My 950, when I set my speakers to "Large" and "NO" subwoofer, they get all the frequencies they need, but if I hok up a sub and switch to subwoofer "On", I lose all lows to the speakers. My Mains are defTech BP7002, which have a built-in powered sub in each one...l.and my Center is a CLR2500 by DefTech, that also has a built in sub. My rear channels, which are DefTech BP2X, don't have built-in subs, but I am running the speaker cable to a Polk PSW-10 to handle the lows back there. It sounds great, don't get me wrong, but I have two more subs (a Velodyne CHT8 and another Polk PSW10). I plan on going to seven channels very soon (I have everything bu the speaker cable to do this...just waiting for the slow postal service here in the islands to get it to me), so I thought I would use the Velodyne, with speaker level in and speaker level out to the DefTech PM80's I currently have for side surround (My BP2X's are in the back for logistical reasons). This will leave me one more sub to hook up, and I wanted to use the Polk PSW10 as a dedicated LFE sub, but when I hook it up, even with my speakers all set to "Large", it takes all the oomph away from the other channels, thereby negating the built-in powered subs in them, giving me overall less thump. Is there a way around this?

And, after thinking about this some more, if I can't utilize the LFE Out on the 950 due to reducing the bandwidth sent to all the other speakers, can I just dedicate one PSW10 sub to each rear channel? I mean, I am using speaker level Ins and Outs, but if I just use the Right channel In and Out on one sub and use the Left on the other, will I still be getting as much out of the subs as I would if they were both run with Left AND Right Ins and Outs?

Any hints, tips, ideas will be appreciated....

When you turn the sub on, the LFE channel no longer goes to the mains. That should be the only real change. There will be a need to recalibrate the system to get the sub set to the right level, which is probably the first place to look.

Another thought: unless you are using 7 Stereo, the side and rear surrounds will rarely get a lot of bass, so hooking a sub to them may not be a very great use of that sub. It may be more effective (and simpler on your speaker wiring) to use a splitter from the 950's subwoofer output to run line-level connections to both the PSW10 and the Velodyne and then run the side and rear surrounds as "small" with an 80Hz crossover or so. That way both subs would handle the LFE and would pick up the occasional low frequency from the surrounds. Just something to think about...

"When you turn the sub on, the LFE channel no longer goes to the mains. That should be the only real change. There will be a need to recalibrate the system to get the sub set to the right level, which is probably the first place to look."

When I turn on the sub, since the LFE is only going to the sub, what frequencies are going to be going to my mains and center for their built-in subs?

"Another thought: unless you are using 7 Stereo, "
(which I will be doing as soon as I get my speaker cable in the mail from eBay)

"the side and rear surrounds will rarely get a lot of bass, so hooking a sub to them may not be a very great use of that sub. "
I dunno, the way I have it at the moment, with one PSW10 going speaker level in and out to the BP2X's in the rear as a 5 channel system, the PSW shakes the couch next to it pretty well...what are your thoughts on running speaker level in and out but only using one channel per sub? (one for left and one for right?)

"It may be more effective (and simpler on your speaker wiring) to use a splitter from the 950's subwoofer output to run line-level connections to both the PSW10 and the Velodyne and then run the side and rear surrounds as "small" with an 80Hz crossover or so."
That makes good sense, but it just seems that I lost so much from my Mains and Center when I set the sub to "On"

" That way both subs would handle the LFE and would pick up the occasional low frequency from the surrounds. Just something to think about..."
But would my built-in subs in the Mains and Center be utilized like they should be? By that, I mean will they get a full range signal? If, by setting the speaker to "Large" always means that they will get full range signals, then going with "Y" adapters and setting all three powered subs to run from the single LFE Out, and the speakers with the built-ins run with speaker wire inputs only sounds like a winner...

I am confused by this all, as, even when the speakers are set to "Large", then I still have crossover points to select, which confuses me....shouldn't it be getting full range when set to "Large"? Why even have the crossover option in that case?

