Basic Bass \ Sub-Woofer Setting

[greenhorn]

Looking for some knowledgable help with appropriate basic Bass \ Sub-Woofer Setting. Tied up here with far to many possible setting for me to get a handle on. Couple of the pieces of my equipment are Bass \ Subwoofer adjustable so I'm looking for what is general correct baseline setup.


Equipment -

Pre-Amp \ AnthemAVM 20

1. Speaker Size for starters
Speakers can be set to large or Small. The manual reads "Most speakers should be set to small and be used with a subwoofer, unless they incorporate large woofers and can pass Bass and LFE (such as powered tower designs). Note that some physically large speakers may still need a subwoofer for the Bass frequencies. All THX certified speakers are designed to be set to small.

2. There are 3 preliminary settings
No - Bass is routed to "Large" L|R Front and Surround speakers, including bass from speakers set to "small" and from the ".1" LFE channel.
Yes - Extracts the bass from all speakers set to "small' and routes it to the subwoofer.
Super - Copies bass from speakers set to "large" , extracts bass from speakers set to 'small' and together with the LFE channel, routes this combined bass signal to the subwoofer and "large" L|R Front and Surround speakers.

3. Audio and Video
You you can independantly set the subwoofer crossover for Audio and Video, you designate you inputs as audio or video and the appropriate setting are applied. 4. With either Audio or Video you can set the subwoofer crossover in a range from 40hz to 160hz.

Fronts are B&W CM7's (Fair warning I'm not 100% on what below means)

Cross Over Frequency = 350Hz, 4kHz.
Freq. Response 62Hz - 22kHz ±3dB on reference axis
Freq. Range -6dB at 34Hz and 50kHz

Also has the little foam plugs for the back port that can be added or removed for Bass tuning.

Subwoofer is an old (eventually to be replaced) Polk PSW 120
It is a powered 8" direct radiating SW with 90 watts of power. The Subwoofer has a couple of settings itself.

1. Frequency Dial with a range of 80 to 160.

2. Phase setting switch, either "Normal" or "Reverse"

The input is via initally a single cable from the amp (Anthem PVA 7). At the subwoofer there is a split (or T) of sorts in the cable with the now 2 ends each going into an RCA type plug in the subwoofer.

I know the listeners ear determains what they like, but I would like to understand a general baseline to work from.
I know it's a lot, it's really a lot for some not quite up to speed :E

Thanks to those that might have input ;x(

By the way, I really am enjoying this set up. My backs are B&W CM1's, center is an older Polk that will eventually replace, as will the older inexpensive CD and DVD player. I've been buying bits over the past year or so and things are really starting to sound great.

[Ovation]

With your current setup, if you don't have access to an SPL meter (I recommend you get one to set your levels on each channel), a "quick and dirty" setting of the following will give you decent (though there will still be room for improvement--isn't there always ) sound:

Set all your speakers to SMALL.
Set the "preliminary setting" to YES.
Set the crossover to 80 hz.

Try that and see what that gives you. That's what I would do with the gear you've outlined. After that, you can try moving your sub around if it sounds either boomy/muddy or thin. (actually, you can set your sub in your seating position and crawl around the room looking for the best sound, but in your sub's case, I would start with the classic corner placement and work from there).

PS, you don't need to split the signal to both RCA inputs on your sub. Just select one and it'll be fine.