Sierras, full-range or crossed at 80hz?

[Grayson73]

With 3 Sierras across the front, 2 170SE rears, and SVS 25-31CS sub, would you set the Sierras to full range or crossed over at 80hz? I assume that the 170SEs should be crossed at 80hz regardless of the answer to the 1st question.

Are there different answers for movies and music?

The Panasonic SA-XR57 receiver has crossover settings at 80hz, 100hz, and 120hz.

[curtis]

With 3 Sierras across the front, 2 170SE rears, and SVS 25-31CS sub, would you set the Sierras to full range or crossed over at 80hz? I assume that the 170SEs should be crossed at 80hz regardless of the answer to the 1st question.

Are there different answers for movies and music?

The Panasonic SA-XR57 receiver has crossover settings at 80hz, 100hz, and 120hz.

I say try all of your options and see what you like.

[Mike^S]

The Sierras are fully capable of being run full range without a sub for most music. However, it is definitely a good idea to try both. No doubt that at higher volumes, a true subwoofer will handle the bass better than just about any bookshelf speaker.

By running the speakers small with a sub, you also take the burden off the speakers of producing bass which should improve the midrange. Definitely try both. I have my Sierras crossed over at 80hz to my JL F112.

[curtis]

Boy....every chance you get, you have to remind me how good that F112 sounded.

[Mike^S]

LOL!

[Dread Pirate Robert]

With 3 Sierras across the front, 2 170SE rears, and SVS 25-31CS sub, would you set the Sierras to full range or crossed over at 80hz? I assume that the 170SEs should be crossed at 80hz regardless of the answer to the 1st question.

Are there different answers for movies and music?

For movies, the 170SE typically makes for a more than capable surround speaker--some would even say that it's a bit of an overkill in most setups. In this role, they could probably be run as "Large" for most movies most of the time, but generally they should be crossed over at 80 Hz just in case. For multi-channel music, they should always be crossed over, which is really the manner in which they were designed to be used. Short answer: you're right, cross them over regardless.

The Sierra-1s at the front soundstage are kind of the opposite, actually. For music, you should try setting them to "Large" (or whatever the full-range setting is) to see whether you prefer the more limited (not for most music) but also more articulate bass response. Be sure to disable your receiver's sub output in this case so that the 170SEs will cross over to the Sierra-1s, otherwise your surround channels will have different and more powerful bass capability, which would be just plain weird, in my opinion. I would also strongly suggest NOT running your front speakers at full-range while simultaneously sending their bass to your sub (if your receiver even allows for this).

For movies, I assume that you have that 25-31CS for a good reason, so I suggest that you cross over all of your speakers at 80 Hz. The Sierra-1s may have phenomenal bass for bookshelf speakers, but they're generally no match for your sub when it comes to movie soundtracks (unless you have a "44-14CS" and a puny amp ).

The Panasonic SA-XR57 receiver has crossover settings at 80hz, 100hz, and 120hz.

80 Hz is ideal for many reasons (which I've gone over recently in other threads). And personally, I wouldn't even bother with the higher settings, given your speakers.

[Grayson73]

Thanks for the responses.

I currently have the 340SEs up front and will use this info to help me decide whether to upgrade to Sierras or not.

Since it is a relative pain to change my fronts to large and sub off for music and small with sub on for movies, I may end up just leaving everything crossed over at 80hz. I have to play with my harmony remote to see if I can create a macro.

Otherwise, I'd like to hear more opinions (both music and HT) from those who crossover at 80hz and upgraded from 340SEs to Sierras.

Someone said that there was a difference in this situation for movies, but not a drastic improvement. I assume the same can be said for movies.

To complicate things, I'm thinking that maybe I should upgrade to HD-DVD instead of upgrading my speakers.

Decisions, decisions

[Mitch G]

Hehe, I just did both - upgraded speakers (pair of Sierras) and went to HD-DVD (Tosh A2).
If I had to decide between one or the other, I think I would go with the speaker upgrade. I definitely have more time on the speakers than on the HD-DVD player. Besides, get the big cost out of the way, wait a month and then add on a little (relative) cost (i.e. the HD-DVD player).



Mitch

[Gov]

If it were me and had to pick one, I'd go with the HD-DVD upgrade. Reason being, if I would plan on using a sub with an 80hz XO (which I would) the Sierra upgrade would more than likely not be as dramatic as the switch from SD-DVD to HD-DVD. Maybe I am wrong, but I find it difficult to believe the Sierra's are that much better than the 340SE's run "small" and XO. I think the difference is more likely a slight one dependant on the source material

[dallas]

I guess it's all about bias, but I'd feel I was throwing money away buy a HDDVD player over a bluray player.

And buying either right now is a bit iffy in itself because neither have unit capable of all the functions you will likely see come christmas. Especially codecs.

With a ps3 or xbox though, upgraded functions are a possibility, so that's the only safe for these things yet.

Then you have that sony has exclusivity on somehting like 15 of the top 20 movies in the last year, that makes HD-DVD a hard sell despite being cheaper.

just info, you have to make your own choice.