340s with/without subwoofer

[mv1612]

Hi,

I have a question regarding the 340s. Let’s say you have three setups. First, you have them connected as “Large” to a receiver, with a subwoofer. Second, same as above but the monitors set as “Small” with a crossover suitably chosen. Third, have them connected to a stereo amplifier with no subwoofer.

I know that the first setup is obviously wrong. To quote David, “running the 340s full range will distress the entire bandwidth of the woofer section, up until about 3Khz”, and “for optimum (always recommended) performance, the speakers MUST be run with a minimum of a 65hz high pass filter (“small”)”. But then what about listening them without a subwoofer, the third option? Should I understand that their performance without a sub is to a certain point degraded because they’re trying to reproduce the full range? To what extent?

Virgil

[Lou-the-dog]

I run my 340's both ways... with a sub and without. Sometimes I have them hooked up to a Denon 3803 and run the sub with this configuration. Sometimes I have them hooked up to an integrated tube amp which I run sans sub. My tin ear can't pick up any degradation. I suspect a sophisticated measuring rig would be needed to reveal the difference. I do prefer the extra bass the sub provides however so I'll be looking for a way to integrate the sub with the tube amp.

Randy

[Quinn]

I have 340s in a two channel music only rig without a sub and they sound great. There is a post somewhere from davef that he runs his 340s w/o a sub at times.

EDIT- I found the link. This post. http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...1&postcount=13

In this thread- http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...8&page=1&pp=10

[davef]

Hi mv1612,

Welcome to our forum!

Running the 340 mains full range is not necessarily wrong. It all depends on how large your room is and how much output you demand. The more bass below 50Hz that the speaker is being asked to reproduce (dependant upon output level), the greater the chance of hurting the performance of the delicate midrange frequencies. In a large room and at loud volumes, full range is not recommended if you want the best performance of the mids... However, in a smaller room or at moderate volumes, full range will not be a problem.

What are your room dimensions?

[mv1612]

Thanks to Dave and all of you for the replies. I'm relieved, it seems that the efect, if any, is kind of "subtle", not at all obvious. My room dimensions are 16/14/9, so not a big room.

[mv1612]

And Quinn, thanks for the link!

[NewBuyer]

...The more bass below 50Hz that the speaker is being asked to reproduce (dependant upon output level), the greater the chance of hurting the performance of the delicate midrange frequencies...

So when you said earlier that "running the 340s full range will distress the entire bandwidth of the woofer section, up until about 3Khz", you meant only at louder volumes, yes?

[mv1612]

I think I should say where I took those quotings from. They're part of Dave's observations toward an unfortunate reviewer from hometheaterforum, who took a blind test between the 340s with subwoofer and the Rocket 550 but chose to let the 340s as "Large". From what I understand, in this situation you not only stress them to reproduce the whole spectrum, but you end up with a bunch of interferences with the sub, having two sources reproducing the same frequencies. Maybe Dave wants to share something about this moment, maybe not... these are not very pleasant memories, thinking at the controversy that followed.

So anyway, I'm sure that when there's no sub, there isn't anything bad to be noticed.

Virgil.