center channel setting

[ematthews]

Gear...Onkyo 805 pushing Klipsch rf82 and a rc62 center. PS3 player. Martin logan sub

I have my speakers set to full. It seems that the center will have a little too much base in it at times and almost seems to distort the sound. The floors are a year old and the center in brand new. Is a setting not right? Should a set the center to small? Please help.

 

[Alex2507]

Should a set the center to small?

Yes.

I would set the crossover at 80Hz seeing as how Klipsh says it's good down to 57Hz.

Set everything to small and cross them above their published frequency response.

I just like starting at 80Hz. Actually I stayed at 80Hz.

 

[RayoVac]

Agreed... set it to small. I set my RC-7 to small, but tried it set to large, liked it better as small.

 

[JerryLove]

Unless you have a speaker that is better below your crossover point than your sub (in which case you should not have baught the sub) then all your speakers should always be "small".

 

[zumbo]

The guys are correct.

Set all to small.

If the 805 will allow a setting of 60 for the mains, and 80 for the center, that would be perfect. Otherwise you are stuck with 80.

 

[RayoVac]

I know I already state my opinion... but I wanted to clarify what I did when I had this same question.

My setup:
Klipsch RB-75s, RC-7, (4) RS-7s.
SVS PC+ 20-39
Emotiva DMC-1 and MPS-1 doing the work.
Source... some Loseless (ALAC) through my Sonos, output TosLink.
Music was just some Top 40 Pop type stuff... nothing critically acclaimed for testing or anything. Just music I know and enjoy.

I played around with all the settings in the DMC-1 changing all the speakers to large and small and then just doing the mains and center as large. As large I noticed more bass response at normal volume levels, maybe a more "complete" sound... but as soon as I turned up the volume to anything enjoyable... things washed out and got muddy right away. I don't feel I have an overly critical ear... but I could tell a big difference between trying to send those frequencies to speakers vs. letting the Sub take care of it.

Did I know they should all be set to small before I started? Yes...
Did I know that the particular speakers I have are HT speakers and NOT intended to provide decent low frequency response? Yes...
But... I just wanted to see for myself what the differences would sound like and if my ear preferred one setting over the other. Surprisingly with my setup and my sub... I definitely preferred everything as small and when listening at obnoxious volume levels... no distortion and no perceived stress.

Rayo

 

[ematthews]

There is no small setting for my receiver. I set the front to 80hz and the floors to 60. If there is no small, is this the best setting?

 

[Adam]

There is no small setting for my receiver. I set the front to 80hz and the floors to 60. If there is no small, is this the best setting?

Hi. Onkyo uses different terminology from other manufacturers. On your 805, a setting of "Full Band" equates to "Large" on other receivers. On your 805, specifying a crossover frequency for a speaker is the same as calling it "Small" and setting that crossover. It's nice that you can set a different crossover for different pairs of speakers!

EDIT: Do you mean that you set the center to 80Hz and the front main speakers to 60Hz? If so, then that's consistent with what was recommended above.