Charlie,

I'm afraid not many speakers fall into the 12dB low frequency acoustic rolloff you used as an example above (except for THX certified and some acoustic suspension or sealed speakers).

This is primarily my biggest complaint with most bass management, especially when they don't give you enough optional xover selections.

Most of the bass reflex speakers are going to have 18dB to 36dB acoustic low frequency rolloffs.

Combine the speakers acoustic rolloff with the prepro's 12dB high pass electrical xover and it will be impossible to get a 24dB high-pass combination to smoothly match the prepro's 24dB electrical low-pass xover.

This is one of the primary dilemmas of less flexible bass management.

[This message has been edited by bstan (edited September 12, 2002).]

Absolutely true, which is what makes it tricky. You need to know the real slope and knee to even know what you need, then you have to be able to find what you need.

What we really need is a calibrated mike hooked up to the 950's successor which will, of course, be able to play built-in test tones through each speaker and the sub individually, measure the relative frequency response curves, calculate the optimal crossover for each speaker and the necessary slope, and configure itself appropriately.

Following that, of course, it would also have to apply an equalization to get a perfectly flat curve.

All the settings it picked would be viewable and overridable. Per input.



------------------
Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kevin C Brown:
[B]Will- Makes sense. The Rotel has the same problem.

I.e., the "small" or "large" setting for the mains doesn't mean anything in 2 channel bypass mode. The mains are always "large" and get a full range signal *in addition* to the re-directed bass to the sub.
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guys... this is not what the manual says, this is not what scott said in his post and this is not the case with my 950.

when the mains are set to large in stereo bypass mode, there is nothing sent to the sub....no double bass.

page 31 of the manual, under BYPASS SETTING:
"when playing an analog input source you may bypass the 950's digital processing system and listen to the source in "pure" two-channel stereo."

did i misunderstand all this controversy, or what? help me out here.

Here's what Scott wrote July 8:

I think that in bypass, the full frequency range goes to the front speakers even when the front speakers are set to small. This means the front speakers have to be able to handle a *full* frequency range, in bypass. When the fronts are set to small, bass also goes to the subwoofer (double bass).

This is different than the 5.1 analog input, although both can make double bass. With 5.1 analog, the full frequency range does NOT go to the speakers when the bass management switch is on. However the under 80-Hz content always goes to the subwoofer, independent of the bass management switch.

The difference is, with bypass, the front speakers always get the full frequency range, but the output to the sub is optional. With 5.1 analog on the other hand, the main speakers don't always get the full frequency range, but the output to the subwoofer always gets the under 80-Hz content.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kevin C Brown:
[B]Will- Makes sense. The Rotel has the same problem.

I.e., the "small" or "large" setting for the mains doesn't mean anything in 2 channel bypass mode. The mains are always "large" and get a full range signal *in addition* to the re-directed bass to the sub.
_____________________________________________

guys.....the above statement is not what the manual says (p.31), it's not what scott said in his post and it's not what my 950 does.

if you set the mains to large in stereo bypass, you get "pure" two channel stereo...just like the manual says....no double bass. did i simply misunderstand this whole double bass thing?? help me out here.

guys.... my manual says on p.31 (and i'm sure you all know this):
BYPASS SETTING:
"when playing an analog input source you may bypass the model 950's digital processing system and listen to the source in "pure" two-channel stereo."

this is exactly what my 950 does...no double bass. mains set to large, analog source, bypass mode= "pure two-channel stereo".

did i misunderstand this double bass thing altogether? help me out here.

guys.... my manual says on p.31 (and i'm sure you all know this):
BYPASS SETTING:
"when playing an analog input source you may bypass the model 950's digital processing system and listen to the source in "pure" two-channel stereo."

this is exactly what my 950 does...no double bass. mains set to large, analog source, bypass mode= "pure two-channel stereo".

did i misunderstand this double bass thing altogether? help me out here.

If you set your mains to small, you can get double bass in stereo bypass, but not if you set them to large, as I understand it.