Component video involves a lot more bandwidth -- which means a lot more data to try to manipulate to add to it. I think that's the key reason that component video switching typically is purely switching (no OSD or composite/S-Video signal switching). Somebody else around here may be able to offer a better explanation, though.

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Gonk

There are some receivers and pre/pros that offer OSD (On Screen Display) via component outs. It's rare though. Even rarer is to have the OSD info overlayed on top of a component video signal. I'm not sure but I think the Meridian 861 can overlay OSD on its component video outs. My MC-12 has OSD on component out, but against a blue screen and not overlayed on top of the video signal (which it does on composite & s-video outs). Even the upcoming $30,000 Mark Levinson No.40 processor doesn't do OSD overlays on the component outs; the info is displayed against a black screen.

The reason for this, from what I've read, is that it is difficult to synchronize video text & graphics to all 3 "channels" of video (which, let's face it, is what a component signal is). It's probably not cost effective for most companies to offer it as a featue.

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Sanjay

Consider also that component video may be progressive or interlaced, standard definition or any of several high definition resolutions... the problem becomes significantly more complex. Composite and S-Video both are only a single resolution and always interlaced.

I must admit, though, that an OSD overlay on all three outputs would be real nice... Considering you basically lose your TV's OSD for volume control when you add a receiver, it would add back that lost functionality. If the 950's successor had that as well as upconverting all sources to component... THAT would be convenience.

Would probably double the price of the thing though.

Here's an off-the-wall idea for cutting the bass on CDs... What if you use a crappy interconnect, known to be bass deficient?

But seriously, how about installing a high-pass filter on the CD player's outputs? PartsExpress has 12dB/octave 20Hz or 30Hz high-pass filters for only $26.

If you're using a DVD player, tell the 950 to use the digital output for DVDs, and connect the analog output (with the filters) to the 950's CD input. You would still have full bass from DVDs, and little or no sub activity for CDs.


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JeffLH

Heh. This thread has gotten so long, I'd forgotten what it was originally about.

Would you really want to cut off all the frequencies below a crossover point, though? My thought was you'd just want to reduce them in level somewhat. Hence, an equalizer.

I'm not a speaker designer, but I am an engineer so take what I know with several grains of salt.

I'm pretty sure you want to aggresively filter out frequencies that fall outside the crossover frequency. Whether we're talking about filtering high-frequencies from a bass driver or low-frequencies from a tweeter, if a driver sees frequencies well outside its performance curve it will probably distort, fail outright (ouch) or generate intermodulation distortion (IM) which results from trying to produce widely disparate frequencies at the same time (or some combination of all three).

For example, you will generally get significantly better performance out of your main 2 speakers if you don't feed them tons of bass. (Unless your main speakers are designed for this). Probably better to send all those subterrean signals to a well-balanced sub (say a Vandersteen 2wq).

I'm sure you will get a more accurate answer from the speaker building hobbyists and crossover filter designers. People who know a lot more about first and second order filters than I'll ever know. (If I've flubbed this one severly I'll apologize to Carl Marchisotto, John Dunlavy and the other speaker gods later)

Good luck,

Jim Burnes

Your right Matt, I don't have a clue to why the tangent.

If you put a 12db passive crossover for your sealed satellites you'll get a 24db/octave slope and 36 db for vented speakers. That will attenuate lows quite a bit.

[This message has been edited by rcaudio (edited February 21, 2002).]

Oh, we're talking about crossovers? I guess I missed the point. I thought the original question was how to reduce the total amount of bass in the system, as it sounded "bass heavy" for certain inputs. I didn't think you'd want to throw away fequencies completely, only reduce their relative volume.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net