Kain Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Just wondering how many people run their RF-7s as small with a subwoofer? BTW, what would be the difference when setting the crossover at 80Hz and changing between small and large settings? Crossover at 80Hz and a small setting means everything below 80Hz gets sent to the sub. Crossover at 80Hz and a large setting means everything below 80Hz gets sent to the sub AND the RF-7s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhenry Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Not me. I have tried them set on small but didn't like it. You lose way too much of the middle range. The RF-7 IS a large speaker and is capable of reproducing a much broader range than a SMALL speaker. The reason you would set it to small would be to direct the lower frequencies away from a speaker that wouldn't be able to reproduce them, which would cause distortion. But since the RF-7 can reproduce those frequencies without trouble, you can set them to large and you will hear a wider range of the frequencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunt Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 LARGE w/ sub. Tried it small, but like it better set on large. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 On a receiver, there are two different bass management thingshappening. The large and small settings determine whether or not themains receive a full range signal. If the mains are set to small, thenonly information above 80Hz is sent to the mains and then 80Hz andbelow is routed to the subwoofer. If the mains are set to large, thenthe mains receive a full range signal. The other setting thatoften confuses people is the "LFE: Mains + Sub" or "LFE: Enhanced" orwhatever your brand receiver calls it. When this setting is enabled,the LFE Track gets sent to both the mains and the sub. The LFE Track isa dedicated audio track on the DVD and is completely separate from thelarge/small setting. Many receivers don't let you choose LFE: Mains +Sub if your speakers are set to small because it wouldn't make sense tohave that configuration. When the mains are set to small, the lowfrequency information from the left/right channels gets downmixed withthe LFE track and sent to the subwoofer. Some receiverscomplicate issues by using the "LFE: Mains + Sub" to send informationto the subwoofer during standard 2-channel playback. So if you werelistening to a CD and had your mains set to large, normally no soundwould be sent to the sub. If you set it to Mains + Sub, then oftentimes the content below 80Hz is sent to both the sub and the mains.This setting would be useful when setting the lowpass crossoverfrequency on the subwoofer's control panels to slide in when the mainsroll off. It would be bad to let the sub and mains overlap (by notusing the sub's crossover knob) because then you get more bass wherethey overlap and less bass where the sub extends beyond thecapabilities of the mains. Receivers that do this for 2-channel oftendo the same for movie playback as well (downmixing 80Hz and below fromthe LR mains into the subwoofer channel while the mains still reproduce80Hz and above). I'm not sure what the exact standard is, but I've seen it documented both ways in receiver manuals. Allthat to say, I always run the mains small as it always guarantees aproper crossover transition. Setting the mains to small also reducesfrequency intermodulation distortion (which is a big deal with theRF-7's). Basically, by setting the RF-7 to small, you're going todramatically improve the midrange performance. Clarity will improve andsome of the harshness will subside. If you feel that the bass islacking with the mains set to small, then chances are your subwooferisn't dialed in properly and/or it's not capable enough to keep up withthe RF-7's. There is absolutely no reason why setting the mains tosmall should sound worse if everything is working properly. On rareoccasion I've come across a few rooms where the acoustics dictated thatthe mains be set to large, but such situations are so far from theideal scenario that ideal settings on the receiver shouldn't beexpected to work. I also always go with an 80Hz crossover frequency because everymovie studio (and many recording studios) cross over to the sub at thatfrequency. Sometimes for 2 channel listening with a sub it makes senseto lower the crossover frequency because the mains are more capablethan the subwoofer (like the khorn for example). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyT Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I also run mine as large for the same reasons as stated by everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierceb Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Run mine small with sub for movies. Run them large with no sub for music. Yes, I switch back and forth quite a lot. -PB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 On a receiver, there are two different bass management things happening. The large and small settings determine whether or not the mains receive a full range signal. If the mains are set to small, then only information above 80Hz is sent to the mains and then 80Hz and below is routed to the subwoofer. If the mains are set to large, then the mains receive a full range signal. The other setting that often confuses people is the "LFE: Mains + Sub" or "LFE: Enhanced" or whatever your brand receiver calls it. I don't have that. I have : Sub: "None" or "LFE" or "LFE+R/L" I never get LFE sent to mains in any situation or setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Run mine small with sub for movies. Run them large with no sub for music. Yes, I switch back and forth quite a lot. -PB I use mine the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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