Best settings for Rotel receiver in 2.1 setup? How about a 5.1 setup?

[hockey_101]

Current configuration in my gaming/music room:
Rotel 1055
B&W 683 S1
Velodyne DLS4000R 12 inch subwoofer

This is very much a near-field setup with the 683's (see pic)




In my living room, I have the following:
Rotel 1057
B&W 684 fronts
B&W HTM-62 center
B&W 686 rears
Velodyne DLS4000R 12 inch subwoofer

This is in a larger sized room (25x15)


For each of these setups I am wondering:
Which settings on the Rotel do I need to tweak for the best sound?
Should the speakers be set to Large or Small, considering I am running a sub?
What should the crossover on the back of the sub be set at? What should the crossover on the receiver be set at?
Any other settings that I should tweak?


Thanks in advance!

[madmac]

Ok....ok........your talking to the right guy here (and there are others!).

In both cases, you are essentially running the same Rotel AVR as the only difference between the 1055 and 1057 is HDMI video only switching.

In both setups, you should run all the speakers in 'small' mode with your Rotel's. The reason being that in the 2.1 channel system with these units, if you run the main's in large and indicate that there IS a sub too.......the unit will ONLY send the LFE (low frequency effects) found in movie soundtracks to the sub and nothing at all in regards to 2ch stereo music. By setting the mains to small, the Rotel's will send EVERYTHING below the set low frequency cutoff as well as the LFE to the sub. This is what you want in your case if you want your sub to work with music in your 2.1 channel setup.

Now as for the crossover stuff.........set the sub's crossover (on the back of the sub itself) to off/ bypass/full range etc and let your Rotel's do the LF/LFE crossover work. This is IMPORTANT. You DO NOT want to duplicate crossover managing. In the Rotel menu, start with the THX benchmark of 80hz for the sub and adjust after that to your taste.

It is also essential that you set up speaker distances properly in the Rotel menu's....measured in feet to the listening chair. As well, you want to use a SPL meter to properly match speaker db levels using the Rotel's pink noise generator so that they are all volume level matched. I suggest that you use the volume level on your Rotel's that you would normally listen to stuff. In my case, it was 65 on the Rotel volume dial. The sub's volume level is a different matter. I would set the sub volume (on the back of the sub) to half way and then adjust the sub's volume via the Rotel menu to where is sounds right for music to your EARS.....to where it compliments the music rather than dominates it.

Any other questions then let me know !!

Have fun !

[hockey_101]

Ok....ok........your talking to the right guy here (and there are others!).

In both cases, you are essentially running the same Rotel AVR as the only difference between the 1055 and 1057 is HDMI video only switching.

In both setups, you should run all the speakers in 'small' mode with your Rotel's. The reason being that in the 2.1 channel system with these units, if you run the main's in large and indicate that there IS a sub too.......the unit will ONLY send the LFE (low frequency effects) found in movie soundtracks to the sub and nothing at all in regards to 2ch stereo music. By setting the mains to small, the Rotel's will send EVERYTHING below the set low frequency cutoff as well as the LFE to the sub. This is what you want in your case if you want your sub to work with music in your 2.1 channel setup.

Now as for the crossover stuff.........set the sub's crossover (on the back of the sub itself) to off/ bypass/full range etc and let your Rotel's do the LF/LFE crossover work. This is IMPORTANT. You DO NOT want to duplicate crossover managing. In the Rotel menu, start with the THX benchmark of 80hz for the sub and adjust after that to your taste.

It is also essential that you set up speaker distances properly in the Rotel menu's....measured in feet to the listening chair. As well, you want to use a SPL meter to properly match speaker db levels using the Rotel's pink noise generator so that they are all volume level matched. I suggest that you use the volume level on your Rotel's that you would normally listen to stuff. In my case, it was 65 on the Rotel volume dial. The sub's volume level is a different matter. I would set the sub volume (on the back of the sub) to half way and then adjust the sub's volume via the Rotel menu to where is sounds right for music to your EARS.....to where it compliments the music rather than dominates it.

Any other questions then let me know !!

Have fun !

THank you so much for your valuable insight.

Is there a reason for setting the speakers to small other than the one you specified? While in Stereo 2.1 mode, I seem to be able to get all of my low frequencies to the subwoofer when the speakers are set to LARGE and the subwoofer MAX. Shouldn't it sound better if the speakers are set to large? They are pretty big speakers (B&W 683's) and I feel like it would be a waste of possible usable power to not drive them with the large setting because the two bass woofers on each one are getting more power on large. Or am I wrong about this?

Also, my subwoofer doesn't have an off/bypass option so I just set it to 80hz and programmed the Rotel to 80Hz as well.

Also also - 65 is a perfect volume on the Rotel That's what mine is set to usually and then I adjust the volume on my iMac which is usually set to the max

[madmac]

I tried setting my speakers to large as well when one of my subs malfunctioned (I have 2) . With my 1057, If I set the speakers to large and also tell the Rotel that I have a sub, the Rotel only sends the LFE (Low freq effects) found in movies to the sub and nothing else. In other words, when I play 2 channel music, nothing is sent to the subs. Only the LFE when I play movies.

When I set the speakers to small, it sends both the LFE and any bass below 80hz to my subs from any source.

There are no strict guidelines in regards to how to set up your speakers. If you like the sound better with your mains set to large then by all means set it up that way. It's your personal choice.

