subwoofer connection:which is for me?

[zackde]

guys,

I cant find in my search the answer to my question. I have a wharfedale speakers & subs. Now as I read on the POLK website, it says that sometimes its better to use the speaker conection going to the subs rather than the pre out of the receiver. They say it conflicts because both the sub & the receiver has their own low-pass filter. Here is my case, my subwoofer has a LEVEL & CROSSOVER dial that i can fine tune the base, now both of my receiver & subs has crossover setting, so which is for me?

1. use the pre-out of the reciever, set the frequency crossover setting,
then leave LEVEL & CROSSOVER dial of my SUB to MAX

2. or use my speaker conection going to sub then fine tune the sub using the LEVEL & CROSSOVER dial of my sub (will this bypass the low-pass filter of my receiver?)

thnaks in advance

 

[MDS]

Option 1 (receiver sub pre-out to subwoofer line-in) is the best option. You do want to set the xover dial on the sub to its MAX setting to get it out of the way of the receiver's xover, but the LEVEL should be set when you calibrate your speakers (half-way up is a good starting point).

For option 2, you would have to set the front speakers to Large so that the receiver's xover is not used. The Polk recommendations were written a long time ago and their reasoning was because most receivers at the time had FIXED xover levels, thus it was better to use the speaker level hookup so that you could have more flexibility in setting the xover frequency by using the sub's xover.

 

[golfhack]

I second Anonymous's advice. I personally wouldn't ever use speaker level connections. Sub x-over to max, volume level to about 10:00 to 12:00 ...yup.

 

[WooHoo]

I second Anonymous's advice. I personally wouldn't ever use speaker level connections. Sub x-over to max, volume level to about 10:00 to 12:00 ...yup.

If I were setting up a 2 channel room I would certainly consider using speaker level. But for movies, there is nothing like the LFE feed! Sweet.

 

[zackde]

one more question

my front speakers are rated 120hz-20khz, because of that i set my crossover freq on the rcvr at 120hz, is this right?

 

[golfhack]

No offense, but I would seriously consider getting new front speakers. If budget doesn't allow it, then make sure you x-over at 120 Hz and set the sub somewhere in between the front speakers. The reason is because at such a high x-over the bass will be easily localizabe, therefore if you place the sub by the main speakers this localization will be masked. But seriously, if you haven't bought a sub yet, I would use the money you have now and invest in better main speakers, and then later on invest in a sub. Remember the midrange is more important than the bass. I'm sure some bassheads will rip me apart for saying that though.

 

[zackde]

I got a wharfedale 5.1 system thats why im complete now, even if i want to chnage my mains for a good ranged bookshelf, im quite thinking about that timber matching stuff. Im fearing that if i changred my mains i have to change my centers too.

also im confused on the specs of my subs.

LF response = 28hz (boundary)
crossover range = 70-170 hz

what do this mean?
what is my subs freq range?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

The 28hz is as deep a cycle the sub can produce. The 70hz to 170hz range should be the dial in the rear that changes the tonality of the bass you are hearing, from mid bass to the deeper bass.