Speaker Setup

44	RSX-1550 Surround Sound Receiver
the normal bass places higher demands on the capabilities of the	Speaker Setup
other speakers and the ampliﬁers driving them.
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•LARGE front, center, surround speakers, no subwoofer. The normal bass from the front, center, and surround channels is played in its respective speakers. With no subwoofer, the LFE bass is redirected to all ﬁve LARGE speakers. This places signiﬁcant demands on these speakers and their ampliﬁers, as they must play their own normal bass plus the very demanding LFE bass.

•All SMALL speakers and subwoofer. The normal bass from all channels is redirected to the subwoofer, which also plays the LFE channel. The subwoofer handles ALL of the bass in the system. This conﬁguration 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 speakers. This conﬁguration is advantageous when driving the system with moderate power ampliﬁers.

•LARGE front speakers, SMALL center and surround speakers, and a subwoofer. The normal bass from the SMALL center and surround speakers is redirected to the LARGE front speakers and the subwoofer. The LARGE front speakers play their own normal bass plus the redirected 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 conﬁguration with a pair of very capable front speakers driven by a large power ampliﬁer. A potential disadvantage with mixed LARGE and SMALL conﬁgurations is that the bass response may not be as consistent 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 receiver and connecting the satellites to the subwoofer’s own crossover. In this arrangement, the speakers would be classiﬁed as LARGE and the subwoofer setting would be OFF for all surround modes. No information is lost during playback because the system redirects bass information 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.

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The SPEAKER SETUP menu is used to conﬁgure the receiver for use with your speciﬁc loudspeakers and to determine the bass management 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 speakers 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 center 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 (the surround modes will automatically divide all center channel information equally between the two front speakers, creating a phantom center channel).

SURROUND SPEAKERS (large/small/none): Select the LARGE setting (not available with SMALL front speakers) to have the surround speakers play low bass (full-range). If your rear speakers have limited bass capability or if you would prefer that the bass go to a subwoofer, use the SMALL setting (high-pass). If your system has no rear surround speakers, select the NONE setting (surround channels are added to the front speakers so none of the recording is lost).

CENTER BACK SPEAKER(S) (large1/large2/small1/small2/ none): Some systems have one or two additional center back surround speakers. Select the LARGE settings (not available with SMALL front speakers) to have your center back speaker(s) play low bass. Use LARGE 1 if you have one center back speaker (6.1) or LARGE 2 (7.1) if you have two center back speakers (7.1). If your center back speakers have limited bass capability or if you would prefer that the bass go to a subwoofer, use the SMALL setting (SMALL1 for one speaker, SMALL2 for two speakers). If your system has no center back speakers, select the NONE setting. With center back speakers, the Rotel XS eXtended surround, Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS Neo:6 or other decoders will provide center back signals for any surround mode.

SUBWOOFER (yes/no/max): The YES setting is the standard setting if your system has a subwoofer. If your system does not have a subwoofer, select NO. Select the MAX setting for maximum bass output with normal bass being duplicated by both the subwoofer and any LARGE speakers in the system.

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RSX-1550 Surround Sound Receiver

other speakers and the ampliﬁers driving them.