should i se the subwoofer....

[csloo]

I am using RSX 1056 with marantz ma 500 to power a pair of mmg-w's. Should i set my subwoofer(HSU stf-2) to 100 hz? I've set the speaker to small for my RSX1056.

[Kevin D]

60-80 is about the max I ever go. Whatever you choose, try and defeat the HSU crossover (or set it as high as it will go) and just use the Rotel's crossover.

Kevin D.

[Andrew Pratt]

Those maggies would work better with a higher crossover then the standard 80 given that they won't play as low as conventional speakers. 100 sounds about right but be aware that with a crossover that high you should locate your subwoofer upfront near the one of the front speakers to minimalize directionality of the bass.

[spiffnme]

I agree with Andrew, but at least you've got a Hsu that is extremely tight and accurate, and will still sound excellent with music with that high of a cross-over.

[csloo]

Thanks guys. but i feel the bass is not natural if i set the subwoofer to more than 60hz, i can "feel" where the bass comes from where ever i place the sub. I lose lower end bass where it is important (for me).

By the way, i have another cheap yamaha sub which is still functioning, should i set the yamaha to 100hz and the Hsu to 30hz?

[basementjack]

hey csloo - if you don't like the directionality of the bass, you might have it turned up too much - have you calibrated it with a SPL meter?

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Also, you could try setting the sub and speakers at different crossover frequencies -the two settings work independant of each other - so you could have your maggies active down to 80 and the sub active up to 100 - this could make the transition smoother. (you could also mess up and do it the other way around, then you'll have a "hole" from 80 to 100)

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One thing I highly reccomend is calibrating the phase of the sub to the phase of the speakers - you should do this during initial setup, and again if you ever move your sub or speakers.

This is easily done with most music CDs and your ears.
Set the 1056 as follows:
Sub Xover:150
Sub mode: Max
front speakers: Large
You: Sitting in your listening position, remote in hand.
What you now have is a config where the bass will be delivered to both speakers - if they are properly in phase, the bass will be loudest, however if they are not in phase, the bass from the speakers will cancel bass from the sub.
Now you want to variably adjust the phase of your sub - if your sub has a variable phase control, thats the best place to do it, however, you will need to go back to the listening position to hear the results - it cannot be done at the woofer location
If your sub does not have a variable phase control (most don't) you can use the rotel's speaker distance to do the same thing (all the speaker distance does is add/remove delay, which in essence is phase) so adjust the "distance" of your sub up and down until the bass is the loudest (it will likely be at a setting that does not match the true distance of the sub - thats ok)

Once the distance is set (or the phase on the sub is set) you can change the crossover settings back to what you want, and you can set the speakers back to small, and the sub back to on.

- Jack

[NewBuyer]

basementjack, that is really useful information, especially about the phase/distance sub tweaking. Thanks!

[By the way, I have experimented with overlapping sub/main crossover frequencies identical to what basementjack advised, and this has worked best for me as well...)