Definitive Technology SET-UP question

[The sound guy]

Greetings all,

My center channel is a C/L/R 2500, my mains are a pair of BP8B towers, my rear surround is a pair of BP 1.2x speakers and my sub is a Velox DD10 in the back of the room.

What speaker size settings do you recommend for each of my speakers? I'm totally lost when it comes to set-up. I use my mini theatre almost exclusively for watching movies.

Thanks,
The sound guy

 

[MDS]

Nearly always you want the front, center, and surrounds set to Small with an appropriate xover to the sub (80Hz most likely).

But, if those Definitive speakers are the kind that have built-in subs things get a whole lot more complicated if you want to direct LFE to the subs in the tower speakers instead of or in addition to the real subwoofer.

 

[AVRat]

This may have been easier if you’d kept the 2002.

Let’s start with the fact that your Pioneer 82 uses a global x-over setting, which means the same setting for all speakers set to small. You’ll want to use a x-over of 80 Hz because of the 1.2Xs’ 4.75” drivers. The front L/R and surrounds should be set to small. If the Pioneer allows it with the L/R set small, set the center to large. In this case, the center is wired with just the speaker wires. I think this setup would be preferred since you have the Velo.

 

[The sound guy]

This may have been easier if you’d kept the 2002.

Let’s start with the fact that your Pioneer 82 uses a global x-over setting, which means the same setting for all speakers set to small. You’ll want to use a x-over of 80 Hz because of the 1.2Xs’ 4.75” drivers. The front L/R and surrounds should be set to small. If the Pioneer allows it with the L/R set small, set the center to large. In this case, the center is wired with just the speaker wires. I think this setup would be preferred since you have the Velo.

Thanks for the response. I did try to set the 2005 to LARGE with the BP8B mains set to SMALL but no deal. Unless I was doing something wrong, the only way the 2005 could get the LARGE setting was to have the BP8B mains set to LARGE Also.

Any new suggestions???

Thanks again

 

[MDS]

Forgive me because I am not familiar with the DT model numbers, but with most (if not all) receivers you cannot set any speakers to Large unless the mains are set to Large.

This is what I was getting at with respect to utilizing built-in 'subwoofers' in the main speakers. If your speakers are that type and you want to use those subs for the LFE track, you have to set the mains to Large. The speakers would also have to have a xover setting to control how much of the signal is played by the other drivers and how much is redirected to the built-in sub.

If you then set the other speakers to Small, Subwoofer=Yes, and xover=80 Hz (or whatever), then the mains will get the full range signal and filter out the bass for the built-in subs. The rest of the speakers will get frequencies above the xover only. The sub will always play the LFE.

 

[GlocksRock]

I have a yamaha RX-V1600 and I have BP8B as my mains, and I found that they sound waaaay better set to small. I had thought they were set to small, and was wondering why they didn't sound good, then when I went back into the setup, I changed them to small and they sounded much better. But I'm not sure if my receiver would let me set them to large, and keep my fronts set to small, but I doubt it would.

 

[AVRat]

I did try to set the 2005 to LARGE with the BP8B mains set to SMALL but no deal. Unless I was doing something wrong, the only way the 2005 could get the LARGE setting was to have the BP8B mains set to LARGE Also.

That’s what I thought and MDS expounded on. The first option would be to run all three fronts large. The second would be to run them small, but that’s not why you upgraded to the 2500. The third would be to run the center small as well, wired with speaker connections AND the sub-out split off the receiver.

 

[The sound guy]

That’s what I thought and MDS expounded on. The first option would be to run all three fronts large. The second would be to run them small, but that’s not why you upgraded to the 2500. The third would be to run the center small as well, wired with speaker connections AND the sub-out split off the receiver.

Hi AVRat.
Obviously option 2 would not give me the best theatre sound so I'll focus on the correct wiring of options 1 and 3.

Just to let you know, my A/V receiver has both a LFE output jack and a center channel pre-amp output jack on the back. Keeping that in mind, let's proceed.

Option 1: In regards to the 2500 center channel, would the shorting plates to the subwoofer remain connected so I only have one cable going to center channel? Both the mains and the center channel would be set to LARGE.

Option 3: In regards to the 2500 center channel, it sounds like I should remove the two shorting plates to the sub, but keep the shorting plates between the mid and high frequence jacks. Next, connect a cable from the amp's center channel output to the mid/high frequency jacks of the 2500. The connection to the center channel's sub would be one of two possibilities:
1) run a cable from the receivers center channel pre-amp output RCA jack to the RCA jack on the 2500.
2) add a 'y-connector ' to the receiver's LFE output RCA jack enabling that signal to feed both the sub in the center channel and the sub in the back of the room.
Which of of these two sub signal sources would produce the best results?

The mains and center channel would be set to SMALL.

Lastly, would you go with Option 1 or 3 for my best theatre experience?

Thanks so much for your help, and everyone elses help and suggestions!!!!!!

 

[AVRat]

The third would be to run the center small as well, wired with speaker connections AND the sub-out split off the receiver.

I would start with this which equates with your Option 3.2 and leave all the center channel posts strapped.