Subwoofer config on a Yamaha AVR

[Ed Kipp]

Hi, I am looking for some advice on my subwoofer config on my Yamaha RX-V677 receiver. I have Energy RC-70 speakers and an SVS SB-1000 sub. I am running this setup as a music only setup.

When I run YPAO it sets my crossover to 40Hz and the RC-70s are rated to 31Hz so this seems correct.

SVS recommends setting the crossover to 60Hz for this setup but neither of these configs sounds as good as it should.

I have played with setting the speakers to large and small and as expected when set to large the sub doesn't play.

For testing purposes I have added a second set of RC-70s as rear speakers and have been playing around. In 7 channel stereo mode it sounds better but still not as good as I think it should.

I have it set right now with the front speakers as large and the rear as small and set the crossover to 80Hz and the sub is playing with the fronts set as large and it sounds better than it has with all of the other settings.

Is this a valid way to force the Yamaha to send the full range to the fronts and also send anything below the crossover point to the sub?

Is there any way to achieve this on the Yamaha in 2 Channel Stereo?

Thanks for any insight you can provide,

Ed

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Typically it’s best to ignore the main speaker’s extension rating and cross over at ~80 Hz. This allows the sub to carry the complete low end, and allows it to be located for best frequency response. If the main speakers are carrying the low end, you can’t put them in the location for best frequency response because locating for best imaging supersedes that objective.

Running the mains full range with a sub gets another problem. Essentially you have the sub + two speakers operating down to the main speaker’s lowest extension (31 Hz in this case), but only the sub operating below 31 Hz by itself. The result is that the total system response is only good to 31 Hz. It’s the same effect as what you get when people try to integrate high-end and mediocre subwoofers, as seen here, complete with graphs to substantiate.

That said, if this is truly a music only system, then extension to 31 Hz should be sufficient.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Ed Kipp]

Wayne, thanks for your response. I will try running both with the front as small with the xover at 80Hz and also with the front as large with the sub off and see how it sounds.