does my receiver have bass management?

[soundright]

Hi
I am looking at a Harman Kardon receiver on ebay and I am wondering if it has any bass management. Its model name is 3485 and it is a two channel stereo receiver. From the picture, it does have a subwoofer output but i saw someone's comment that it does not have bass management. How can you tell? Is BM essential for playing techno music that I usually listen to? Thanks in advance.

 

[Adam]

One way to find out is to download the owner's manual from the HK website. I'm doing that now and will let you know what I find.

 

[Adam]

From what I can tell, that receiver does not have bass management. So, you would need to control the crossover frequency in another way - which you could do without any other electronics if your sub has a crossover frequency dial. IMO, using the dial on the sub isn't as good as doing it in the receiver (or other electronics) because the receiver would allow you to control the signal going to the speakers, too.

Bass management for your music, or any music, isn't necessary but it is nice. The point of it is to get a good transition between the subwoofer and the speakers. You might be able to pull that off with just the crossover dial on your sub, though.

EDIT: Hopefully your sub does have a crossover frequency dial if you're going to get that receiver, because that receiver sends a full-range signal out of its subwoofer output jacks.

 

[soundright]

only low pass

Thanks Adam, I think my subwoofer only has a low frequency filter. I remember what you said last time about my infinity speaker question that a high pass frequency filter is essential. So I might be better-off finding a different receiver that has bass management? Does home theater receiver usually have bass management as opposed to two channel stereo receivers?

 

[Adam]

I get the terms mixed up sometimes, but I'm pretty sure that all you need is a low-pass filter...but it would be best if it was variable. You've got me curious now, and I'm going to go check out my other reply.

Home theater receivers very often have bass management. I remember a previous thread or two about bass management on stereo receivers, and I can't remember being able to find one that had it. Doesn't mean that one doesn't exist...just that I don't remember finding one.

EDIT: I can't find my post talking about high-pass filtering. Would you mind pointing me towards it? Thanks!

 

[markw]

I see you chose to try to lower the water instead of raising the bridge.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53726

You should be able to do quite well with just a low-pass filter. Set it to where your mains start to naturally fall off. The sub should then start to cut in.

This can be done by ear by using some music that has a good, linear run into the low end, like Bela Fleck's "Fight of the Cosmic Hippo", title track.

If you still can't find satisfaction, you might consider buying a sub that's up to the job.

 

[soundright]

No sub-output during two channel use

I gave up the thought of buying HK and turned to a Yamaha receiver, model no RX-V1400. I can get it for less than 200$ but the problem is that one user review says that it does not have sub-output during two channel use. It does have a sub-out on the back of the receiver. But how come it does not work for two channel use?

 

[Adam]

According to the owner's manual, the 1400 can output bass to the subwoofer during two-channel listening. You just need to set the LFE/Bass output to "Both" in the menu pick (explained on pages 50 and 78 of the manual).

That is different than my Yamaha that I bought in 1997. It output bass to the sub for two-channel sources just like any other source. A bit strange that the 1400 is different in that regard, IMO, but you can do it by switching one of the menu picks.