Preface this by saying that I'm only relating to watching TV or a movie NOT in Digital Dobly. For 5.1, all is cool.

My two front mains have two 6- inch woofers, two 4" mid's and a dome tweeter but I have been calling them "small" in my receiver. My sub is a Polk PSW505.

If I leave them on small, I don't get much from them. If I call them 'large', my sub will stay in standby mode even when I direct the LFE to the sub only. I know that there is no LFE if I'm not in DD but shouldn't the <90hz go to the sub and 'wake it up'?
Or should I send the signal to both the sub and front mains all the time?

Confused.