Set Speakers to small or big?

[CECAA850]

I would never troll you Michael, surely you know that.

[Thaddeus Smith]

7 minutes ago, CECAA850 said:

I would never troll you Michael, surely you know that.

Riiiiiiiiiiight

[wvu80]

1 hour ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

So I know I seemed pretty solidly set on this, but after introducing La Scalas yesterday I just don't know.

I applaud you for this open minded thinking.  When a person acquires a certain level of knowledge and experience as I'm sure you have, there is a tendency to not be open to new information.  Your comments (below) certainly indicate you are responding to adding to your knowledge base in the "here and now."

 

My onkyo tx-nr1010 allows me the option to set the speakes as "full range" or an incremental crossover range starting at 45Hz and up.

I also have an Onk 717 AVR that uses the same nomenclature.  There is no "Large" or Small."

 

When set to full-range, I get the "double bass" option. Testing various settings - this is my favorite. I don't know if it's the unique combination of La Scala's and my folded horn sub and the room or what,

 

but it just goes to show that you should start with the baseline of commonly accepted thought and then tinker to find what suits your setup and pleases your ears most.

I was going to bring up the double-bass option.  I tested mine extensively before making settings, like you did.  There are those who don't like the double-bass setting, but the fact is it tends to even out the dreaded "room nulls" commonly associated with using a single subwoofer.  I think it produces a nice listening experience for everyone in the room and not just the MLP.

+++

 

To the OP:  It is a commonly accepted procedure to cross everything over at 80 Hz.  The reasons are it can add dynamics to the speakers because power is not being used to produce the lowest octave.  I thought Derrick explained that well ^^^.

 

The other reason is that at 80 Hz the sub will not play voices.  Those are good reasons for setting everything at 80 Hz and is main stream practice.

 

OTOH I have tried every combination my Onk AVR (Audyssey) suggested and it almost always sounds better than after my fiddling. 

 

For instance Audyssey set most of my speakers at their lowest octave, 60 Hz and the Khorns at 40 Hz.  I reset everything to the standard 80 Hz because I thought I was smarter than Audyssey.  I promptly lost the tuba sound, it was just weak.  Letting Audyssey re-calibrate things brought back the tuba sound.

 

The bottom line for me is, listen to Jason's advice ^^^ and be open to what sounds good in your living room with your AVR and your speakers.

[muel]

1 hour ago, CECAA850 said:

Absolutely set the Lascalas to small.

I don't agree with this for music.  I see your point and the benefits but it sounds better to me to let them go full range and tweak the subs to blend.   Bracing the bins was essential.