Set center to small or large when mains have built in subwoofers??

A

AudioBuffCO

Junior Audioholic
Hey Pedro,

Bottom-line, having done a lot of Googling, I wound up setting all 7 speakers to "small". I have an external sub. Offhand, I set the crossovers something like:

BP2004tl (Mains w/sub): 40hz
BP10+ (Side surrounds): 60hz
CLR 2500 (Center): 60hz
BP-2x (Rear surrounds): 80hz

System sounding great!

Thx,

Tom
 
Pedro Alvarado

Pedro Alvarado

Full Audioholic
Hey Pedro,

Bottom-line, having done a lot of Googling, I wound up setting all 7 speakers to "small". I have an external sub. Offhand, I set the crossovers something like:

BP2004tl (Mains w/sub): 40hz
BP10+ (Side surrounds): 60hz
CLR 2500 (Center): 60hz
BP-2x (Rear surrounds): 80hz

System sounding great!

Thx,

Tom
you did all that because googled told you to?
 
P

ParisB

Audioholic
Hey Pedro,

Bottom-line, having done a lot of Googling, I wound up setting all 7 speakers to "small". I have an external sub. Offhand, I set the crossovers something like:

BP2004tl (Mains w/sub): 40hz
BP10+ (Side surrounds): 60hz
CLR 2500 (Center): 60hz
BP-2x (Rear surrounds): 80hz

System sounding great!

Thx,

Tom
I can guarantee your front towers don't go below 32hz (-3dB), so it makes no sense to cross them lower than 60hz...even then, you're better off at 80hz. Keep in mind the crossover has a 12db/octave slope, so it will still play down to 40hz (80hz) or 30hz (60hz). You'll get smoother integration with higher crossover.

Absolutely same with surrounds and center.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I'd experiment with the crossover some, and would also recommend 80 as a better starting point.
 
Phase 2

Phase 2

Audioholic Chief
I would not call those powered "subs" either. You would benefit greatly from a true subwoofer. One thread I saw on that other site, from 2010, referenced a likely FR in the low 30s or upper 20's "if you are lucky."
I would cross them beginning at 60, and listen carefully in 2-channel music to see what your towers sound best at. (My speakers, rated for 34Hz, sounded better at 80 than 60, for example.) Once you know how your Towers perform, then set your Center XO probably another step up. This you might need to experiment with in a dialog heavy movie.
I don't see the point of a (powered driver in a speaker cabinet. In some applications yes, 2.0. Not in a 5.1 or 7.1 or 5.2 or 7.2. A dedicated sub in a 5.1 or what ever is chosen for a home surround is the way to go. If you choose to use a low-end sub just for a fill-in that's about all it will do. A real dedicated sub will out perform in a surround set-up with better results. Bookshelf powered speakers, yeah I could see a amp inside the speaker cabinet. Tower speakers as mains with a amp built into it? Maybe for 2 channel music only. But that's just my opinion on amps inside a speaker cabinet. #1, if the amp inside a speaker cabinet happens to crap out on you than you have a driver that has now become a bass radiator speaker. Can't say if the driver would still be active? I wouldn't think it would. But than I'm no audio engineer.
 
Joe B

Joe B

Audioholic Chief
Thank you all for your replies! :) For what it's worth - and I'm not sure it's worth a whole lot - I actually have the BP2004TL's, which have 250 watt built-in subs, not 125. I believe, however, that the TL version has the same 10" sub. If you know of any other differences, please enlighten me. Also, any of you have a link for the manual and advertising brochure for both the BP2004 and BP2004T's? I Googled liked a madman and came up empty.

If I do NOT use a separate sub, and I connect the BP2004TL's via the Speaker Level Inputs and I set the Center (C/L/R 2500) to "Small", and the Center's crossover to, say, 60 or 80hz, will the lower frequencies filtered from the Center pass onto the BP2004TL's built-in subs?

I know it works that way if I have a separate / external sub, but not sure if it will work the same for main speakers having built-in subs.

Further, if I DO use my external sub - I have Def Tech's PF 15TL+ - any recommendations on placement? With my BP10 mains, I had this sub off to the side of my Left-Front speaker, and it sounded fine. If I do incorporate it with the BP2004TL's, however, I am considering placing it behind my seating position, a few feet behind my Rear/Side Surrounds.

Open to any and all thoughts, and very much appreciate it!
Does this help:

https://content.abt.com/documents/26478/BPTowersbroch01.pdf
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Don't they have a LFE input for the bass sections? Sorry, I skimmed. Either way I agree with small setting and starting at 80. That works for most.
 
C

Crazy8s846

Audioholic
Just got a sub set my speakers to small but they seem to loss the fullness they had so set them back to large, sub is set at 120hz sounds great, I think you should play around see what sounds best to you. My rp280fs just dont sound right on small no matter what I do. On large the are fuller an sound much better an love the sub made the speakers sound richer an fuller than they were. You guys where right get a sub.:D
 
Pedro Alvarado

Pedro Alvarado

Full Audioholic
Don't they have a LFE input for the bass sections? Sorry, I skimmed. Either way I agree with small setting and starting at 80. That works for most.
yup, they sure do. but i stopped using them that way.
 
Pedro Alvarado

Pedro Alvarado

Full Audioholic
Hey Pedro,

Bottom-line, having done a lot of Googling, I wound up setting all 7 speakers to "small". I have an external sub. Offhand, I set the crossovers something like:

BP2004tl (Mains w/sub): 40hz
BP10+ (Side surrounds): 60hz
CLR 2500 (Center): 60hz
BP-2x (Rear surrounds): 80hz

System sounding great!

Thx,

Tom
i have mine
with the port about 10" from the wall
8' apart (inside to inside)
angled in (almost 45° )
11' from my chair
full range
the dial at 12
and they sound good to me.

i tried 40, 60, 80, and i didn't like it. in my room with my avr this is what sounds good to me.

am i getting def tech spec results, most probably not but like i said it sounds good to me.

i can definitely hear when they run out of gas and my sub takes the baton.
 
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