What really impressed me when I set up all my speakers to large on my Rotel was how effortlessly it did just that. No sweat !! Zero loss in volume or performance! It's also like when I ask the Rotel to go from 2 channel to 5 channel stereo. It just says........SURE!!!.......no problem and starts playing all 5 channels with no strain or loss of volume or dynamics. It's a fabulous AVR !!

[hockey_101]

I tried setting my speakers to large as well when one of my subs malfunctioned (I have 2) . With my 1057, If I set the speakers to large and also tell the Rotel that I have a sub, the Rotel only sends the LFE (Low freq effects) found in movies to the sub and nothing else. In other words, when I play 2 channel music, nothing is sent to the subs. Only the LFE when I play movies.

When I set the speakers to small, it sends both the LFE and any bass below 80hz to my subs from any source.

There are no strict guidelines in regards to how to set up your speakers. If you like the sound better with your mains set to large then by all means set it up that way. It's your personal choice.

What really impressed me when I set up all my speakers to large on my Rotel was how effortlessly it did just that. No sweat !! Zero loss in volume or performance! It's also like when I ask the Rotel to go from 2 channel to 5 channel stereo. It just says........SURE!!!.......no problem and starts playing all 5 channels with no strain or loss of volume or dynamics. It's a fabulous AVR !!

I agree, they are beautiful sounding and looking pieces of equipment!
Have you tried setting your subwoofer to MAX? In my experience, setting my speakers to LARGE and my sub to MAX sent more bass to the front and rear speakers when in 5.1 channels, which, in my opinion, gave better all-around sound to the setup.

[madmac]

I agree, they are beautiful sounding and looking pieces of equipment!
Have you tried setting your subwoofer to MAX? In my experience, setting my speakers to LARGE and my sub to MAX sent more bass to the front and rear speakers when in 5.1 channels, which, in my opinion, gave better all-around sound to the setup.

Hehehe.......If I set my subs to MAX.........the windows would shatter in my listening room and the police would show up!!

[hockey_101]

Haha! Yeah luckily I'm out in the sticks so I've never had that sort of problem.
Do you have any pics of your setup?

[ex-hafler]

In the past, with my Outlaw (Rest in Peace) receiver, I set the sub to NO and fronts to LARGE and then just ran the front preamp outs straight into my sub and used the sub's controls to blend. I have Wharfdale Diamond 10.7 speakers and a sealed 12" SVS sub. The Wharfedales supposedly go down to 35hz, but I ain't buying it. They start rolling off around 45-50 hz. I really thought it sounded most "natural" that way (once properly blended... about 60hz and 1/3 gain on the sub... YMMV). It lacks the punch for movies not having the LFE channel, but movies are secondary to music for me. That is the reason I bought a Rotel in the first place. If movies and features were my thing, I would have bought a Denon.

I get the Rotel tomorrow, I will try it a bunch of different ways. With and without my Hafler XL280 running the fronts. Using the LFE channel vs not. Should be fun and interesting to see how this stacks up against the Outlaw.

[madmac]

In the past, with my Outlaw (Rest in Peace) receiver, I set the sub to NO and fronts to LARGE and then just ran the front preamp outs straight into my sub and used the sub's controls to blend. I have Wharfdale Diamond 10.7 speakers and a sealed 12" SVS sub. The Wharfedales supposedly go down to 35hz, but I ain't buying it. They start rolling off around 45-50 hz. I really thought it sounded most "natural" that way (once properly blended... about 60hz and 1/3 gain on the sub... YMMV). It lacks the punch for movies not having the LFE channel, but movies are secondary to music for me. That is the reason I bought a Rotel in the first place. If movies and features were my thing, I would have bought a Denon.

I get the Rotel tomorrow, I will try it a bunch of different ways. With and without my Hafler XL280 running the fronts. Using the LFE channel vs not. Should be fun and interesting to see how this stacks up against the Outlaw.

In that case I would try the Rotel set up in the menu as sub=yes and speakers set to 'small'.........crossover at around 60-80hz and go from there. That way, you'll get both the LF below that crossover sent to the sub for music and all the LFE in movies sent to the sub as well.

[ex-hafler]

I like to use the direct inputs for my music source... bypass any processing and circuitry. I am an old school purist and could be wasting my time, but that is what my ear likes.

In that mode, the LFE/Sub channel doesn't work without an accompanying sub-in signal, and I am just using left and right fronts. That is why I set mine up the way I do.

[madmac]

I like to use the direct inputs for my music source... bypass any processing and circuitry. I am an old school purist and could be wasting my time, but that is what my ear likes.

In that mode, the LFE/Sub channel doesn't work without an accompanying sub-in signal, and I am just using left and right fronts. That is why I set mine up the way I do.

So you are using "Stereo Bypass" mode on the Rotel ?

[ex-hafler]

I wasn't aware there was an official name for that practice, but I read where a reviewer of the unit preferred running his spurce through the direct inputs and preferred it. I have not done enough critical listening to say one way is better than the other, but I really really like it this way. It is eerily quiet and the sound is smooth and warm. Now maybe I need to just go try my source on the CD input and do a comparison.

I am old school two channel guy that subcribes to the notion that the less in between the source signal and the speakers the better. This is the shortest path possible and it does sound really darn nice.

[wkhanna]

........I am old school two channel guy that subscribes to the notion that the less in between the source signal and the speakers the better........

other than computer audio, i too, have found this to be a reliable mantra.