I must admit it sounds better now. I usually don't set my front to large though, but I did it exact how you said to try, and it does sound better. Setting it to large, meant that I could have the filter on the 8 inch way lower, and still notice a difference in sound from it. For music anyway, I never tested it on anything else.
The 8 inch sub now cuts in at 70hz, and the 10 inch at 60hz.
But now I wonder, if the fronts are now set to large, and the 8 inch sub running from the front preout, is there any real difference in theory than from having the 8 inch from the subwoofer out?
My guess is that plugged into the front preouts it wont go below 20hz, whereas the other sub will, although at decreasing levels?
I thought your object was to extend the bass of your mains which this does.
The difference between what you have now and having both subs connected to the LFE is that one sub is just extending the bass of the mains and the other is handling the LFE.
For your situation that is probably optimal as an eight inch sub might not handle the 20db explosion boosts etc. on the LFE channel
The main reason I did this is because you wanted to extend the bass of your mains. I understand form the 70 Hz crossover, you mains must have an F3 of around 35 Hz, so what you have is really the only practical way of doing what you desire with what you have.
As you probably know, I'm a rebel when it comes to subs, in that I don't use one in my main system, although LFE channel information is captured. The issue of bass management, and how to set up subs has largely been dictated by Lucas Labs. On this issue I don't see completely eye to eye.
My experiments and theoretical considerations told that the best bass would be achieved by seven extended range speakers. Interestingly a paper at the Holland AES a few months ago showed that to be so.
I have come close to that. All my speakers are set to large. In room, the mains extend to 20 Hz before the spl drops, and the rears come close to that. The center can not be so big, but the F3 of the TLS is 42 Hz with 12 db roll off per octave, rather than a ported speakers 24db per octave, and has significant output to 20 Hz.
The surrounds have to be smaller for aesthetics, but they are sealed speakers with Dynaudio drivers which have 2.5 inch diameter voice coils, that can easily handle whatever Hollywood throws at them. F3 is 53 Hz, but again, roll of is 12 db per octave, so there is good usable response to 30 Hz. They don't sound bass shy at all when used as a stereo pair. In fact people used to comment on how good the bass response was when those speakers were with me on location recording. So what I have is close to the seven extended range speakers, and four of them are truly full range speakers, with a bass most subs can't achieve.
I have friends with mains that have good mains with bass response to 30 Hz, Hz. I have found that if the mains have a good quality bass, and are able to achieve good spl to the 30 Hz region, that it sounds best if the mains, at least, are set to large. The issue is, and this is where Lucas labs have a point is that speakers that have extended bass response at a robust spl, will always be at a high price point, and certainly cost more than most members on the these forums would want to pay. So the issue becomes off loading speakers that might be damaged by Hollywood's effects, or at least have the deep bass muddy the mid range of the speakers. Also offloading receiver amps, that can not do the best delivering the currents required to allow most speakers to perform their best below 60 Hz is an issue the Lucas approach helps.
So for most situations, the Lucas Labs way of doing things makes sense, and certainly gives the best bag for the buck with the equipment budget. I don't believe it is the route to the "ultimate".
I just received my December issue of Gramophone magazine yesterday. It has a sampler SACD. Track 13 is the opening of the first movement of Symphony No. 12 by Kalevi Aho, from the Lahti symphony orchestra Finland, on the BIS label.
It opens with an extended antiphonal tympani section which leads into a brass fanfare. Hearing my big lines either end of the studio answer each other with power clarity and and tight deep boom less bass was quite a thrill. I think that sampler may have sold me that CD!
