subless system what speaker settings small or large??? help please?

[admin_exported]

i know my speakers are not the best but thats what ive got atm. the front l and r are floorstanders and the surrounds are old technics bookshelf speakers. i dont have a sub atm but have the lfe affects set to the front speakers which boom at times, should i set all speakers to large to level out the effect of set them all to small, somebody told me this might sound better.

any help would be a great help thanks in advance

 

[michael hoy]

perrydave50:
i know my speakers are not the best but thats what ive got atm. the front l and r are floorstanders and the surrounds are old technics bookshelf speakers. i dont have a sub atm but have the lfe affects set to the front speakers which boom at times, should i set all speakers to large to level out the effect of set them all to small, somebody told me this might sound better.

any help would be a great help thanks in advance

I would say large for the front and small for the rears, you only need a subtle sound from the rears.

 

[roger06]

Get a sub! even if it's a cheap one on eBay. My system was sub-less for a good few years in the '90s and when I finally got one... wow, it makes a HUGE difference...

 

[Anonymous]

It sure does make a difference, especially when sensitive neighbours are involved! I've decided after all the issues I had in old property that unless room with the sub is in otherside of house to neighours then it doesnt get purchased.

Far too many complaints!

 

[GazzyP]

I am subless too - for the exact reasons as I dont have the privalage of living in a detached house in the middle of nowhere! But I have all my speakers set to 'Large' - otherwise the amp tries to divert the bass to other speakers - it can dilute the directional sound. I good example of this is my smallest speaker: Centre. You would think best set to 'small' but actually set to 'large' improves focus and depth of sound beyond belief. Go Large unless you find a problem.

There should be a Sub-less support group!!

 

[Timbot]

Interesting thread... I've just moved into a new house (detached thankfully!) and have my 1st surround setup. Going to have a "play" with the speaker size settings as I too am subless. My problem is not the neighbours... It's the wife!!!

 

[Anonymous]

i hear that. i also have neighbours and a 2 year old in the house.

 

[Timbot]

So what constitutes a "big" speaker and a "small" speaker?

I'm running a pair of KEF floorstanders as front R+L (which I'd be shocked if they weren't "big"), a Mission C77 for the centre which is also pretty large so I'd guess is "big". The rear surrounds are a pair of Monitor Audio bookshelf speakers on Alphason stands. Are these "big" or "small"?

I'd be interested on people's feedback but will also have a bit of a fiddle with the settings...

 

[Chewy]

The 'large' and 'small' settings for speaker have nothing to do with a speakers physical size, or indeed the ability to produce bass frequencies. In terms of Audyssey or other automated speakers set-up method, this simply is a convention for saying whether a speaker is being sent the full range of frequencies in an audio track (Large), or whether these are being cut-off at a minimum frequency point (often referred to as the "crossover") and the remaining bass frequencies being sent to a sub (Small).

General advice suggests that, if you have a sub, set all speakers to small, however that advice depends a lot on other factors including the ability of both you speakers and amp, and the effect your room has on the sound.

The best advice is the run the auto-set up, and then adjust the speaker size settings until it sounds the best to you.

 

[davejberry]

Timbot:
So what constitutes a "big" speaker and a "small" speaker?

I'd be interested on people's feedback but will also have a bit of a fiddle with the settings...

I suggest small speakers are those that don't produce reasonable bass below 120hz, such as in lifestyle systems, something similar to Bose satellites for example. Anything bigger than a bag of sugar should be set to large, if not, most bass will be sent to the sub. With my Sony, if you choose 'no subwoofer' in the setup, the front speakers are set to large by default.

By the way, I live in a second floor apartment, I use a sub at all times and have never had a complaint. If set up properly, it doesn't seem to disturb the neighbours. Not all soundtracks have the LFE portion and don't therefore shake the whole building.

 

[Chewy]

davejberry:Timbot:

So what constitutes a "big" speaker and a "small" speaker?

I'd be interested on people's feedback but will also have a bit of a fiddle with the settings...

I suggest small speakers are those that don't produce reasonable bass below 120hz, such as in lifestyle systems, something similar to Bose satellites for example. Anything bigger than a bag of sugar should be set to large, if not, most bass will be sent to the sub.

No, thats not correct. Even a 2 metre high floor stander with 6 inch bass drivers that can go down to 40Hz can be set-up and considered 'small' in terms of auto-eq set-up, it simply means the bass below the crossover is being sent to the sub, and this depends on the equipment and room for best set-up.

On my old Onkyo 905 the Audyssey set-up always set the front three speakers to 'Large', but always sounded better by changing them to small with a crossover set at 80Hz. Now with my LX-83, I am gradually finding, because of the amps increased clarity, I get better sound with the front L/R set to large - though the centre still sound clearer set to small.

The conventional thinking is, as I understand it, that even a full range speaker will generally produce a better/clearer mid and top range frequencies if it does not have to use the available amplification power to produce the much more energy consuming lower bass frequencies.