Polk LSI 25's say set to Large

Hi Jeff,

Please read this to better understand why Large is a terrible idea:

http://www.audyssey.com/blog/2009/05/small-vs-large/

It's much better to run the Sub Out from your AVR to the line in connector of the powered subs in your speakers.  If you set your speakers to Large then NO signal will be sent to your powerful sub.  

Thanks Chris,

Should I remove the jumpers between the two hookups in the back of my tower speakers?  I would then set my towers to "Small" set the crossover to 80 and let the sub do the work.  Right?  Also, I have my AVR subwoofer out going into my subs LFE in.  You mentioned the line input on my sub.  Any difference?

jeff

I recommend using y-cords to split the subwoofer out of your AVR to the Sub In RCA connections on the speakers (yes, remove the jumpers) and also to the separate sub.  You will need two y-cords to split the signal into three paths.  The LFE in is the best one to use for the sub.  More info on subs and MultEQ here:

http://ask.audyssey.com/forums/84181/entries/76175.html

Thanks alot

Chris,

Two final questions (I promise).

Recap:

I have 2 Polk LSI 25's, a Polk LSIC center, a Polk PSW650 sub and 2 Polk LSI F/X surrounds.

I have set all speakers to small, set my crossover to 80 for all.

For a bunch of reasons I am not going to use the Y-cords you suggested and have my AVR sub out into my sub LFE in.

1.  Do I remove the jumpers from my towers?

2.  If I do, should I rerun Audyssey's setup?

Thanks again,

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

I am not sure what you are suggesting.  If you don't use y-cords how will you feed the subwoofer signal from the AVR to all three subs?

1. Yes, remove the jumpers so that the subs in the speakers are separate

2. Yes, you have to run Audyssey again because the calibration for the bass will be totally different now.

Chris,

I guess my real question is this:  Do I need the towers subs?  Should I only use the subwoofer or will I be missing needed bass if I bypass the towers subs?  If I leave it as I have it (with the subs on the towers connected with the jumper but the crossover set at 80) isn't all of the bass going to the subwoofer anyhow?

Jeff

There are advantages in reproducing the bass from multiple subs.  Room modes are driven from more points and thus overlap more to give a smoother response.  Furthermore, MultEQ and MultEQ XT create higher resolution filters in the subwoofer channel as compared to the satellite channels.  So, by using the woofers as subs you are taking advantage of this higher resolution.

Chris,

So I will leave the jumpers in (if I decide not to do the y-cords) and let Audyssey run its program.  When my AVR sets the towers to Full Band (which it always does) I will change it back to small and 80 crossover and I will still then have 3 subs working but not as well as the y-cords will give me.  Correct?

Jeff

Nope... If you don't connect the subs to the Sub Out then they are not "Subs".  They are just woofers for your front L and R speakers.  To make them Subs you have to feed them the bass managed signal that comes out of the Sub Out connector on the AVR.

then why does my AVR (or your program) set my AVR to "Double Bass" when I run the program?  I hooked up my sub directly to the LFE in of my sub from the subwoofer out of my AVR. 

It's the AVR.  This is one of the several bad choices AVR makers make by default.  Double Bass sends the bass to the sub and speaker at the same time resulting in boomy overlap.

ok chris thanks.  I will leave you alone.  You have been great.

Jeff