Bass Management for 802Ds

[jack d]

Hey guys,
I've got the following set up:
L/R: 802Ds
CNT: HTM1D
Rear: 804S
SW: SVS PB-12 Ultra/2

I have a Meridian G68 processor and the system is driven by 3 MC501s and an MC402.

I'm trying to dial in the SW/bass and I'm not sure how to do it. Currently I have all the speakers set to small and the xover is at 80hz.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a better configuration?

Thanks.

[Aldo]

Hi:
Do not put the 802D or the HTM1D to small, they are everything but small!
The 80Hzs is a good start, set the volume at no more than 12:00!
And then EXPERIMENT, there is NO formula.

These is only a suggestion, I'm shure many more here can give you great advice!

[ssabripo]

Jack,
As aldo pointed out, there is NO magic formula! But make sure you set your 802's at least to Large/FullRange, and make the Meridian send the bass content/LFE to both sub and mains. 80hz is a good start and play from there....I've found that for me, 60hz is the best compromise for my setup, and in your case (with the 802s) you should be even better at 60hz....but it also depends on your room response.

[jack d]

Guys,

Yeah I know I have to experiement, just trying to get some sense of how others are handling their 802Ds.

I know that the 802ds and HTM1D are full range but my thinking was that setting them to "small" doesn't mean that no bass is sent to them. I thoguht that even setting the xover at 80 doesn't really mean that nothing below 80 goes to the speakers as there is some rolloff effect. Also, as good as the 802D and HTM1D are I assume that the SW will be able to handle the lower FQs with less distortion since that is what a SW is designed to do.

SSabripo, are you suggesting that I set the Meridian to "bass heavy" so that I'm doubling the bass/lfe to the speakers and SW?

Thanks.

[Kal Rubinson]

Ordinarily, I would suggest that everyone sets their main speakers, no matter how large, to SMALL, so that all the bass can be reproduced by an optimally placed and equalized subwoofer. (That's what I do with my 802D/804S system, btw.)

HOWEVER, if your G68 has MRC (does it?), it will equalize each and every speaker from 200Hz down. You can take advantage of this by setting the 802D and MTM1D to LARGE. With the 804S, you should experiment. For HT, there's usually little real bass in the rears but, for music, there might be an amount equal to the fronts.

If your G68 does not have MRC, then conventional wisdom applies.

Kal

[jack d]

Ordinarily, I would suggest that everyone sets their main speakers, no matter how large, to SMALL, so that all the bass can be reproduced by an optimally placed and equalized subwoofer. (That's what I do with my 802D/804S system, btw.)

HOWEVER, if your G68 has MRC (does it?), it will equalize each and every speaker from 200Hz down. You can take advantage of this by setting the 802D and MTM1D to LARGE. With the 804S, you should experiment. For HT, there's usually little real bass in the rears but, for music, there might be an amount equal to the fronts.

If your G68 does not have MRC, then conventional wisdom applies.

Kal

Kal,

Yes the G68 does have MRC which I have engaged. I did not use the default MRC profile which only set a few filters on all spearkers. I'm using a much more aggresive MRC profile, which, combined with the 26 acoustic panels I have deployed in the room, gives a pretty clean bass response.

There seems to be one quirk on the M bass management that if you set your fronts to large it seems to require that you set the center to small. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

At one point just after I got the G68 I tried setting all speakers to large but I think I was using the "heavy bass" setting which--I think--doubles the bass, sending it to both the speakers and the SW. I didn't really like that too much. Maybe I will play around with that again.

Any suggestion for xover settings?

It may be that I'm just not used to the detail and clarity of the G68 at the low frequencies --I've only had it for a month or so--but it just seems a bit thin to me. It's not that I feel the SW is very poorly intergrated into my system (e.g., I am not noticing directionality with the LF signals). Anyway, that is why I'm focusing on bass management at this point.

Thanks.

[norpus]

I have 802d and I would not dream of running them without the sub taking the load off
Honestly, they sound better this way (If you have a great sub, which it seems you do)
8" cones can't move as much air as long throw sub drivers - they breathe better and cleaner without trying to do the sub 30 stuff which honestly they don't do
If you want your 802d to sound better than a 800d, just cheat and marry a good sub (or two) with them
PS not actually trying to be controversial here - it actually works (I have twin 18" avalanche IB so that does help) in both stereo and HT - run them small with a 60Hz crossover to the sub IMHO

[jack d]

I have 802d and I would not dream of running them without the sub taking the load off
Honestly, they sound better this way (If you have a great sub, which it seems you do)
8" cones can't move as much air as long throw sub drivers - they breathe better and cleaner without trying to do the sub 30 stuff which honestly they don't do
If you want your 802d to sound better than a 800d, just cheat and marry a good sub (or two) with them
PS not actually trying to be controversial here - it actually works (I have twin 18" avalanche IB so that does help) in both stereo and HT - run them small with a 60Hz crossover to the sub IMHO

I have no intention of using the 802Ds without a sub. I agree with you on that. It's just that I was not sure exactly how best to integrate the sub. thx

[jack d]

Ordinarily, I would suggest that everyone sets their main speakers, no matter how large, to SMALL, so that all the bass can be reproduced by an optimally placed and equalized subwoofer. (That's what I do with my 802D/804S system, btw.)

HOWEVER, if your G68 has MRC (does it?), it will equalize each and every speaker from 200Hz down. You can take advantage of this by setting the 802D and MTM1D to LARGE. With the 804S, you should experiment. For HT, there's usually little real bass in the rears but, for music, there might be an amount equal to the fronts.

If your G68 does not have MRC, then conventional wisdom applies.

Kal

OK for the last week or so I tried the 802Ds and HTM1D at "large" for music leaving the 804s at "small"". I set everything to "small" for movies.

The thing is that when the front three are set to "large" it seems that the sub does not engage when I listen to two channel music (I normally use the Meridian's "trifield" DSP for two channel music). The default LPF in the Meridian software is "flat". It seems odd to me that there is nothing going to the SW. Any thoughts?

[dknightd]

Most music doesn't have much, if any, energy below about 38hz (the exceptions are big organs, some big drums, and some electronic music). So depending on how you have the sub cross over set it is not too surprising you hear little if anything coming from it.