Thinking about a switch...

[jbost002]

I had a post here last week after a switch in my receivers. Seems as though I lost the good bass I had just before the switch to the new receiver. Now it seems like I just imagined it.

Anyway, I'm still thinking of returning my Boston Acoustics XB2 (8 inch, 50 watts RMS) and picking up the Dayton SUB-120 (12 inch, 150 watts - not sure if this is RMS or not, I think so). However, on the pictures, I see a Right & Left Low level input on the back. What's that all about? The more expensive subs only have one, my XB2 only has one, and my receiver only has one Subwoofer Pre-Out. Can someone help me figure out if this will do what I need? I basically just want a decent subwoofer that will not be too loud but will process LFE from my receiver.

 

[Adam]

Check out this thread. I think that MDS sums up nicely the difference between using one input or two inputs.

In short, either sub will do what you need in terms of connections.

 

[jonnythan]

Actually, most subs, including "the expensive ones," have stereo sub inputs. I've only seen a couple of cheap ones that have a single sub input.

 

[jbost002]

Great! That was great information. So here is another question. Some subs (like the XB4 step-up model from mine) advertise an LFE input while others, like my XB2, do not.

And then there's the Dayton, which doesn't say either about it.

Is there a difference between "low level inputs" and an LFE input? I hope that makes sense...

 

[Adam]

My impression (perhaps wrong) is that an LFE input does not include any sort of frequency filter (so it doesn't use a crossover), while the line-level inputs do use that filter. So, if your receiver is handling the crossover frequency like a lot of receivers do, then using the LFE input would work just great. If you use the line-level inputs and set the crossover on the sub to the max setting (which would normally be quite a bit higher than the crossover used in your receiver), you effectively do the same thing.

 

[jonnythan]

The LFE input is subject to the crossover setting on the back of the sub.

I use the LFE input on my sub, but set the crossover to the max setting and let the receiver take care of crossover duties.

 

[jbost002]

So basically it makes no difference? That seems to be what I am getting from what I read too. I do see a lot of people/articles referring to speaker settings as "small" and my Onkyo receiver doesn't seem to have this setting (I have the TX-SR605). Does anybody know what this might be on my receiver? I looked in the manual and had no luck.

 

[j_garcia]

The LFE input should not be affected by the x-over. LFE would expect an already crossed over input aka bypass mode, while the "other" input should be altered by the x-over. If you are feeding the sub from a pre-out though, it doesn't really make a difference.

The speaker "size" setting will be in the speaker setup menu. If you have sub = no, then you may not be able to change your mains to small.

 

[AVRat]

The Onkyo 605 doesn't have large/small settings. You just need to set the appropriate x-over level for each set of speakers, generally at 80Hz. See pg. 70 of the manual.

 

[jbost002]

Thanks for the help all!! I think I've got it together now And I do think I will switch...maybe...

 

[AVRat]

Don’t get too caught up in the “LFE” & “low-level L/R” nomenclature. Manufacturers use them differently and implement x-over filtering differently as well. You need to understand how a specific sub can be configured to meet your specific needs.

The XB2 has a single “low-level” input with x-over control that should be turned up to “bypass”.

The XB4 has dual “low-level” inputs. One that uses the x-over control and the other that bypasses it entirely, you would want to use the latter.

The Dayton has “low-level L/R” inputs with x-over control that should be turned up to negate its affect.