RTi8/STF-2 Crossover Recommendations

[FatStrat85]

I have a pair of Polk RTi8's, a Yamaha RX-V659 receiver, and I just ordered a HSU STF-2 subwoofer. I use it for a 50/50 mix of music and HT. It's in a 12'x15' living room that opens up into a small dining room on the right side with a wide entrance (if that makes a difference). I'm looking forward to adding the sub into the mix as I hear adding a sub really brings the RTi8's to life.

I'm not sure how to set the receiver. Should I set the RTi8's to small so all the frequencies below the crossover point go to the sub? Should I set them to large since the RTi8's can get fairly low on their own and have bass frequencies coming from the RTi8's and the sub? What should I set my crossover to with this setup? I imagine somewhere between 60-100hz.

Once I get the sub I'll certainly play around with it to see what sounds good, but I'd like to get some sort of starting point. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[nibhaz]

A great start would be to set the Rti8s to small and the crossover to 80Hz in the receiver. Then you will want to turn the crossover dial on the sub to highest setting for example 120Hz.

 

[corey]

You shouldn't need to go above 80. Polk says your speakers are -3 db at 40 hz, so you shouldn't crossover below 60. By crossing at 80 instead of 60, you off-load more of the "heavy lifting" to you sub's amp, and gain headroom for everything above 80.

Add on: I was typing while nibhaz was posting. What s/he says too. I forgot about your large/small question, and it's important to defeat the sub's crossover when your using the receiver's crossover.

 

[speakerman39]

You shouldn't need to go above 80. Polk says your speakers are -3 db at 40 hz, so you shouldn't crossover below 60. By crossing at 80 instead of 60, you off-load more of the "heavy lifting" to you sub's amp, and gain headroom for everything above 80.

Add on: I was typing while nibhaz was posting. What s/he says too. I forgot about your large/small question, and it's important to defeat the sub's crossover when your using the receiver's crossover.

I agree here. The RTi8's do not have a lot of bass to them to begin with and as such I would set them to small X-overed at 80Hz. In such a small room, the RTi8's should sound stellar. Excellent choice!!!

Cheers,

Phil

 

[FatStrat85]

Thanks for the replies. So I guess I'll start with the RTi8's set to small and the crossover set to 80Hz. My room has 7.5' ceilings so that makes the dimensions 12 x 15 x 7.5 (1,350 cubic feet). Like I said, it has one large opening into a small dining room. It also has a smaller doorway-size opening into a hallway. Do you think the STF-2 is the right size sub for my room? I'm hoping it pairs well with the RTi8's.

 

[speakerman39]

Thanks for the replies. So I guess I'll start with the RTi8's set to small and the crossover set to 80Hz. My room has 7.5' ceilings so that makes the dimensions 12 x 15 x 7.5 (1,350 cubic feet). Like I said, it has one large opening into a small dining room. It also has a smaller doorway-size opening into a hallway. Do you think the STF-2 is the right size sub for my room? I'm hoping it pairs well with the RTi8's.

My take is that the STF-2 should do just fine. Have you discussed this with the people over at Hsu Research? If not, I suggest you give them a call as they will be more than happy to assist you. You can also look up Peter Marks under the members lists and send him a PM. He is also very knowledgeable regarding questions like this. However, the truth is how YOU feel about it. That is, try it and decide for yourself. After all, who knows better than YOU what YOU are looking for right? In short, try one and see-if it is NOT enough get a second. Duals offer several advantages. You can get a 6db gain in output if you co-locate them OR place them apart and get a smoother bass response thus increasing the sweet-spot so to speak. Hope this helps and as always good luck.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[FatStrat85]

I just called over there and spoke to someone. I was at work, so I had to estimate the footage of the attached dining room, but they seemed to think the STF-2 was a good choice for anything up to 3000 cubic feet, unless you are specifically playing organ music, in which case they recommended something with deeper extension. Looks like it'll be great for my room and I don't listen to too much organ music, so that shouldn't be an issue. They said it should ship today and will hopefully arrive within 5 days. I'm excited. I'll try to remember to post once it's all set up to let you know how it sounds.

 

[speakerman39]

I just called over there and spoke to someone. I was at work, so I had to estimate the footage of the attached dining room, but they seemed to think the STF-2 was a good choice for anything up to 3000 cubic feet, unless you are specifically playing organ music, in which case they recommended something with deeper extension. Looks like it'll be great for my room and I don't listen to too much organ music, so that shouldn't be an issue. They said it should ship today and will hopefully arrive within 5 days. I'm excited. I'll try to remember to post once it's all set up to let you know how it sounds.

This is great news. Be sure to keep us posted. Looking forward to your initial impressions as I am sure you will be pleased. Congrats on the purchase!!!!

Cheers,

Phil

 

[FatStrat85]

Sounds good so far!

