New speakers, receiver and subwoofer, I need help

[thomasward00]

I have ordered a pair of KEF IQ5's, Onkyo TX-SR506 and a el cheapo CC 12 inch sub....

I need to know how to set my subwoofer for general music, I've taken a pic of the back connections of my subwoofer.

http://picasaweb.google.com/thomaswa...19105857759954

I'll list the specs for the IQ5's

IQ5Power Handling: 15 - 130 Watts
• Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
• One KEF UNI-Q Array -- 0.75" Aluminum-Dome HF Driver At Acoustic Center Of 5.25" Titanium-Coated, Mid-Range Cone
• One 5.25" Long Throw LF Bass Driver With Ultra-Low Distortion Motor System And Natural Fiber-Loaded Paper Cone
• Crossover Frequency: 280Hz - 2.8kHz
• Frequency Response: 43Hz - 40kHz


What settings do I use on the sub to best match my speakers for music, also my receiver only has 1 sub out port but yet the sub itself has a left and right, which one do I use.

Thanks in advance

[Mr Peabody]

You will want to use the sub out of the receiver or sometimes labeled "LFE". Unless your sub specifies the left or right input as "LFE", you will need to use a Y adaptor to feed both the right & left input of the sub. If the sub does not feature a "bypass" switch you will want to turn the subs crossover as high as it will go and use the receiver's internal settings crossover point. At what point to crossover will be trial and error. Your KEF's claim to go down to 43 Hz but I don't know what dB down so maybe try 50 or 60 Hz as a crossover point to start with.

If you will be going Blu-ray in the future you might want to think about stepping up to the 606 if you can afford to. The 606 has fully functional HDMI the 506 does not, I believe it is just video pass through for switching purposes. The description should have said "additional audio connection needed" when referring to the HDMI ins/outs.

[thomasward00]

You will want to use the sub out of the receiver or sometimes labeled "LFE". Unless your sub specifies the left or right input as "LFE", you will need to use a Y adaptor to feed both the right & left input of the sub. If the sub does not feature a "bypass" switch you will want to turn the subs crossover as high as it will go and use the receiver's internal settings crossover point. At what point to crossover will be trial and error. Your KEF's claim to go down to 43 Hz but I don't know what dB down so maybe try 50 or 60 Hz as a crossover point to start with.

If you will be going Blu-ray in the future you might want to think about stepping up to the 606 if you can afford to. The 606 has fully functional HDMI the 506 does not, I believe it is just video pass through for switching purposes. The description should have said "additional audio connection needed" when referring to the HDMI ins/outs.

Thanks for the help, I'll look into which port I can use on my sub. I chose this receiver mainly just to connect to my PC, I was fully aware of the HDMI audio issue and right now I don't even use blu ray. But in my opinion it just isn't very hard for me to connect a couple of extra toslink connectors for high def audio, this receiver will never be more than a bedroom unit, i'm actually more concerned with music quality than movie...

[Kevio]

You will want to use the sub out of the receiver or sometimes labeled "LFE". Unless your sub specifies the left or right input as "LFE", you will need to use a Y adaptor to feed both the right & left input of the sub. If the sub does not feature a "bypass" switch you will want to turn the subs crossover as high as it will go and use the receiver's internal settings crossover point. At what point to crossover will be trial and error. Your KEF's claim to go down to 43 Hz but I don't know what dB down so maybe try 50 or 60 Hz as a crossover point to start with.

Is the Y adapter really necessary? There's only one channel in the sub. The sub is just going to sum and filter the two inputs. Connecting to just one of the inputs has worked fine for me.

Can you elaborate on the "trial and error" process for selecting a crossover frequency. What are you listening for? How do you know which direction to move?

[Mr Peabody]

In some subs a Y adaptor, is, necessary, you have to give each input a signal for the sub to run at full potential. If only using one side the sub won't play nearly as loud. However, some subs compensate for this internally and will mark one or the other input as "LFE". If it is like that then a single input would be fine.

When choosing a crossover point you want to listen to basically which one sounds best. If the crossover is too high you may have overlap or a hump in frequencies that may not sound good or too low may leave a gap where certain frequencies are not heard or sound weak in comparison to the rest of the response. This will make more sense when you switch crossover points a couple time and hear what happens.

Some people will pick a CD with a lot of bass and just try to set it by ear. So it does take some tweaking and playing to get it to where you want it. And if you ever move it you'll probably have to go through the process again due to the sub reacting a different way to a new location in the room.

If setting a sub by ear I like to set the crossover and volume to where the sub does not stand out, it blends with the music. Try to keep as much detail in the music's bass line as you can. Others try to get as much boom as possible, it just depends on what your goal is. I recommend keeping the sub's volume at 11:00 or less to keep it from clipping, or running out of power, during peak demands. You can always run the volume up a bit from the receiver's internal set up if necessary.