About to order my 950/7100 and planning on picking up Denon 2900 while the outlaw’s are in route. This is my first step into separates, andmy current system is pretty simple/outdated (Yamaha Receiver/CD, Sony DVD player, etc.).

That said, in anticipation of my soon to arrive equipment I downloaded the manuals and have been attempting to figure out how to get everything setup. I was hoping that some of you could offer your thoughts on the following questions. Sorry of they are elementary or not clear, I did my best to figure out what I could before posting.

1. As I understand it the crossovers apply to all inputs except for the 5.1 analog or if you are operating in Stereo Bypass mode. My speakers have the following specs, next to which appears the crossover setting that I think I would want to use.

Main’s – 44hz – 22khz Set crossover to 60hz
Center – 75hz – 22khz Set crossover to 80hz
Surrounds (4) – 60hz - 22khz Set crossover to 60hz

I was also planning on setting all to small and turning the Bass Management on, as I have a sub. Obviously hearing it will be the test, but does that look right? The only way I would want to adjust would be up (without potential speaker damage) based on those specs correct?

2. When hooking the 2900 up I believe I will need to hook up both the Digital Coax and the analog 5.1 into the 950. I know the Digital Coax would be used for watching DVD’s and the 5.1 would be used for SACD or DVD-A listening. However, which would you use for CD listening? I think the answer might be either one, depending on which DAC you want to use (Digital coax = the 950 and 5.1 audio = the 2900). If so, are there advantages to using one or the other? If you use 5.1, do you lose any of the formats? Do both provide 2 channel stereo?

3. Stereo Bypass also has me a little confused. I think using this would be similar to the 5.1, but would not flow through the crossovers or the Bass management provided on the 5.1 inputs. I have seen posts where people seem to be using this to utilize the DAC in their CD player. Doesn’t this potentially expose your speakers to lower bass than they can handle? What would be the difference between this and using the 5.1 input from a DVD/CD player when listening to CD’s, just the bass management?

4. I read a few (rather long) posts about having to bump up the sub output 10db from a 2900 when setting up for DVD-A/SACD? I am really confused on that one. Would this apply to my situation? How would you configure for this?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Benzo

Even with the work put into Outlaw's manuals, this can get pretty convoluted, so don't sweat it. It sounds like you've got this pretty well in hand already, anyway. I've got a breakdown of the bass management behavior in my 950 review here , which might help clear some things up, too.

1. You are correct about when the crossovers function (although the stereo bypass mode is a little more complicated than that, but we'll leave that alone for the moment). You've chosen pretty good starting points for your crossovers, but you might also try 100Hz for the center and 80Hz for the surrounds to see how that sounds.

2. Yes, you'll need the coax digital for DVD's and the analog 5.1 for DVD-A/SACD. For CD listening, I'd probably have to try both to see which DAC I prefer, as you are already thinking. The digital output would let you play with PLII and other modes (5 stereo, 7 stereo), with you can't do with the 5.1 analog input.

3. The stereo bypass is similar in principal to the 5.1, but the two are separate systems. The main speakers will see the full range signal, but the likelihood of inflicting damage because of that is slim (especially with mains like yours -- I ran mains that only go a couple of Hz lower for over a year and a half with no sub at all) . As outlined in my review (thanks to lengthy discussion here and elsewhere last year), we know that the mains always get a full-range un-manipulated signal in stereo bypass mode, but if the mains are set to "small" in the speaker setup, the subwoofer also gets the low frequency information below the main speakers' crossover point. The theory is that your speakers will not be able to reproduce much in that area, and the sub will be able to fill in while still preserving the analog pass-through of the main signal. Using the 5.1 input for CD playback, on the other hand, puts you through a different signal path that includes an analog bass management circuit (if it is turned on) with a fixed 80Hz crossover. In your case, if you are using the 2900 as a CD player and want to use stereo bypass, you would need to connect a stereo analog output of the 2900 to a stereo analog input on the 950 -- which would be in addition to the digital coax and the 5.1 analog. I think I'd just use the 5.1 analog input to compare the 2900's DACs to the 950's for CD playback and not worry about stereo bypass for that source.

4. I've seen a little of those debates, but haven't followed them enough to know what the answer is. One of the 2900 gurus around here can probably explain it for us pretty quickly, though.

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

1) Crossover theory states that you need to pick a crossover freq at least 1/2 octave (and some people believe a full octave) above the -3 dB point of the speakers. You need to do this so that the imposed roll of the crossover itself is not interferred with by the natural roll off of the speakers. (Otherwise, you would have a dip in the response as the speaker's response drops as the freq is lowered until the sub kicks in.) So for your speakers, it would be:

Main’s – 44hz => 60hz (probably close enough)
Center – 75hz => 100 Hz (probably close enough)
Surrounds (4) – 60hz => 90 Hz

(1/2 an octave is a 50% increase in freq. 44 => 44 + 44/2 => 66 Hz. A full octave is 44 * 2 = 88 Hz.)

4) Turns out that you don't have to do this. There is a 10 dB boost applied to the LFE signal for DD/DTS soundtracks, but it is all internal to the player and software. If you use Avia or VE or any other DD test disc, you'll get the right levels. Just do *not* use the internal sub test tone of the 2900 to set the analog output level. Just like the Pioneers, it's hosed.