I got it on Friday (nicely ahead of schedule). So far it is great. I've been using the Yamaha receiver's auto-setup feature to set the sub level. I have the sub level adjusted to +0.5 db and the crossover set to 80 Hz. I listened to a bunch of music and it sounds great. The difference is subtle for music when the sub level is adjusted at or near 0 db, because my RTi8's go down to 40 Hz on their own, and I guess there isn't too much sound in normal music below 40 Hz. I used the "Pure Direct" function on the Yamaha receiver to A/B test with and without the sub. I consider the fact that it is subtle for music a good thing. It blends in well and the sub doesn't particularly draw attention to itself when listening to music. However, we watched "Live Free or Die Hard" on Blu-Ray and it was awesome. Plenty of explosions and bangs that really made use of the 25-39hz range of the STF-2 (again, with the sub adjusted to +0.5 db according to my receiver). I still plan on experimenting with it more, but so far I am very pleased.

 

[nibhaz]

Sounds to me like you have everything set up correctly

Now enjoy yourself and play with the settings until you’ve got it just right for your taste.

Happy listening!

 

[MDS]

A couple of quick points:
- When you say the sub is subtle for music, that is a good thing. If you can definitely say 'oh, the sub is over there' that is bad. The whole point is you should not be able to localize the bass (ie tell where it is coming from).

- When you take into account the main room and adjoining rooms, the recommendation will always be for a larger, more powerful sub. That is all well and good but as always there is a certain degree of personal preference. The difference is how low (frequency) at how high (SPL level) it can produce. If you want 110 dB at 20 Hz, a small sub just won't cut it with all that extra open space, but do you really need that? Maybe yes, maybe no.

For example, my room is 16 x 18 x 9 but is open to the kitchen breakfast nook area and in a way slightly open to the dining room because it is only separated by a half wall. The little SB12-Plus I bought can go down to 20 Hz but with that large space can in no way do 110 dB at 20 Hz. I think it is fine and sounds very good, but I can't really relate to the guys that say their oven door vibrates open or pictures vibrate on the wall...that just doesn't happen in my space. But, it does add quite a bit of punch and I like it. Besides, I can always add a second SB12. A ginormous 125 lb beast just wouldn't work aesthetically for the room even though it would likely be far better for room shaking bass. So far I'm reasonably happy with the compromise I've chosen (for now )

 

[speakerman39]

A couple of quick points:
- When you say the sub is subtle for music, that is a good thing. If you can definitely say 'oh, the sub is over there' that is bad. The whole point is you should not be able to localize the bass (ie tell where it is coming from).

- When you take into account the main room and adjoining rooms, the recommendation will always be for a larger, more powerful sub. That is all well and good but as always there is a certain degree of personal preference. The difference is how low (frequency) at how high (SPL level) it can produce. If you want 110 dB at 20 Hz, a small sub just won't cut it with all that extra open space, but do you really need that? Maybe yes, maybe no.

For example, my room is 16 x 18 x 9 but is open to the kitchen breakfast nook area and in a way slightly open to the dining room because it is only separated by a half wall. The little SB12-Plus I bought can go down to 20 Hz but with that large space can in no way do 110 dB at 20 Hz. I think it is fine and sounds very good, but I can't really relate to the guys that say their oven door vibrates open or pictures vibrate on the wall...that just doesn't happen in my space. But, it does add quite a bit of punch and I like it. Besides, I can always add a second SB12. A ginormous 125 lb beast just wouldn't work aesthetically for the room even though it would likely be far better for room shaking bass. So far I'm reasonably happy with the compromise I've chosen (for now )

Very informative MDS. I always enjoy reading your posts as they usually are interesting. Just wanted to say thanks my friend.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[FatStrat85]

Sub Level?

Thanks for the responses. I'm wondering if I should set the sub level differently. As I said, I have it set right now to +0.5 dB accoring to the Yamaha receiver's auto-setup program. Do you normally set your sub level higher than the other speakers? Lower? Is the Yamaha's setup mic even accurate for measuring low bass frequencies? Any suggestions for what I should set it to? For instance, would +4.0 dB be generally "better"? Should it be set differently for music than for HT?

 

[speakerman39]

Thanks for the responses. I'm wondering if I should set the sub level differently. As I said, I have it set right now to +0.5 dB accoring to the Yamaha receiver's auto-setup program. Do you normally set your sub level higher than the other speakers? Lower? Is the Yamaha's setup mic even accurate for measuring low bass frequencies? Any suggestions for what I should set it to? For instance, would +4.0 dB be generally "better"? Should it be set differently for music than for HT?

Well, if I were you be sure to check all the levels with a Radio Shack SPL meter set to 75 db. With that said, some members here prefer to run their sub(s) a bit hot say 77db or 78 db. Just make sure you do not run the sub too hot because it can drown-out the rest of your speakers. Hence, the idea is get the sound to reach your ears at the same time. If you set the sub too high it will also become more localized by calling too much attention to it. I prefer a more seemless sound myself. Hope this helps and good luck.

Cheers,

Phil