Just bought a new HSU VTF3-MK2 subwoofer and my mains are Paradigm Studio 100's v.2. I have been trying to figure out what the 'best' settings are for my speakers to get the best performance. I really want the bass of the sub to feel powerful, but also want my Paradigms to perform as they should at the lower frequencies.

I first used the Avia test disk to calibrate my equipment, but that does not line up with the 950 calibrate settings. Which should I be using?

Also, the 950 has large and small speaker settings along with the crossovers. This is confusing me to no end! The Studio 100's go quite low so I would like to have them set to large, however, it appears that this takes away from the LFE channel. I also tried the 100's crossover from 40 Hz up and did notice a difference with the LFE. Do I really want them set to small and have the crossover at 80Hz or so??? Seems like I should have just bought small fronts if this is the case. If I have the fronts to large does this alone filter what goes to the sub channel? If I have the speakers set to small, will stereo sound (not 5.1)still use the subwoofer?

Thank you in advance!
Brad

Let's see if I can help with this any...

If the speakers are set to large, then the crossover point is disregarded - the speaker is considered to be full range, and no bass management is applied. If the speakers are set to small, then the 950 tries to help the speaker out by applying the selected crossover so the sub can cover the lower octaves. If the mains are set to small, any signals sent to those two speakers (be it stereo or surround) will go through the crossover and have low frequency data sent to the sub. If the mains are set to large, then nothing from those channels will ever go to the subwoofer.

I run Studio/60's and an LFM-1. With that combination, I've used small with a 60Hz crossover. The Studio/100's go about 2Hz lower than the 60's - they are physically large, but their -3dB point is -28Hz (-2dB point is 44Hz). I'd suggest trying small and the 40Hz crossover initially. With some music, the sub will not be very active at all, but that's not the fault of the setup. Most instruments do not go below about 50Hz even on the lowest notes, so most CD's have very little material there to be crossed over.

Also, remember that a crossover is not a brick wall. Response will roll off, not stop completely. A friend of mine has 100's (v3's) set at 40 where his SVS B4 takes over nicely. The advantage of nice large mains, as you have, is they will blend ever so sweetly with your sub, whereas a smaller speaker may not be as capable in that respect.

I have my B&W 604's (-3db @ 39hz) set at 60hz, which I find blends nicely with my Hsu STF2. The advantage I found versus my previous smaller towers is the cleaner and more authoratative midbass. The larger tower allowed the sub to blend much better.

Your towers are not wasted with a nice sub. They compliment each other. I play with the 40 and 60hz settings and see what you like.

Thank you both very much for the assistance! I want to make sure I understand... Is this correct?

1) If I have the front speakers set to Large, the crossover does nothing and the subwoofer will not be used in stereo mode?

2) If I set the fronts to Small and use the crossover, the subwoofer will be used in stereo mode?

Thank you!

Right on both counts. Large fronts means no sub in stereo mode, small fronts means the crossover point is active and you get sub in stereo.

Maybe it would have been easier to swallow if they had labled the speaker configuration - manual or auto instead of small or large.

Odds are breaking from the industry standard of "large" and "small" would be seriously confusing - it is the expected terminology at this point. One thing that I've tossed around before that could help is disabling the crossover setpoint adjustment in the menu whenever a speaker is set to "small."

That could help the situation Gonk. Also, the manual for the 950 does little to explain the actual differences between large and small speaker settings.

I asked on this board because I was not sure if different pre-amps treated these settings differently.

Thank you all for the help!