Crossover Frequency and other settings for JBL 570, 520, 520c

[shoo]

I have a 7.1 setup with JBL 570 for the front, 520c for the center, 520 for surround and back, and I have Denon AVR-X4000, sub VTF-3 MK5 HP. Sorry for too many questions. Please help me out on these.

• What should be my Crossover Frequency for front, center, back and surround speaker? Audyssey calibration set everything to 40hz. I changed to 90hz. Is that correct or I should leave it 40hz?
• What should be speaker config? Audyssey calibration set everything to large. I changed everything to small except the front speaker because I have 570 as front.
• What should be subwoofer mode? LFE or LFE + Main? I have set to LFE now.
• What should be LPF for LFE? Audyssey calibration set it to 120hz and I left it as 120hz.
• When I play bluray disc which has DTS 5.1 audio or Dolby 7.1 audio, my denon x4000 shows "MULTI IN . PLIIx C" in the display panel. Why is that? Why it's not showing DTS 5.1 or Dolby 7.1?

 

[lovinthehd]

Try a few different crossovers, I usually raise mine after Audyssey; I raised mine, recommended as 40/60, to 120 but I have multiple subs and no localization issues resulting. Your L/Rs are spec'd by JBL as -6dB at 45Hz and based on that would probably look to use no lower than a 60Hz crossover myself. You can raise xover with Audyssey but don't lower them is the general guideline

Change them all to small would be my recommendation, but its a matter of taste somewhat.

I'd generally say stick with LFE, LFE & Main is a duplication of frequencies that doesn't work for me.

LPF for LFE only affects the .1/LFE channel and content is normally limited to 120Hz anyways, so that's also what I do.

Sounds like your bluray player is set to pcm rather than bitstream, change it (and sometimes you have to turn off the secondary audio thing as well for some 7ch content IIRC).

 

[rojo]

@shoo PLIIc = a virtual surround mode (Dolby Pro-Logic IIc). Hit the Direct button on your remote until your AVR cycles to the Auto mode.

I've always thought those JBL Studios were really nice looking. Got any pics of your home theater?

 

[shoo]

Okay, after I keep pressing the movie button in my denon remote I get option like "Dolby Digital", "Dolby Digital Ex", "Dolby D + PLIIx Cinema" when play a 5.1 Bluray disc. I have 7.1 HT setup. Which one of these options I should choose?

Here is the front view of my HT.

 

[rojo]

Nothing like an old school safety brief to put your mind at ease.

To answer your question, the Movie, Music, and Game buttons all activate virtual surround modes. The mode you want is not virtual, but native. Use the Direct button to cycle through Direct -> Pure Direct-> Auto, and leave it on Auto. At least that's the way it works on my Marantz SR6008; and I'm pretty sure our AVR's have similar firmware, both being designed by D&M Holdings for receivers in the same year.

 

[lovinthehd]

Okay, after I keep pressing the movie button in my denon remote I get option like "Dolby Digital", "Dolby Digital Ex", "Dolby D + PLIIx Cinema" when play a 5.1 Bluray disc. I have 7.1 HT setup. Which one of these options I should choose?

Here is the front view of my HT.

So multi-in no longer shows in addition to the other sound modes? Your Denon seems to differ a bit from mine in that regard. Did you check if your bluray player is set to output bitstream vs pcm? Or do you have analog multi-ch inputs you're using?

 

[nathan_h]

I have a 7.1 setup with JBL 570 for the front, 520c for the center, 520 for surround and back, and I have Denon AVR-X4000, sub VTF-3 MK5 HP. Sorry for too many questions. Please help me out on these.

• What should be my Crossover Frequency for front, center, back and surround speaker? Audyssey calibration set everything to 40hz. I changed to 90hz. Is that correct or I should leave it 40hz?
• What should be speaker config? Audyssey calibration set everything to large. I changed everything to small except the front speaker because I have 570 as front.
• What should be subwoofer mode? LFE or LFE + Main? I have set to LFE now.
• What should be LPF for LFE? Audyssey calibration set it to 120hz and I left it as 120hz.
• When I play bluray disc which has DTS 5.1 audio or Dolby 7.1 audio, my denon x4000 shows "MULTI IN . PLIIx C" in the display panel. Why is that? Why it's not showing DTS 5.1 or Dolby 7.1?

- 80
- small
- lfe
- 120
- it is expanding source to use all your speakers, which is fine

 

[rojo]

Okay, after I keep pressing the movie button in my denon remote I get option like "Dolby Digital", "Dolby Digital Ex", "Dolby D + PLIIx Cinema" when play a 5.1 Bluray disc. I have 7.1 HT setup. Which one of these options I should choose?

I was just reading the manual for the X4000; and if it has an Auto mode, it isn't obvious. I guess from that list "Dolby Digital" or "Dolby Digital Ex" would be your ticket to audio bliss. *shrug* There's bound to be someone else with an X4000 who could chime in. In any case, native surround > virtual surround.

 

[shoo]

So multi-in no longer shows in addition to the other sound modes? Your Denon seems to differ a bit from mine in that regard. Did you check if your bluray player is set to output bitstream vs pcm? Or do you have analog multi-ch inputs you're using?

I don't know, now I don't have same Blu-ray disc which had 7.1 audio that I used earlier. Now, I have only one Blu-ray disc at home which has 5.1 audio. When I keep pressing the movie I don't any option called "MULTI IN . PLIIx C". The options I see are

• Stereo
• Multi-Channel Stereo
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Digital EX
  
• Dolby D + PLIIX Cinema
  
• Neo:X Cinema (Back)
• Mono: Movie
• Virtual

I think, out of these, "Dolby D + PLIIX Cinema" is the best for movie. Am I correct?

When I keep pressing Direct/Pure button, I don't see any option called "Auto". It only has "Direct" or "Pure Direct" options.

I checked my Blu-ray disc out, it's not set to PCM. If it is set to PCM, I believe I won't get the following options, right?

• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Digital EX
  
• Dolby D + PLIIX Cinema

 

[lovinthehd]

I don't know, now I don't have same Blu-ray disc which had 7.1 audio that I used earlier. Now, I have only one Blu-ray disc at home which has 5.1 audio. When I keep pressing the movie I don't any option called "MULTI IN . PLIIx C". The options I see are

• Stereo
• Multi-Channel Stereo
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Digital EX
  
• Dolby D + PLIIX Cinema
  
• Neo:X Cinema (Back)
• Mono: Movie
• Virtual

I think, out of these, "Dolby D + PLIIX Cinema" is the best for movie. Am I correct?

When I keep pressing Direct/Pure button, I don't see any option called "Auto". It only has "Direct" or "Pure Direct" options.

I checked my Blu-ray disc out, it's not set to PCM. If it is set to PCM, I believe I won't get the following options, right?

• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Digital EX
  
• Dolby D + PLIIX Cinema

I often use the DD plus PLIIX setting, but sometimes I use something else to expand 5.1 to 7.1 (Neo:X is another option).

If your bluray is set to bitstream you are letting the avr handle the Dolby or DTS codecs, if you set it to pcm its up to your bluray player (and some players these days only do 2ch pcm out, too).