centre set to large or small? and sub?

djcla

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I have an Eltax centre speaker of a fair physical size and wondered as a general rule of thumb are you best setting centres to small or large on the amp in a 5.1 setup?.. What is the phase thing do on a sub and what is the best way of getting it's volume right?
 
I would say always set the centre and rears to small. And the front to either large or small depending on what they are. Setting the centre to large usually makes it sould a bit 'muffled'.

The correct 'phase' is usually the one that sounds loudest.


G
 
Personally if you have a subwoofer in your setup I would set all my speakers to small and set the crossover on the amp to the closest setting to your smallest speaker.
This will leave your sub to deal with the lower frequencies and the rest of the speakers to deal with the higher frequencies.

Regards Martin:)
 
thanks, I have some Eltax Liberty 5+'s (I think that is what they are called) floor standing speakers at the front so tend to set them to large and the rest to small. I wonder wheather I would be better off getting another set of MS302's for front's 9currentlt have them as rears) and using the sub a bit more.
 
You dont mention the make and model of your centre speaker if it is a liberty I dont think it would be a good tonal match for the MS302s.I would be inclined to have the fronts and centre from the same speaker range.
The frequency ranges for my speakers are as follows.
Liberty 5+ =45-22,000
Liberty centre =50-22,000
HT2 bipolars =50-20,00
So I have all my speakers set to small and the LFE crossover on the amp set to 60.

Hope this helps

Regards Martin.:thumbsup:
 
If the centre speaker is physically smaller than the main pair, it should be set to small. Your particular rears should be set to small as well. I would say set the centre cut off point to about 80/90Hz and the rears to 100/120Hz, depending on your preference.
Ignore the specs, the surrounds and centre are not going to reproduce down to 60Hz at any decent level as they will start to roll off once they hit 100Hz.
 
in several of the magazines they say to set the centre to large , I have done this and find that it does seem to give you more sound from the centre and it is more directional.
 
It's ok if you don't play it too loudly, most centres are quite weedy and sometimes sound boxy when trying to deal with the extra bass. A good centre will sound fuller, but the general rule of thumb is that if the centre is smaller than the L&R's, it should be set to small.
 
As the centre receives around 70% of the sound of the whole system I would be inclined to set it to small even if it was the same size or bigger than the other speakers.

Relieving some of the lower end duties to the sub is bound to improve the centres performance (am i wrong?)

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I agree, the centre has enough to do already, by sending the lower freqencies to the sub the centre should sound clearer.
 
That's one of the benefits of a properly designed satellite speaker being part of a matching LCR setup :)
 

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