Configuring, Understanding Speaker Configuration

Configuring

Speakers and Audio

This section of the setup process covers items concerning audio reproduction such as the number of speakers, bass management includ- ing subwoofer crossovers, establishing equal output levels for all channels, delay settings, and tone contour settings.

Understanding Speaker

Configuration

Home theater systems vary in the number of speakers and the bass capabilities of those speakers. The RSX-1067 offers surround modes tailored to systems with various numbers of speakers and bass management features which send bass information to the speaker(s) best able to handle it – subwoofers and/or large speakers. For optimum performance, you must tell the RSX-1067 the number of speakers in your system and how bass should be distrib- uted among them.

NOTE: There are two types of bass in a sur- round system. The first is bass recorded in each of the main channels (front, center, and sur- round). This bass is present in all recordings and soundtracks. In addition, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 recordings may have a Low Fre- quency Effects (LFE) channel – the .1 channel. This LFE channel, typically played by a sub- woofer, is used for effects such as explosions or rumble. The use of the LFE channel will vary from soundtrack to soundtrack. Recordings that are not encoded in Dolby Digital or DTS do not have the LFE channel.

The following configuration instructions refer to LARGE and SMALL speakers, referring more to their desired bass configuration than their physical size. Specifically, use the LARGE set- ting for speakers that you want to play deep bass signals. Use the SMALL designation for speakers that would benefit from having their bass sent to more capable speakers. The bass management system redirects bass information away from all SMALL speakers and sends it to the LARGE speakers and/or the SUBWOOFER. It may be useful to think of LARGE as “full-range” and SMALL as “high-pass filtered.”

Four typical examples of the many possible system configurations illustrate the principles behind bass management:

•Five LARGE speakers and sub- woofer: This system requires no bass re- direction. All five speakers play the nor- mal bass recorded in their respective chan- nels. The subwoofer plays only the LFE channel bass. Depending on the soundtrack, there may be minimal use of the LFE channel, so the subwoofer would be under utilized. Meanwhile the normal bass places higher demands on the capa- bilities of the other speakers and the am- plifiers driving them.

•LARGE front, center, surround speakers, no subwoofer. The normal bass from the front, center, and surround channels is played in its respective speak- ers. With no subwoofer, the LFE bass is re- directed to all five LARGE speakers. This places significant demands on these speak- ers and their amplifiers, as they must play their own normal bass plus the very demand- ing LFE bass.

•All SMALL speakers and subwoofer. The normal bass from all channels is redi- rected to the subwoofer, which also plays the LFE channel. The subwoofer handles ALL of the bass in the system. This configu- ration provides several benefits: deep bass is played by the speaker most suited to do so, the main speakers may play louder with less distortion, and the need for amplifier power is reduced. This configuration should be used with bookshelf-size or smaller main speakers. It should also be considered in some cases with floorstanding front speak- ers. This configuration is advantageous when driving the system with moderate power amplifiers.

•LARGE front speakers, SMALL cen- ter and surround speakers, and a subwoofer. The normal bass from the SMALL center and surround speakers is re- directed to the LARGE front speakers and the subwoofer. The LARGE front speakers play their own normal bass plus the redi- rected bass from the SMALL speakers and LFE bass. The subwoofer plays the LFE bass plus the redirected bass from all of the other channels. This might be an appropriate con- figuration with a pair of very capable front speakers driven by a large power ampli- fier. A potential disadvantage with mixed

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LARGE and SMALL configurations is that the bass response may not be as consis- tent from channel to channel as it might be with the all SMALL configuration.

NOTE: As an alternative configuration with a satellite/subwoofer package as the front speakers, follow the speaker manufacturer’s instructions, connecting the high-level inputs of the powered subwoofer directly to the front speaker outputs of the RSX-1067 and con- necting the satellites to the subwoofer’s own crossover. In this arrangement, the speakers would be classified as LARGE and the sub- woofer setting would be OFF for all surround modes. No information is lost during play- back because the system redirects bass infor- mation to the front LARGE speakers. While this configuration ensures proper satellite speaker operation by using the speaker’s own crossovers, it has some disadvantages in terms of system calibration and would generally not be the preferred configuration.

Speaker Setup

SPEAKER SETUP

FRONT:Large

CENTER:Large

SURROUND:Large

CENTER BACK:Large1

SUBWOOFER:Yes

ADVANCED:Enter

MAIN MENU

The SPEAKER SETUP menu is used to config- ure the RSX-1067 for use with your specific loudspeakers and to determine the bass man- agement configuration as described in the previous overview. The menu is accessed from the MAIN menu.

The following speaker options are available:

FRONT SPEAKERS (small/large): Use the LARGE setting to have the front speakers play low bass (full-range). Use the SMALL setting to redirect normal bass away from these speak- ers to a subwoofer (high-pass filtered).

CENTER SPEAKER(S) (large/small/

none): Use the LARGE position (not available with SMALL front speakers) to have the cen- ter speaker play low bass (full-range). Use the SMALL position if your center channel speaker has limited low frequency capability, or if you prefer that the bass be sent to the subwoofer (high-pass). Select the NONE setting if your system does not have a center channel speaker