Subwoofer + PS3 Question

[fernanmd]

I have a Pioneer 1120K receiver, I play music with the PS3 alot, connected to receiver via HDMI. I have a Bic H-100 sub connected with LFE cable.

Now when my speaker settings are as follows:

Fronts: Large, X-over:100hz - No bass comes out of sub (This is what MCACC set it to.)

And
Fronts: Small, X-over:80hz - Bass out of sub

Also my sound settings are on either: pure direct, stereo, or DD

I just want a better understanding of this and why would MCACC set it up like that so when I listen to music there's no bass coming out of the sub. Although it still does sound good. Thanks, any info is appreciated.

 

[Seth=L]

Basically this is how the receiver works.

If you set the speakers to large it sends a full range signal to the fronts, regardless of what the settings are for the subwoofer (on/off, crossover). If you set them to small and you set the crossover to 80 Hz for example the low frequency material below 80 Hz is tapered off for output to the speakers and fades in on the subwoofer for a nice blending affect.

Setting the fronts to small is the most practical way of setting this up because A. it reduces power requirements for the speakers and in turn relieves some necessity of power from the receiver. The subwoofer fills in what the rest of the speakers don't play.

If you absolutely want to have both the subwoofer and fronts playing full range you can opt to set the subwoofer to "BOTH" (I believe that's what Pioneer calls it, some other companies will say "DOUBLE BASS"). Basically this means the subwoofer will do both LFE (which is the .1 in a 5.1 or 7.1 audio track) and it will also mix the bass from stereo sources such as a CD into the subwoofer output. If the receiver is set to LFE only when music is played and the fronts are set to large, no bass will come from the subwoofer.

 

[fernanmd]

Basically this is how the receiver works.

If you set the speakers to large it sends a full range signal to the fronts, regardless of what the settings are for the subwoofer (on/off, crossover). If you set them to small and you set the crossover to 80 Hz for example the low frequency material below 80 Hz is tapered off for output to the speakers and fades in on the subwoofer for a nice blending affect.

Setting the fronts to small is the most practical way of setting this up because A. it reduces power requirements for the speakers and in turn relieves some necessity of power from the receiver. The subwoofer fills in what the rest of the speakers don't play.

If you absolutely want to have both the subwoofer and fronts playing full range you can opt to set the subwoofer to "BOTH" (I believe that's what Pioneer calls it, some other companies will say "DOUBLE BASS"). Basically this means the subwoofer will do both LFE (which is the .1 in a 5.1 or 7.1 audio track) and it will also mix the bass from stereo sources such as a CD into the subwoofer output. If the receiver is set to LFE only when music is played and the fronts are set to large, no bass will come from the subwoofer.

Thanks, that explains it well. Under the SW setting there is "Plus". If I choice this will there be too much bass if i change my front speakers to small?

 

[Seth=L]

No, in fact nothing would change in the subs output if you changed the fronts from large to small with the plus on.

 

[fernanmd]

No, in fact nothing would change in the subs output if you changed the fronts from large to small with the plus on.

Well you can only choose "Plus" with the fronts set to Large. So I set them to small and the SW setting automatically defaults to an unchangeable setting and I set the x-over to 80hz, sounds a lot better to me.

 

[darien87]

Well you can only choose "Plus" with the fronts set to Large. So I set them to small and the SW setting automatically defaults to an unchangeable setting and I set the x-over to 80hz, sounds a lot better to me.

The "plus" setting is exactly that. If you have large fronts that have their own subs or that can play very deep, you can elect to have them play the low frequencies along with your sub. So you get bass from your towers PLUS bass from your sub. Make sense?

 

[fernanmd]

The "plus" setting is exactly that. If you have large fronts that have their own subs or that can play very deep, you can elect to have them play the low frequencies along with your sub. So you get bass from your towers PLUS bass from your sub. Make sense?

Yes that makes perfect sense. I've been turning the "plus" on and off depending on what i'm watching or listening to. Well i'm learning as much as I can with the receiver, thanks for the help and the good info guys.

 

[woodsof]

plus make little effect on the output.

 

[j_garcia]

plus make little effect on the output.

If you have main speakers that are capable of decent bass, then it will make a noticeable difference, however it will also overlap what the sub is playing so it really isn't a good thing.