Onkyo TX-SR702 Double Bass Function

[mml265]

I am setting my speakers to my new Onkyo. I have Cambridge Soundworks Newton MC500 main speakers. They have two 6.5 inch bass drivers, 4 inch midrange and 1inch tweeter. The speakers frequency response is 65HZ-22KHZ. Min /Max power 25 watts/ 150 watts. If I set my speakers to large with a 80HZ crossover point with the Double Bass function on, would I be asking to much from my front speakers? I am not sure if the the front speakers will handle bass to 80HZ and the powered subwoofer pick up the lower end of the bass signal or there is a full range of bass going thru all 3 speakers?

I tried to research the Double Bass in the forums but I am getting conflicting views.

I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks

 

[tbewick]

I don't really know what double bass is. Is it some kind of bass boost? I'd try and keep the tone controls flat and disable any additional sound processing, like SRS/WOW or other settings like that. At lower volumes these bass boosts can help to make the sound warmer, at the risk of making things muddy sounding.

I doubt your speakers can produce much even, good quality low bass, simply because such bass requires large cabinets with larger drivers than you have (greater than twelve inches for true low-bass). I'd recommend experimenting. 80 Hz should be fine, and you're right in saying that that four inch driver won't produce that much bass. My limited experience with subwoofers, coupled with what I've read, leads me to believe that you sould keep the subwoofer crossover below 100 Hz, otherwise bass can become boomy. Ideally, you should have the crossover set as low as possible, as this can help to even out bass response. How low you can set the crossover is limited by the size of your main speakers and their bass handling capability.

 

[spider_duggan]

Double bass on the Onkyo is a function which sends bass to both the subwoofer and any speakers set to LARGE. You will notice that the double bass option is not present in the menu when all the speakers are set to small and subwoofer is set to on. This is because the subwoofer is recieving all the bass signal below your crossover setting (60,80,100,120,150). Or, from another perspective, the speakers set to small are not receiving any bass below the crossover point.

When you set a speaker to large, it will begin to accept low frequency signals and your subwoofer will stop recieving low frequency. Double bass ON option sends bass to the subwoofer even when speakers are set to large...hence, Double Bass.

Is that it?

 

[spider_duggan]

And I would suggest setting your mains to small. THX and others suggest that only speakers that can extend to full range (20hz -20khz) should be used to produce bass frequency. I've experimented with speakers that dip down to 37hz and would agree that small is the ideal setting if you have a subwoofer.

 

[j_garcia]

If your speakers are set to large, the crossover is ignored anyway. Large means you are sending a FULL RANGE signal to those speakers. If you use the "both" or double bass, the crossover point is applied to the sub, but not the mains, AFAIK.

I think you answered your own question. 80Hz is higher than the 65Hz response of your speakers, and is probably the x-over point I would recommend you use with those speakers. It should work fine. My speakers are -3dB at 55Hz and I use an 80Hz x-over and it sounds great.

 

[MDS]

When you set a speaker to large, it will begin to accept low frequency signals and your subwoofer will stop recieving low frequency. Double bass ON option sends bass to the subwoofer even when speakers are set to large...hence, Double Bass.

Is that it?

Yes, that is it. By definition Large speakers get a full range signal and the xover is ignored. With double bass On, any bass below the xover that would normally go to the Large speakers will also go to the subwoofer.