CBM 170 SE's: Large or Small?

[steelgtr]

I am listening for the big brown truck as I write. My 3 170's arrive today

My system is B&K reference 20 pre/pro,with a fixed lfe xover at 80 hz, reference 4430 amp. My sub is is just ok but I'm working on that next.

Do I set the 170's to large all of the time? The B&K has a setting that allows large speaker setting plus the subwoofer to work.

Or small plus sub for HT, and large plus sub for music?

thx

bob

[sensibull]

Or small plus sub for HT, and large plus sub for music?

I'd experiment with both (as well as large with no sub for music) to see what sounds best to you. Ideally, you would not duplicate any frequency (or the overlap would be small enough to allow a good blend at the crossover point). The most common way to do that is set the speakers to small and use the crossover in your receiver or preamp. 80Hz is perfect for the 170 (though with the SE some may opt for 60, depending on their sub).

[BradJudy]

With an 80Hz cross, I'd do small plus sub for both.

You'll always have overlapping frequencies (the crossovers are usually either 12db/octave or 24db/octave), so it's really a matter of only having overlap in the region controlled by the crossover. This is what small with sub does on most systems. On the other hand, large with sub generally only uses crossover control on the material going to the sub meaning that there is less predictable overlap and usually an exagerated response between the crossover point and the natural roll-off of the speaker. It's much easier to explain with drawings, so maybe I'll hunt some down this evening.

[steelgtr]

Thanks, Guys

Now where the heck is that big brown truck ?



bob

[bikeman]

Now where the heck is that big brown truck ? bob

You're experiencing a cross between relativity and doppler effect. As the brown truck gets nearer, time slows down dramatically and as it pulls away time returns to normal. I going to suggest a phd candidate in physics explore this in a thesis.

David