I've been wanting to ask this question before but couldn't decide where to post so since the topic of 'large' and 'small' settings is coming up in this post I'll try here.

Is there a rule of thumb as to when you should set your speakers to large or small?

For instance I have a pair of PSB Stratus Silveri for the mains and a pair of PSB Image 4t as the surrounds. The center is a PSB Image 8c.

I'll assume the center should be kept small.

If I don't have a sub should I set the the mains and surrounds to large?

If I do have a sub should I set these to large or small? Does it matter?

Under what conditions am I risking my speakers to damage? I play them loud sometimes but I don't believe it's unreasonably loud (of course one person's loud is another person's NASA launch). I haven't shattered any glass yet.

Is there information in the speaker's specs that I should use a guideline. Be nice now, if this is a naive question.

Mark

From what I understand, actually damaging your speakers would be difficult. The good rule of thumb is to look at the frequency response to decide if and where to cross speakers over to a sub. In your case:

Frequency response (on axis at 0deg +/-3dB):
Stratus Silver : 35-21000 Hz
Image 8c : 55-21000 Hz
Image 4t : 38-21000 Hz

Anything close to or below the bottom of that range will be weak or missing when directed to the speaker. The human hearing range is generally defined as 20-20000 Hz, so you will be losing some information that lands in that range. Setting them to large will give them the entire range. Setting them to small and selecting a good crossover point will prevent that loss of information (many people recommend doubling the bottom of the range, although you might find a good spot without going quite that high depending on your system and your tastes).

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