Not JB, but perhaps I can help out.
JB, I've got a few questions. In a previous comment you said: "Typically you would want to set crossover about one octave above rated response."
Im still not comprehending real good. I guess its going to take some time for things to start to click in my head. So based on your statement above, once I hook up the cmt-340's and the BIC sub, what will I want my crossover to be set at?
The 340's have a published typical in room low frequency roll-off of 45Hz (-3dB). An octave is a doubling of audio frequency, so 90Hz is indicated. In reality any crossover in the range of 80Hz - 100Hz would probably be fine. At the outset, you might find you want to fiddle and experiment with crossover frequencies, but after a few weeks that will pass and you'll settle on something and forget about it.
Question #2, what is the general rule on where to set the volume control on the sub? Is that just something I'll need to tinker with to see what sounds right?
It varies from sub to sub, but generally with an analog volume control (really variable gain) they're bottom end loaded (not linear), so a starting point around "9 o'clock" is probably OK. When the auto setup is run, the AVR will then unjust the sub output level trim to achieve a level balance across all speakers at the main listening position. I personally like to see the sub volume control fairly low and the AVR's reported sub level trims into negative territory (say -6dB), so I know the system has plenty in reserve.
Question #3, from looking at pics of the back of the sub, there is a switch for either digital 5.1,6.1, or 7.1, or pro-logic. What do I put that setting on?
This is a new one on me!
It might be some legacy adjustment to the LFE channel from the early days of Dolby Digital and DTS. No modern sub that I'm aware of has such a switch. This
should be taken care of by the AVR these days, so you'd need to determine which setting does nothing or if it can be bypassed. The BIC website has some quite dated info, so I suspect their user manuals might be dated too. If someone in the know here can't answer your question, it might be an idea to contact BIC tech support after the sub arrives.
Question #4, seeing that I don't have the funds at this time to purchase a center speaker to go with my two mains, what should I do? Should I just completely do away with old kenwood center? If so, then will I listen to everything in stereo? And if Im listening to everything in stereo, what is the point of moving my current kenwood front left and right's to the rear? I guess my question is what format will I most likely be using to watch movies and stuff like that if I don't have a center speaker? All these dang formats confuse the heck out of me anyway, and Im extra confused if I don't have a center. I just don't get it.
I'd tend to think you'd leave out the Kenwood centre because it'll probably "hold back" the front stage. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with it first though.
The Pioneer will either detect you have no centre channel or you'll tell it somewhere in the setup menu. Then, on any native multichannel content, the magic of DSP will fold any centre channel audio signal into the main L & R channels for playback. This way you'll have a "phantom" centre channel. This will work quite well on or near the main listening axis (at the sweet spot), but may tend to collapse towards the closest speaker if you move too far off-axis.
Hope that helps!
