but you can experiment

[PC1975]

No I havent used the auto set up. I know the frequency range of all my speakers from their manuals. I prefer to do the set up manually and judge the sound with my own ears, that way I can get it sounding the way I like it best.

[goujam]

Originally Posted by PC1975

No I havent used the auto set up. I know the frequency range of all my speakers from their manuals. I prefer to do the set up manually and judge the sound with my own ears, that way I can get it sounding the way I like it best.

But the auto setup does more than set the crossover and levels ! It sets room correction for the speakers which will give you a better sound. You can set this manually using the equaliser but you would need a SPL meter and test tones for different frequencies.

The best thing you can do in my opinion is to run the auto setup then adjust the crossovers manually to your liking. This option also gives you the option to have dynamic eq on also dynamic volume on which I think sounds best on light. Also you have two frequency curves one for movies and for music.

By the way just because you have the manuals value for the frequency range doesent mean this is the best point for the crossover. The range maybe effected by the environment its in and also if you have a sub its best to allow it to take some bass off your front speakers and allow them to work more on higher bass and the midrange.

So in my opinion I think you should try the auto setup and adjust the settings to you own likings from there. I'm sure you will hear an improvement ! And if not reset the amp !

[PC1975]

Originally Posted by goujam

By the way just because you have the manuals value for the frequency range doesent mean this is the best point for the crossover. The range maybe effected by the environment its in and also if you have a sub its best to allow it to take some bass off your front speakers and allow them to work more on higher bass and the midrange.

I am aware of that. My front speakers go to something like 34Hz but I have set the Onkyo to 60Hz for them. I might give the auto set up a try, like you said I can always reset it if I don't like it.

[goujam]

The room correction will certainly help your sound! The one problem I have with the 609 is that the auto setup does not equalise the sub woofer but hopefully careful placement of the sub will overcome this.

The auto setup should set the crossovers and LFE, in most cases the LFE should be set at 120hz this is because the .1 channel sends audio upto 120hz to the sub so you dont want to stop any of this signal getting to your sub. Then you will probably want to change the crossovers, on my setup it set my centre to 40hz which is to low so I changed it to 80hz. The rears and fronts were actually set well with my rears at 80hz and my fronts at 60hz which I like, as for music I like the fronts to handle more bass than using the sub upto 80hz.

But as I said earlier the auto setup will help your system sound better, and it gives you more options with the dynamic eq and volume, which I found have made my film and tv watching much better.

[goujam]

Also when ruuning auto setup make sure you run the full one as it gives you two options!

[goujam]

I just read your first post and you do have a sub, one thing here that the auto setup does is sset the distances. If you manaully set the distances for the sub you will cause a problem, as the auto setup also uses the distance to allow for the delay in the subwoofers amplifier. So the distance will most probably be higher than the actaul distance but this is correct as there will be a delay in electronics to allow for! This will then make sure the bass is in phase with the rest of your speakers which will help with the clarity of your bass.