Or is my 950 just so old and out of date that I will have to live with it until I can afford to upgrade?

I wouldn't say that - I think we just need to walk through the setup a bit at this point.

If the mains and center are "large" then they still get their full range. The mains had been also getting the LFE channel.

Personally, for the surrounds, I'm not sure I'd do it. It depends on what you're listening to, though. For movies or multichannel audio (DVD-Audio, SACD), there's rarely a lot of low frequency sent to the surrounds. If you use 5 Stereo or 7 Stereo, though, that changes the equation a bit. Of course, hooking those subs up to the 950's sub output will also get them some healthy bass to occupy them either way.

What were you listening to when you lost the "oomph" in the mains and center? And did you re-calibrate the system yet for the inclusion of a sub?

Having the mains and center set to large means they still get the full range of their associated signals, but the subwoofer output gets the LFE channel (the ".1" of a 5.1 source) and using a Y adapter allows you to send that LFE signal to multiple subs.

The crossovers are always shown in the setup menu, but they are not applied (no matter what they're set to) when the associated speakers are set to "large".

Thanks, Gonk, I think I have a plan now....I'm going to run one Polk PSW10 speaker-level in and out to the DefTech BP2X in the rear and the other PSW10 and the Velodyne CHT8 I will run with "Y" adapters to the LFE Out on the 950, with all my speakers set to "Large", except when I get the side surrounds hooked up, I will set them to "Small". I'll letcha know how it goes...

Thanks, for all your help, Gonk!

Well, after reading and re-reading and re-reading my 950 Manual...it SAYS that with my speakers set to "Large" that they will receive a full signal AND the LFE will still be summed and sent to the Sub Out. Hooked it all up, got ready for some serious bass....and.....and....nothing....I can barely even hear the sub being run from the Sub Out (I switched between movies and music, just to be sure) even with my ear next to it. If I set the sub to "Off" in the speaker config, I get lots of bass to my speakers, all set to "Large". But, once I turn the sub feature "On" in Speaker Cofig, I lose all the oomph to my speakers set to Large. It's not supposesd to work like that. As I read the manual, with Bass Management set to "Off", all speakers specified as "Large" are supposed to get ALL the frequencies and the sub Out will still sum all frequencies below 80 and send them to the sub....but it ain't happening like that. I have all of my speakers set to "Large", as they all have either built-i powered subs, or I am running an outboard powered sub, so I can use every bit of frequency that I can get. But when I switch the subwoofer setting to "On" in the Speaker Config", the other speakers are NOT getting full frequency, as I can hear an audible difference in the amount of bass in the room..it goes waaaaay down. The Sub Out is supposed to send all frequencies below 80 to the sub...but the speakers should still get full frequency being set to "Large", right? That's the way I read it in the manual, but it sure ain't working that way. I love to have heart-thumping bass, which is why I bought speakers with built-in powered subs and why I bought 3 extra external powered subs. I now have two powered external subs that are useless cuz I can't get them a good signal...HEEEELLLLLP! What am I doing wrong??

Try something: download a frequency test disc (my Devious Tiny Disc will work if you can't find anything better) and try playing it with and without the sub on. With the front speakers set to "large" you should get response from your front speakers (or their subs) from the start of the disc to the end, with the sub connected to the 950's sub output dormant the entire time. Then switch the fronts to small, pick a crossover point (80Hz would do fine), and try it again. In that arrangement, the 950's sub should output the signal from the start up to near 80Hz, when it will start to taper off and the front speaker pick up.
This is not correct: with all speakers "large", the sub should only get a signal when playing a 5.1 source (at which point it will get the .1 channel only).

One other question: have you calibrated the system since adding the sub connected to the 950? If not, you may have a level issue of some sort going on...

