okay, sub/l/r crossover again.

i've got two RTi8s and one PSW10 subwoofer, and the crossover on the sub is set at 160Hz (max) and i asked in another thread about what to put as the crossover (on the reciever), since the RTi8s are said to have less than desirable bass, and they said to put it at 60Hz. i noticed the highs and mids sounded airy and weak, and the bass was static-y. it was on 80Hz before. and the sound has always seemed to lack something. so i tried fooling around with it, and i put it up to 100Hz and it sounded better than it's ever sounded before, so i put it up even higher, up to 160Hz, and the highs sounded better than before, but i was afraid i'd lose frequencies setting it up that high, so i put it back at 100 Hz. now it sounds fine, and i can hear the midrange and highs better than before, and there was a layer of static coming over the RTi8s that i can't hear now. so it seems better, but the bass is louder and maybe a little less defined, but with much more clarity in the midrange and higher end. so what should i go with?

you want to try to get the subwoofer frequencies down as low as you can, below 80, for certain.

Above 80, the sound gets a lot more directional, and you will start to hear things sound like they are coming from your sub. That doesn't work well with the screen if you have an F-15 screaming from left to right.

You have to keep the 80's and higher going left-right-center for the best HT experience.

Are you running a splitter on the end of the subwoofer cable to have input into both the L and R on the subwoofer ? That generally helps the bass quite a bit. You also might try moving it around a little bit to see if placement helps.

I think they need more power.

What are you running them with?

They are set to SMALL, correct?

yes, they're set to small. and they need MORE power? they sound loud enough, but then again i have no idea how to determine whether something needs more power or not.
when i get a RX-V2500 and add two more RTi8s and a CSi5 will they get any more power? cos that one is 130 watts/channel, and this one is 100/channel. but i thought if i only had 3 speakers (sub, 2 towers) hooked up, that the left over power set for the unused channels would go into the channels being used. is this not the case, and will i see an improvement when i add 3 speakers and upgrade to an RX-V2500?

Leprkon said:

you want to try to get the subwoofer frequencies down as low as you can, below 80, for certain.

Above 80, the sound gets a lot more directional, and you will start to hear things sound like they are coming from your sub. That doesn't work well with the screen if you have an F-15 screaming from left to right.

You have to keep the 80's and higher going left-right-center for the best HT experience.

Are you running a splitter on the end of the subwoofer cable to have input into both the L and R on the subwoofer ? That generally helps the bass quite a bit. You also might try moving it around a little bit to see if placement helps.

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also, yes i have a splitter going from the subwoofer cable into both jacks. where should i place the subwoofer? frank didn't want to put it anywhere except right next to the tv cos he said it'd be too much work and you'd have a wire going across the room.

bumparoney

You better go back and recheck all the speaker connections and recheck the menu and the sub gain on the sub itself.

I agree with the previous poster.
Check all connections.
After you have done that you may want to change the sub placment, it has a tremendous impact on the bass quality you get. I run RTi8's in my setup and a 60hz crossover works well for me and I'm in a decent sized room. The biggest problem your going to have with your bass is the sub you are using. It is not a very good sub (I've owned a couple, Polk usually gives them away for free with speaker purchases), bass is not defined with little output and even less extension. Getting a better sub would be on the top of my to get list. I have a Yamaha 2500 running the 8's, some 4's for side and back surround and a CSi5. It struggles at high volumes. Polks RTi's are power hungry and the Yammy can barely deliver. I am looking at dedicated amps for mine now.

bryantm3 said:

yes, they're set to small. and they need MORE power? they sound loud enough, but then again i have no idea how to determine whether something needs more power or not.
when i get a RX-V2500 and add two more RTi8s and a CSi5 will they get any more power? cos that one is 130 watts/channel, and this one is 100/channel. but i thought if i only had 3 speakers (sub, 2 towers) hooked up, that the left over power set for the unused channels would go into the channels being used. is this not the case, and will i see an improvement when i add 3 speakers and upgrade to an RX-V2500?

Click to expand...

You said "i noticed the highs and mids sounded airy and weak, and the bass was static-y." That is how you tell you need more power.

I doubt you will notice much, if any, difference with 130w vs 100w.

In surround mode with either receiver, the power to the mains is reduced to drive the other speakers.

There is no extra power on tap by only using two speakers. You are getting the 100wpc in which your receiver is rated, given it is an accurate full bandwidth rating.

Adding more speakers for surround is great, provided the source is surround.

I think part of the problem is that crappy little sub. Your mains put out almost as much bass as the sub does already. Toss that thing for sure and start looking for something that digs a little deeper so that you can set the 8s with a low enough crossover like 80Hz or lower.

You will notice a difference between 130w and 100w if the 100w receiver is a POS. The 8s I believe are actually a low impedance load, so you will need something that has a fair amount of power to drive them adequtely.

So, please list the receiver in question so we can see if it is 100w at full bandwidth. And, if it's not a POS, there will be little to no difference going to 130w. But, as jgarcia said, a POS rated @ 100w is not a good thing. You can put pearls on a pig, but, it's still a pig.

so for four RTi8s, a CSi5, and a subwoofer, what kind of wattage will i need??! they only make yamaha recievers up to 130-140 watts!

zumbo said:

So, please list the receiver in question so we can see if it is 100w at full bandwidth. And, if it's not a POS, there will be little to no difference going to 130w. But, as jgarcia said, a POS rated @ 100w is not a good thing. You can put pearls on a pig, but, it's still a pig.

Click to expand...

oh, i thought i posted it already
anyway, it's a Yamaha RX-V757

bryantm3 said:

oh, i thought i posted it already
anyway, it's a Yamaha RX-V757

Click to expand...

I think you did in another thread you have/had going about the same thing. I don't think you will notice much, if any, between the two.

There is no reason whatsoever to replace your current receiver if it has all the connections and funtions you need. If you find you don't have enough power, just add an amp.

I feel as if we went through this in another thread.

but someone else told me that i'd have to update my reciever to use it with 4 RTi8s and a CSi5 plus subwoofer, and they said that a 2500 would do. wtf? can't i just have a reciever that's less than $1500 that can give these speakers enough power??!?! why don't they design these damned things to work without any additions?!

Sub has its own amp so thats a non-issue. Who is they?

reciever manufacturers.

I, along with others, have mentioned the 8's are not needed for surround. 6's will work fine, if not better.

8's mains
5 center
6's surround

If you feel you need more power, add a 2-channel amp for the 8's. That's it. There is no need to buy another receiver all over again, as long as your current one supports your gear.

USE YOUR PRE-OUTS.

will the 6's give me equal sound all around? cos that's really what i want. i'm mostly going to be listening to music in 5.1, and i don't want to hear the drums blowing the roof off on the left speaker, while the keyboards are tinny and weak in the back.

The speakers use the same tweeter and woofer, they will sound the same. Cross them all out at 80Hz and get a new subwoofer. Something that can hit 30Hz at least.

A separate amp powering the main speakers will make a huge difference. The RTi series need LOTS of power to play clean, and a 2 channel amp will suffice.

SheepStar