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Fronts and Sub hook up?

2502 Views 13 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  salvasol
Well, several months back I talked to Salvasol and tonyvb about how to hook up my fronts, and sub on my Yamaha. Well, since im getting the Onkyo tx-sr876 today, I was wondering how should I hook up my fronts sub this time?

I currently have my sub hooked up through speaker A out, and have my sub send the signal to my fronts via speaker out on the back.

Should I proceed the same?
What should my speaker size be for my fronts?
Should I use the "sub out" for my sub?
If I do the same thing I did now, should I have my bass management send the bass to my fronts than?
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If your sub has a pre-amp in, connect it using an RCA cable from the pre-amp/sub-out out on your onkyo. As for everything else, use the automatic setup routine with the included microphone. Let it do it's thing, and you'll be all set.
I currently have my sub hooked up through speaker A out, and have my sub send the signal to my fronts via speaker out on the back.
Not this time, The 876 has a dedicated sub pre out so that is what you need to use to hook up the sub to.


What should my speaker size be for my fronts?
It depends on how low your speakers on the fronts go down to but for most leave them set to small and set the crossovers to all your speakers to 80Hz.
Should I use the "sub out" for my sub?
Yas
Alright cool, my Towers are capable of playing til around 50-45Hz. BUt I will let the AVR do its thing and set it properly
So I have my Fronts set to full range, and the rest of my speakers set to 200hz, is that too high?

Also, my subs kick seems to be just a flick right now. I dont know whats up. On the yamaha I had it set at 2dB plus bass. And it running from the Full range front out.

Its currently set at Subwoofer pre-out, with the LPF of LFE set at 80Hz(thx), with the DoubleBass off.

The Gain on my subwoofer was set at 2/5's turn for the Yamaha with the Phase at 0 degrees, and the Filter set to 40Hz.

Its currently at 3/5s gain, with phase at 0 degrees, and the filter at 40Hz still.

My Amplifier settings are at 7.5feet for sub and towers since all 3 are 99% accurate to that distance. The Sub and Fronts are set to 0.0dB, while my center is -3.0dB reference, and my Surrounds are -5.0dB reference.

I turned the EQ off on the Onkyo now, and haven't tested the quality without the EQ off.

Furthermore, I haven't begun to tinker with the Tonal Balance of each individual speaker yet. How should I go about starting that? And would would increasing the bass from there be somewhere good to start?
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Did you use Audyssey to calibrate the system??? ...if you did, just check the settings (speaker size, distance, crossover and if you have an SPL check levels 75db each speaker).

So I have my Fronts set to full range, and the rest of my speakers set to 200hz, is that too high?
If your fronts go down to 45-50Hz, I set the crossover to 50Hz or 60Hz and 200Hz for all other speakers is to high (set them to 80Hz, I'm sure you have the option to set different crossover to each pair of speakers, Right???)
You should use Audyssey to set up all your levels and crossover settings. Make sure that you use the mic and test at least 5 seating positions in your room, the on screen menu will guide you through the process as soon as you plug in the mic.
I did the audyessy settings. It set my center to full range as well. But it isnt a full range center...and im not sure i would want it full range...well i'll try.

I'll set my rears to 80hz again, i might set my center to 80hz too, but the auto Audyssey set it to full...The distances were close, not exact, but close. I manually changed them to the right settings

But like I said the bass didnt go loud enough...for me since i plugged it in.
But like I said the bass didnt go loud enough...for me since i plugged it in.
That could be due to having your mains set to "large" and they only go down to 50Hz. You would be loosing a lot of info from 50Hz on down, possibly even more depending on when your mains start to roll off. Personally I'd suggest you set your crossover to 80Hz run Audyessy, then go through and set all your speakers to "small", then add 3db to the sub woofer. With your mains set to "small" your sub will receive all the info from 80Hz on down, especially the info from 50Hz down that your mains cannot reproduce, and you won't be missing out on anything. See how that sounds and start tweaking from there.
Personally I'd suggest you set your crossover to 80Hz ... then go through and set all your speakers to "small", then add 3db to the sub woofer. See how that sounds and start tweaking from there.
I completely agree with Mark ...set all speakers to small (even if they're setup as large during auto-cal), you can set different crossover to each pair of speakers; try 60Hz for fronts and 80Hz for all the rest.

And don't forget...add 3db-5db to sub, What sub are you using??? ...What's the settings (gain/level)???
Im using a KLH 12" 125 watt RMS sub.

The LPF is set to around 50-55hz, the phase is at 0, and the gain is around 2/3. currently the AVR is set to 0.0dB for the sub. It just is lacking bass now during the non-PCM or non-digital signals.
Im using a KLH 12" 125 watt RMS sub.

The LPF is set to around 50-55hz, the phase is at 0, and the gain is around 2/3. currently the AVR is set to 0.0dB for the sub. It just is lacking bass now during the non-PCM or non-digital signals.
If you have an 80Hz crossover at the AVR set the LPF on the sub higher (100-125Hz), phase is okay at "0" but you can also try 180 to see if you notice any change in the sound.

Did you set the sub level at the AVR to 0.0db or Audyssey Did it??? ....all speakers are calibrated to 75db and sub 5db-10db higher, Right??? ...
The Audyssey set my levels to mostly a negative number. I believe it was -8.0dB for fronts and sub, -11.0dB for the center, and -13.0dB for my rears. However, I set the front and sub to 0.0dB, the center to -3.0dB for the center, and -5.0dB for the rears.

If I set the level to +4.0dB for the sub, should i reduce the gain on my sub to 1/2?
The Audyssey set my levels to mostly a negative number. I believe it was -8.0dB for fronts and sub, -11.0dB for the center, and -13.0dB for my rears. However, I set the front and sub to 0.0dB, the center to -3.0dB for the center, and -5.0dB for the rears.
Doing some math you changed 8.0db to every speaker, Right??? ...I assume they have the same SPL after those changes, Right??? ...your reference level was "0.0db", now you use maybe "-5.0db" to read 75db, Right??? :bigsmile: ....As long as the SPL match for all speakers you're fine :yes: (I did the same with my setup).

If I set the level to +4.0dB for the sub, should i reduce the gain on my sub to 1/2?
Yes, you need to calibrate the sub to get the same SPL as the speakers (or 5-10db higher if you wish) :yes:

Are you using an SPL to measure the readings??? ...if not, I suggest you to buy one to fine tune the speakers and sub.
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