THX and Bass Mgt

[ncstatesman]

I had this in the opinion area, but it really needs to be here:

I have an Onkyo 898 THX receiver to go with my new RM7600 speakers which I haven't had a chance to set up yet (receiver arrived yesterday).

I want to take full advantage of THX, DTS, and Dolby Digital movies but I'm not sure which speaker/subwoofer wiring arrangement works best with all three without compromising the movie sound qualityof any of these formats

One issue of the Speaker Specialist wrote about Bass Mgt ('The THX Exception') and it mentions that when you switch to THX mode that bass mgt filters are activated and the front L/R and centers are high pass filtered at 80 Hz (bass removed below 80Hz) and that the subwoofer output jack is turned on to high pass filter at 80Hz as well - which I guess means that I should hook up my PSW650 to the sub-out jack - I thought that the best set up was to not to hookup the woofer to the sub-out because it has a fixed cut off - I'd rather use the PSW650 to adjust the bass roll-off and not be constrained by the sub-out's inflexibility yet at the same time take full advantage of THX, but not at the expense of DTS, and Dolby Digital.

- can anyone recommend the speaker/woofer wiring that lets me do all 3 formats at their best? Your help would be greatly appreciated as I need to know what to do before I get started on setting up this system :-)

Thanks,
Angel

["Polk" Paul DiComo]

Angel,
I have a PSW650 and found the best way to hook it up in my system is this: Connect the L&R pre outs to the L&R line in of the 650. Connect the subwoofer output jack to the LFE input of the 650. Set front = Large, Center and surrounds = Small and Sub = Yes (On). With this method all of the bass gets directed to the subwoofer no matter what mode you are in and it eliminates the double filtering on the front sats and sub. When you are in the THX mode you will get double filtering on all of the sats but that is just the way it is. As you would use THX for movies only I doubt you will hear a big difference. I don't use the THX mode on my system at all - the high frequency "Cinema EQ" that is part of the THX method makes movies sound a bit dull but you may like it. Just because the feature is there doesn't mean you have to use it. Let your ears ALWAYS be the final judge.

[ncstatesman]

Hey Paul,

Thanks for the feed back, I'll try it!

Thanks,
Angel

Ps - Wow!, NICE LSi speakers - hate to bug you, I know this is subjective, but what LSi speaker model would you guess would go well as a front L/R with my new 110watt Onkyo 898 rcvr (it has the 192Khz DACs and 7 channels) and RM7600 speaker system? The five RM7600 surrounds would be used to fill out the remaining 5 channels

["Polk" Paul DiComo]

Well, that depends on whether you're looking for bookshelf or floorstanding configuration. I have at home the LSi9s with LSi center and bipole surrounds and a PSW650 hooked up to an Onkyo 939 and it is a very, very impressive sounding system. The weakness is the rcvr. My room is small (12 x 20 max) so I don't have to tax the rcvr but if I were in a larger room I think I'd need separates. I don't know the 898 rcvr so I can't say with certainty how well it would work with the LSi. they are definitely harder to drive than our RTi models and some rcvrs may have trouble. The LSi7 is easier to drive than the 9 (it has a higher impedance curve) so that may be the better choice. Also, the more I think about it, the 9 would be a certain amount of overkill with the 7600 sats. They'd all look great together. :)

[ncstatesman]

Paul, my room is 11x18 - quite small. theLSi 7 is more in keeping w/my budget (then again, with allthe home theater goodies out there, a budget can become an afterthought) and within the capabilities of the 898 and the room that I have. they sure would look nice w/7600's. Anyway, I hope the line really takes off!

["Polk" Paul DiComo]

Oh yeah the LSi7 would be perfect for that room.

hey my boss went to NC State.

[ncstatesman]

Thanks Paul, by the way, who is your boss and what did he major in? Anyway, I'm a big Wolfpack fan (micah is a UNC fan - NCSU and UNC fans mixe like oil and water) . . I go to all the football and basketball games and graduated from there in '89 (industrial engineering). So, where did you grad from?

So in your advice above, the Onkyo's 110 watts per channel @ 8 ohms (.08 THD) should be sufficient to cleanly drive the 2 LSi7's
for music and also serve as front L/R for movies with my RM7600's and 650 right?

With that in mind, do you think that in movie mode the LSi7's would blend in well with my RM7600's and 650 sub, or is this a dubious proposition?

Sorry for all the questions

["Polk" Paul DiComo]

My boss is Al Ballard and he is from the class of 1902 or earlier. Seriously he was there WAY before your time and majored in art or industrial design or graphics or some BS like that.
Yeah we used to have some Tar Heels here till we killed them all so I know all about the oil and water thing. (ABC!)
I went to Rutgers but I'm a big Terps fan now.
I have a Jimmy V tie. That get me any brownie points?

The only issue with LSi7s and the rest of the system that concerns me is how well they will blend with the center and frankly I'd have to hear it to know. You'd think it would be easy for me to get off my butt and go set up that system to find out, but it isn't, even here in speaker heaven. The engineers make it hard for marketing wonks like me to get stuff set up and listened to. They hog all the space. Remind me and I'll see if I can get that done in the coming weeks.

[ncstatesman]

Hey Paul, you get brownie points just for being ABC - ha, haaa! But I hear Micha is a UNC fan, so you haven't completely eradicated the problem (seriously, Micha is alright, he can stay :-) I went to the Duke/State game, tailgated, and had a blast. Terps are hot, Fridgeon has turned the team around overnight! I hope State can beat them in Raleigh on the 17th. The only thing about the Terps first year succes under Fridgeon is that the fans next year are going to expect the same performance - that's not easy for a new coach repeat.

No rush on the LSi7 issue, I'm in the process of setting up my 7600, sub, and new rcvr - I won't finish 'till this weekend perhaps. I have to travel to Detroit Wed thru Friday, Carolina Hurricanes/Penguins hockey game Tuesday night, and take my girlfriend to meet my parents tonight. I think I need to take a few days off from work and lock mydelf inside the house just to finish my set up and learn this system!! To be honest, half the fun is putting this together and later tweaking it. I have a playstation2 game console and am getting the Micorsoft X-box console next week - video games for the x-box do support 5.1, so it's going to awesome playing video games on this system. Talk about getting full use of a system - music, movies, and 5.1 video games!!! This may be a useful marketing point - feel free to use it and tell 'em I sent you :D

I think that if the LSi7 will not blend in with my 7600's & Sub, then the next option for me might be the RTi55 - do you think?

[Micah Cohen]

This tarheel loves his 55s.

So there.

MC

[PETERNG]

I had the THX Ultra certified option on my receiver, but the first time I used it, I didn't like it at all (you have to turn the volume control way pass the 12 o'clock position to hear anything), so I never use it again. I always use the standard DD and DTS option and follow the set up procedures.