As "Lucy" would say..splain please...

I'm confused about the term "double bass" (I know there have been numerous posts about the subject, but that fact does not make it any clearer).

I have four full range speakers (Vienna Acoustics Bachs/Haydns) and a REL Storm III sub. Most of the posts I've read deal with speakers set to "small" and the sub settings/crossover points which does not directly address my question.

The REL sub has a Neutrix (or however they spell the thing) connector which feeds off the speaker mains from the back of you power amp (in addition to a low level or RCA input for the LFE response).

The high level configuration results in your main (front) speakers to have a much lower frequency response (as just an extension of your speakers instead of some artifical crosssover for the lower frequencies).

My question is: given the "high level" option for the REL, can I (or should I) just tell the 950 that I have "no sub" on the input configuration? (to avoid the so-called "double bass" problem).

Help (and all constuctive comments) would be muchly appreciated.

"A fellow neurotic HT person"

Almost forgot about how different the recommended setup for REL's is... Had an answer half-written before I realized it was wrong. A little reading here helped a little.

1) If you hook up your REL the way the manufacturer recommends, you will definitely want to set the mains to "large." According to REL, you should use both the provided bare wire-to-neutrik cable from the amp to the sub as well as a low level RCA interconnect from the LFE output of the pre/pro. In this case, you will want to leave the sub on so that you are actually using that LFE cable. You could set the sub to "off" and discard the LFE connection (the LFE channel would be redirected to the mains and still reach the sub), but then you would have a problem when using DVD-Audio or multichannel SACD discs (for which you can't redirect the LFE channel because there is no digital bass management available).

2) The double-bass issue on the 950 has, I believe, been resolved for every configuration except the 5.1 analog input with the analog bass management switched off. (I'll point out also that Outlaw has stated that they do not believe the double bass issue is a problem in actual use and leave it at that -- there's been a lot of bandwidth used on the subject already.) If you aren't using the 5.1 analog input, that means you don't need to worry about the double bass problem. If you are using the 5.1 analog input, you can either switch the bass management on (which means your full-range speakers won't get a full range signal anymore) or face the double bass issue and see if it is a problem for you.

Well, gotta run now -- running late for work. Hope this helped some.

------------------
gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Thanks much for taking the time to respond.

Actually I wouldn't say the double-bass issue has been resolved, I'd say there are some fairly clumsy user-workarounds that can minimize the audible effects.