[EJ]

I have a Denon 3802 receiver and I just got Diva 6.1's a C3 for the center and R3's for the rears. I also have a Def Tech Pro Cinema Sub 10".


My question is how would you set up the bass management? Do I set all speakers to small and let the sub handle everything below 80hz? Or do I set the 6.1's to large and everything else to small?


Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks,



EJ

 

[Ed Tyburski]

I have owned the Diva 6.1's for about 6 months and have done a fair amount of experimenting with subs. With your situation, you are WAY better off setting the Diva's to large and then experimenting around with the sub low pass crossover frequency. I have found that with this setup, the transient response in the mid bass is significantly improved with a small compromise with lower power handling at extremely low frequencies with the 6.1's running full. However, I have not had any issues with the 6.1's buzzing or bottoming out when I have used them in this configuration, but then again, I may not crank it as much as some nuclear crater making fanatics on this forum. Given the fact that you have the sub that you have, I am guessing you are not in this category.


As for the 6.1's, they need a significant amount of time to break in. Initially, on movies, I felt that they were a bit shy in the upper presence region, which is critical for movie watching. However, after break-in over a few weeks of listening, they smoothed out and you forget you are listenting to speakers and just get more immersed in the movie. Unquestionably one of the best values in audio today.

 

[Sean Parque]

I totally agree with ED regarding the break in time. I wasn't so sold on the whole notion of the exsistance of speaker break in till I got the 6.1's. For me, the low end is considerably better now (2 months old) vs brand new.


Regarding small or large, I think I'd better not comment because I'm not familiar with your sub. (I prefer the small setting all around FWIW)


Sean

 

[EJ]

Thanks....am I correct in assuming that the Center and surrounds should be set to small in any case?

 

[pmf]

Yes, EJ. 'Large' mains & 'small' for the rest of the channels. The 6.1's should be able to give you down to about 40 & some of us are not using the SW in stereo music.


PF

 

[MaxC]

I found that on movies I like all speakers set to small as THX and my receiver company (Onkyo) recommends. For music I like the 6.1s set to large.


I also noticed that not all receivers do the same thing for the large/small settings. For example when my reciever's main speakers are set to large, the LFE from the center and rears are sent to the mains instead of the sub. I could bypass this by running speaker wires to my sub from the receiver and then from my sub to my mains instead of using an RCA cable to the sub and set the crossover, but I do not like the wire terminals on my sub (push down to open) so I use my current setup.


Depending on your receiver and how you have your sub hooked up this could make a difference in your decision. Hope that made sense?!

 

[RBRAGA]

EJ,

I'm planning to go for the same setup as yours with Diva's and the Denon3802 + SVS sub. My main concern is regarding power output of the Denon. Do you feel that it has enough juice for the Diva's set?

Right now I have B&W Nautilus 804 connected to the Electrocompaniet 70Wx2 and it works fine for music coming from my Electrocompaniet CD player via balanced cable. The same is not true for DVD stuff. I don't know if the difference is around cables. My DVD player only accept RCA.

I'm thinking if the Denon 5800 would make a lot of difference. Please give me your advice, yours truly,

Rodrigo Braga

 

[skubersky]

On my 3802 I had to set all speakers to small to get adequate bass out of DPL2 mode. DD/DTS sounded very slightly better with the mains set large, but not enough to be worth constantly changing back and forth.

 

[Ed C]

Quote:

I also noticed that not all receivers do the same thing for the large/small settings. For example when my reciever's main speakers are set to large, the LFE from the center and rears are sent to the mains instead of the sub.

Does the Denon 3802 do this?

 

[TV]

Just a point of clarity,


there is no *LFE* in the surround and center. LFE is a seperate effects channel that is 3-120hz in bandwidth. The *.1* of the 5.1 DVDs.


The lowbass from the center and surround channels could be routed to the mains(if they are set to large),the sub(s)...or both. Depends on the manufacturer and the settings you choose.


TV