90 hz crossover setting - VTF-3 MKII

[jay005]

I have a few questions about the crossover settings for the VTF-3 MK II and my 5.1 setup.

Yamaha model HTR-5560 75 watts x 6
Klipsch RF-5 (max ext. 34hz)
Klipsch RC-3II
Klipsch RS-3II

For the Yamaha the manual states that if I set all speakers to small and the Bass setting to the Subwoofer only that it will send all signals 90hz and under to only the sub and everything above 90hz to the mains, center and surrounds. I have tried this and it sounds pretty good but I really wanted to set the RF-5's to large because they are very bass capable large speakers.

I have also noticed that the manual for the VTF-3 refers to a 90hz setting and the dial actually has 90hz written on it but the knob will only go to 80hz. Is it safe to choose out on the crossover on the sub and let it accept up to 90hz signals? Or did something change at some point to allow only up to 80hz?

I currently have the crossover set to in on the VTF-3 and at about 70-75hz, and on the receiver the RF-5's to large, all other speakers small, and the Bass setting to Subwoofer only. I like the way this sounds but I am just curious as to what the recommended settings would be for this setup.

By the way the VTF-3 MKII has made a huge and incredible improvement to the overall sound with movies and music. It was like night and day compared to an older 10in KLH KSUB-10. My wife and I cannot believe the sound that the VTF-3 puts out. We watched the Haunting a few nights ago and that movie has some incredible bass!!!

THANK YOU HSU for making such a great product at such a great price!!!

Jay

[jay005]

Anyone have any recommendations???

[wid]

I would run all speakers small and set the subs crossover to out and let the reciever do the work there. You will take a large load off your reciever by not having it do the heavy bass that the sub should be doing.

[DNelms]

Hey Jay-

The crossover marks on the VTF-3 and on the STF-3 do indicate 90htz. However the subs can play higher than that if you wish. I have messed around with the bass management on my receiver and found the subs can output frequencies over 120 htz.

If you wanted to use your front speakers at full range and still be able to utilize the sub you may not be able to use a line level output unless your Yamaha can out put full range to the speakers and still send the low frequencies to the sub. Then you could use the cross over in the sub to blend with the speakers.

If the receiver does not have the ability to send bass to the mains and the sub you may need to use the speaker level in/outs on the sub and then set the crossover to blend the sub and the speakers.

I would experiment with different settings, but you may find that using the bass management in the receiver and setting the crossover on the sub to out the best method. Just remember that when the bass signals are over 80htz the subwoofer my be easier to localize, so you will really have to watch your volume setting.

Anyway, have some fun experimenting and see what works best, and then let us know how it turns out.

Dave

[cyberbri]

Disable the crossover on the sub (In/Out switch). Otherwise you are running double crossover filters and filtering out bass, etc.

Crossovers aren't brick walls where the signal is cut off and sent somewhere else. A crossover will blend the signal between the two at certain high-pass and low-pass slopes - ie., 24dB per octave, which means that sound level is reduced 24dB each octave. So if you crossover at 80Hz, the sub is still playing up to 160Hz and it will be down 24dB of the signal there. The mains will be playing down to 40Hz and will be down 24dB at that point as well. Of course the signal keeps on that slope past that first octave, and the rolloff starts before the actual crossover point. But with the slopes, the speakers and the sub blend together, just like the woofers/midranges/tweeters in regular speakers do according to their internal crossovers.

Run the speakers as small, experiment with placement for the sub and mains for best/flattest bass response and sound (imaging/soundstage, etc. for the speakers). Use Avia (or equivalent) and an SPL meter to verify how flat/bumpy the bass response is and experiment with phase settings on the sub, crossover points, etc. until you get the flattest (or desired) bass response. It's not about a specific crossover frequency being best. It's about what combination of placement and settings gets the flattest/best response for the best sound.

[jay005]

cyberbri,

I have the VTF-3 set with the crossover to in and the dial set at 70hz. When I have it set to out and just use the Yammy's 90hz setting (only option) I can really locate the sound from the VTF. I have played around with the settings and I have my mains set to large and the Bass (LFE) setting to Sub only. The RF-5 mains set to large add a little more punch near the front of the room and the VTF-3 corner placed nearfield is a lot more hard to locate when set at 70hz. I have calibrated all the speakers using the RS meter and the Yamaha test tones. I have the sub's gain calibrated at +3 db and leave it at 0 db on the Yamaha for movies then lower it to -3 db for music. The sound is fantastic and I am very happy with it. If I ever get a new receiver that can have multiple crossover settings for the sub and/or all the other channels I may do some more testing.

Thank you,
Jay