PSB Speakers registering as small

[Taysir]

I got 5 PSB VS-300 speakers to go with my NAD T-765HD receiver. I mounted them all on my all and the front left and right and surround speakers are being recognized by Audyssey as large but the center channel is being recognized as small. Before I mounted the center speaker I had it on my mantle and it was being recognized as large, but once mounted (my wife liked the mounted look better) it can now only be seen as small. Any ideas how to get it to be large?

 

[Pyrrho]

With those speakers, they should all be set to small, and you should have a subwoofer. However, to set them all as large, you need to look at the manual for your receiver. Most receivers allow you to override the automatic setting and set things however you want.

 

[jostenmeat]

Audyssey recommends setting all speakers to small if a subwoofer is in the mix, even if your receiver sets them to large. They've been lobbying with manufacturers to change their implementation/interpretation of Audyssey technology, but we'll see how that goes.

http://www.audyssey.com/blog/2009/05/small-vs-large/

EDIT: If you have any more questions, you can ask 'em directly at the "Official" Audyssey thread

 

[NicolasKL]

No subwoofer? Those speakers have 4.5 inch drivers. They are most definitely "small" considering they don't really go below 68 Hz. Any speaker that doesn't have at least the equivalent of a 12" driver should probably be considered small, and sometimes not even then.

Movies have a LOT of low frequency information (below 40 Hz) being sent to your front channels. If your speakers are set to small this bass will get routed to your subwoofer, if they're set to large they get routed to speakers which aren't even remotely capable of reproducing sound that low.

If you don't have a subwoofer then you'd want them all set as large (since you're using 5 identical speakers), in which case you should be able to go into your setup menu and manually change it. You should really get a subwoofer though.

 

[3db]

I concur with everyone that you should set the all the speakers to small. This will be a manual override and then choose Auddesy to NOT set the speaker size. One puzzling question. Why do you want the speakers set to large? Do you have a sub?

 

[Taysir]

Thanks for the advice everyone. After playing with the positioning of the speaker (angling it upwards in the bracket), I was able to get it to register as being large.

I didn't get a sub because my wife gets a headache when there is much bass when watching a movie. I figured that I would try to run the bass through the PSBs and then if it was not enough I'd get it afterwards (just got the system two days ago and still trying to work out the kinks after work).

 

[j_garcia]

By running them large, you are running the risk of damaging them when low frequency material is played back, just so you are aware.

Give your wife some asprin before a movie Mine cranks her music in her car to extreme levels, but when I play music in the house loud she complains?? Go figure.

 

[Taysir]

What about getting a sixth speaker for mid rear? If I'm going to get a sub I was thinking of getting another speakers as well... thoughts? Is it worth it?

 

[JAMS]

Set to large by?

Hi,ive the nad t765 and u can set up audessey then write down the info distance,db levels and then set back to default in menu and input your audessey settings + your spkr setup preferences!
I didnt use the auto setup in my case but the nad is user setup friendly!
If your setup does not give enough bass content then i know why your wanting too set to large,the nad has the warm articulate bass ive ever heard from a receiver,especially good sub woofer content!
However not having a sub limits this units performance greatly imop!
So if your center like my c360 infinity 3-way goes down too 45hz and drops 6db at 40hz it can work at lg easily!
I had my surrounds set large and the overall sound was dark lacking the airy highs and midrange got killed by the mid-bass overkill!
I have two 10" subs that come in on the lows so musically its like magic,incredible what the nad can and does in the mids-and bass range!
Be looking for a decent sub,mine arnt expensive ones but really adds a major aspect that your nad will bring music to level youve not heard !
You dont need to run it when wife is home,but when u hear it setup decently the musical bass sound is going to be just flat out awesome!
And im not kidding,its beyond what i imagined a sub could do!
Your the only one ive read in the forum that has the NAD T765 besides me!
Mine doesnt have the eq/dts master audio upgrade yet!

 

[Pyrrho]

What about getting a sixth speaker for mid rear? If I'm going to get a sub I was thinking of getting another speakers as well... thoughts? Is it worth it?

Generally speaking, the difference between having a 6.1 (or 7.1) and 5.1 is not overly dramatic, though it depends upon the room and the positioning of the speakers to some extent. The closer the surround channels are to the sides of the seating position (as opposed to behind the seating position), the more useful a rear surround speaker(s) becomes. However, many films are recorded only in 5.1 anyway, so most of the time it will be silent unless you use some processing in your processor to synthetically generate rear surround channel(s).

As for whether it is worth it or not, only you can judge, though many find it less than important. Translate that to mean: If money is tight, do not bother with it, but if you have plenty of money and room for it, go ahead. Do, however, make sure you buy the best subwoofer you can afford. Scrimping on a subwoofer so you could add a rear channel speaker or two would be a mistake. If you like deep bass, I recommend SVS subwoofers, though you can find some other brands that may be worth considering. When setting it up, make sure you set it "flat" (i.e., not set at a higher level than the other speakers), which should keep your wife from being too unhappy with it, and it will give you the most natural sound that way at normal volumes. The most inexpensive subwoofer from SVS is (at preorder price for the redesigned version) $449 plus shipping:

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-10nsd.cfm

Most people would probably be happy with it, but if you can afford a higher model, buy a higher model. Rarely do people regret buying a better subwoofer over a lessor one. But don't spend more than you can afford; read the reviews of the earlier version of the above subwoofer and you will see that it is a great subwoofer for the money, and a respectable one in absolute terms.

My wife does not like excessive bass, but she is very happy with our two SVS Ultra subwoofers. I set them flat, so the bass is only there when it is supposed to be there, and is not artificially exaggerated. But because they are good, the bass is very deep, and it can shake the house when the soundtrack calls for it.