Well, there isn't anything 'wrong' with the system, it's just not satisfying me. Since I am using all Definitive Technology speakers, the three across the front have buit-in powered subs, but am running them with the speaker wire only (leaving the LFE input out of the equation), thereby letting the speaker's internal crossover send signal to appropriate drivers...but when I have the sub (LFE Out) in "Speaker Configuration" set to "Subwoofer On", playing a 5.1 source, and leaving the sub actually turned off, so I just hear my three across the front (I turn off my surround amp, too), when I switch between sub "On" and sub "Off" (in "Speaker Config"), I can hear a dramatic difference in the amount of bass in the room...all coming from the three in front. With the sub set to "Off" my three fronts sounds great, but when I turn the sub "On", I can hear huge reduction in bass. Now, when I tun the actual outboard powered sub connected to the LFE Out on and do the same thing, switching between "Off" and "On" in "Config", I can still hear a major difference...even though the LFE sub is on and producing sound, it's just not nearly as much as switching it to "Off" in "Config". Does this make sense?

I have calibrated the system using the test tones and an SPL meter, configured speakers for appropriate distances away from listening area (which ain't much in my small room...10 feet from the front and center and 3 feet from the surrounds for the listening position)...so, instead of 5.1, what is supposed to happen if I am listening to a stereo recording in "5 Surround"? Wouldn't the LFE sub be used for the lows and my 3 across the front and the rears set as "Large" be crossed, or would they be getting full range?

Here's what I want, maybe you can tell me the best way to get it:
I want the three across the front to get full range, to utilize their built-in, powered subs, I want the rears to get full range, as well, as I am using a Powered sub speaker level in and out to the speakers...I am adding another set of BP2X's for Side Surround, again run thru a powered sub, speaker level in and out and I want to have one more powered sub running and I thought the LFE (Sub)Line Level Out would be the best option...but, since the others aren't getting 'full-range' when I have the sub set to "On" in "Speaker Config", should I just get RCA "Y" connectors and run the stand alone sub that WAS connected to LFE, should I connect from the Mains? (I mean between Outlaw and Main amp?). I will be listening to music about 40%, PS3 games 10%, TV 40% and movies 10%, so I will be switching between DTS/Dolby Digital/etc.and 5 (or soon, 7) Stereo quite a lot. Keep in mind, I would like to get the best 'heart-pounding', deep, clear bass that I can with what I've got....as of this minute, I have 2 powered subs that are just sitting there not being used...when my side surrounds get here next week, I'll put one of those subs into use with the sides...but what should I do with the extra sub, since I get so much more 'oomph' out of my system leaving the sub set to "Off" in Speaker Config?

Am I a pain n the a**, or what, Gonk?

It depends on what source is being played at the time. If it's a 5.1 source, it makes some sense: the LFE track would be redirected to the mains with the sub off. If it's a 2.0 source, that's a little odd.
If you have a stereo recording playing with large speakers, the LFE sub will get nothing - because your speakers are set to "large" and thus don't need a sub to assist them. Keep in mind that with large speakers, the LFE sub will only get a signal if a x.1 source is playing.

Here's one thought... set the fronts and center to "small", use a splitter to divide the subwoofer output four ways and run it to the LFE sub and all three front subs.

That still leaves the other subs up in the air, as I don't think you can set the surrounds to large when you have small fronts (could be wrong there). The issue there, however, is that you are not likely to get meaningful bass sent to the surrounds when using 5/7 Stereo - other sources simply don't typically put deep pass in those channels because so few systems reach much below 80Hz in the surrounds.

One other issue - both your Polk PSW10's and your Velodyne CHT8 roll off around 35Hz - which is just a few Hz lower than my old Paradigm towers reached without a powered sub. The subs in your DefTech towers actually go deeper, although I wonder about the reality of DefTech's specs (I'd like to know how many dB down they are at 15Hz, as I doubt it's just -3dB or so). Those three little subs will not get the "best 'heart-pounding', deep, clear bass" that you might be looking for. That reinforces my thought about hooking the DefTech subs up to the 950's subwoofer output. Certainly I'd lean toward going with small rears and let the 950 steer low frequency elsewhere rather than hook the Polks or Velodyne up via speaker cable.