"Small speaker bass" represents the bass from any channel set to "small". Therefore, if you had "large" L/R's, a "small" center, "small" surrounds and sub set to "LFE", your L/R's would run full range, and the center/surround channel bass would be redirected to the subwoofer along with the LFE.
If you wanted just the LFE in the sub, all channels would need to be set to "large".
Best,
Scott