Need some help: RX-V2500 & LSi15s

Hello. My name is Eric and I am hoping that you all can give me some advice. This looks like a great forum and I look forward to participating frequently.

Yesterday I purchased a few items but today something has me concerned. I purchased a Yamaha RX-V2500 receiver, a set of Polk LSi15s and a Polk PSW1000 subwoofer. I purchased these items to listen to music mostly, but over time I will probably add the other speakers to create a home theater.

Well, this morning I noticed something that I am not sure whether or not I should be concerned about. My receiver has settings for 6-ohm and 8-ohm. Well, I didn't know this when I purchased them but the LSi15s are 4-ohm speakers. Should I be concerned about that? I listened to the same setup at the store and was really pleased with the sound, but at the same time if I can only get the very best sound from the LSi15s by using another lower-impedance amplifier then I could possible be better served just getting the RTi10s or something like that. I listened to the RTi10s and thought that they sounded good but overall i preferred the sound of the LSI15s.

To be honest, I can admit that I don't know what I am losing by wiring a 4-ohm speaker to this 8-ohm receiver. Would an 8-ohm speaker be louder? Cleaner? I know these are probably simple questions, so any help is appreciated. If it turns out that the RX-V2500 can effectively run these speakers, should I use it in 8-ohm or 6-ohm mode?

One more question. I have a cable running from the sub output to the LFE on the PSW1000. Right now I only get some on digital signal (the DVD has an optical connection) but I also want the sub to play on analog stuff. How would I go about wiring it to play both digital and analog sources? Let me know.

Thanks for the help. Just trying to get educated.

Eric

http://www.audioholics.com/FAQs/4-ohmspeakersreceiver.php

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/yamaharxv2500benchtestp2.php

Thank you

Those articles gave me some great information. I will mostly be listening at low volumes, so for now I will be ok as long as I keep things well ventilated. I may pickup a dedicated 2-channel amp at some point just to drive the towers and use the power from the amp for the satellites.

Thats what I did. All of my speakers are 4ohm. I am using an Adcom 7605 amp. It does a great job.

BTW, leave your receiver set to 8ohm.

I have the RX-V1400.
I set all speakers to SMALL.
I have the crossover set @ 60.
I selected SWFR in the Bass-Out set-up.
My sub works all the time.

40Hz might even be better for you. I would try both.

Great advice

I will try to find out how to change the way in which the subwoofer is setup to ensure that it's always on. For now I will probably just get a 2-channel amp. This purchase wasn't really "in the budget" so I am not trying to spend THAT much more. I will do some reading today, but for the life of me I couldn't find the subwoofer output setup in the GUI. I just got this stuff last night. I think I am going to end up being very, very, very pleased.

Page 60 in your manual.

Speaker size on 58. Select SMALL. This will ensure that the sub is sent a signal below your crossover setting at all times.

When I looked at my bass settings they were already set to "both". I will try to set them to "sub" to see if analog sources get to the sub. As info, in addition to my DVD player I have an airport express setup with a mini-jack to RCA to run through the CD input, and that sound was only coming through the mains. I'll try it again in a sec. The speakers were set to "large" though. Should I assume the bass signals do not get to the sub unless "small" is setup?

emjoyner said:

When I looked at my bass settings they were already set to "both". I will try to set them to "sub" to see if analog sources get to the sub. As info, in addition to my DVD player I have an airport express setup with a mini-jack to RCA to run through the CD input, and that sound was only coming through the mains. I'll try it again in a sec. The speakers were set to "large" though. Should I assume the bass signals do not get to the sub unless "small" is setup?

Click to expand...

SMALL should be selected.
Bass-out should be SWFR.

correct me if i am wrong, but i think with the RX-V2500 in 2-channel stereo mode, you cannot set bass to "sub" and get any signal out of the sub. the sub will activate and work if you select "Both", but not "sub". i have not experimented with that, but when i bought mine, i think the folks at yamaha told me the only way to activate the sub in 2-channel mode was to use the "Both" setting for Bass.

gcmarshall said:

correct me if i am wrong, but i think with the RX-V2500 in 2-channel stereo mode, you cannot set bass to "sub" and get any signal out of the sub. the sub will activate and work if you select "Both", but not "sub". i have not experimented with that, but when i bought mine, i think the folks at yamaha told me the only way to activate the sub in 2-channel mode was to use the "Both" setting for Bass.

Click to expand...

Wrong. Select SWFR. My 1400 set-up is basically the same as yours.

Deal on an amp.
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?sHist=12-138,6-9,4-2007$3592&menu=true&id=28697

zumbo,

i just tried out my RX-V2500 in 2-channel stereo mode. the ONLY way to get bass to the subwoofer in 2-channel stereo mode is to use the "Both" setting when specifying the "Bass Out" selection. i was certain that yamaha had told me this when i bought my unit, i just never actually tried it until now. your 1400 must be slightly different in this regard.

Yup, just made the changes, and now both the analog and the digital are going through the sub. Thanks for the heads up. Also, thanks for the find on the amp. I was doing some research on NAD, Adcom, and Rotel, so that was helpful.

emjoyner said:

Yup, just made the changes, and now both the analog and the digital are going through the sub. Thanks for the heads up. Also, thanks for the find on the amp. I was doing some research on NAD, Adcom, and Rotel, so that was helpful.

Click to expand...

So, the 2500 does work set to SWFR?

gcmarshall said:

zumbo,

i just tried out my RX-V2500 in 2-channel stereo mode. the ONLY way to get bass to the subwoofer in 2-channel stereo mode is to use the "Both" setting when specifying the "Bass Out" selection. i was certain that yamaha had told me this when i bought my unit, i just never actually tried it until now. your 1400 must be slightly different in this regard.

Click to expand...

I don't know why they would make the 1400, a lower cost & older receiver, work better(IMO) in this area?

I get bass on both the "both" and "SWFR" settings. They key for me seems to be enabling the "small" setting. As info.

emjoyner is right. i tried mine again, this time with my front speakers set to small and bass out set to SWFR. i DO get bass from the sub with this arrangement. but, as stated before, when my mains are set to large, i do not get bass from the sub when the bass out is set to SWFR. i think we've figured this out.

learn something new every day. thanks.

emjoyner said:

I get bass on both the "both" and "SWFR" settings. They key for me seems to be enabling the "small" setting. As info.

Click to expand...

That is why I insisted on the SMALL setting. Remember, the crossover will only be used when you have the BASS-OUT set to SWFR and speakers set to SMALL. You might also want to check the speaker size settings again. When you change other settings to send full-range to the mains, it will automatically set your mains to LARGE. I am not sure if it does this with the size setting, or the bass-out setting, but it does it.

Now that you have it set,try out YPAO. Make sure you select SKIP on the speaker size before you begin. Also, you need dead silence. I ran mine in the middle-of-the-night with a/c(fans) off. Turn anything off that will make noise during set-up.

zumbo or anyone with the yamaha RX-V series YPAO,

do you have a good laymans terms way to explain the differences between "natural", "flat" and "front" in terms of the auto setup's equalization process? i read the manual, but it doesn't say exactly what each of those options does to the sound, other than imply "flat" might be a little harsh for some people.

if anyone can expand on this, greatly appreciated.