I am trying to figure out the best configuration in respect of bass management/cross-over/system settings when pairing an Outlaw 990 with a NHT X1 crossover (i.e. what are the 990 and X1 optimal settings so that I am not losing anything without knowing it). I have NHT M5 left, right, and center, NHT L5 side and rear surrounds, and NHT U2 subwoofers (which are 2 subwoofer speakers), with the subwoofers controlled by a NHT X1 crossover and each sub with a dedicated NHT A1 amplifier.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts, and Happy Holidays and a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

How are things wired up? Are the pre-amp outputs that feed the U2's and M5's going through the X1? Or does the subwoofer output from the 990 go straight to the X1 and on to the A1 to drive the U2's? I can't find detailed info on the X1 at the moment so I may be missing something, but unless you are routing the front channel pre-amp outputs through the X1 I don't know that there's a lot of value in using it.

Gonk, thanks for weighing in. Only the 990's subwoofer outs go to the X1 then to the U2s via the A1 amplifiers, the mains are not run through the X1. The U2s and the X1 always came as a package deal because the X1 is supposedly "designed/tailored" specifically for a flat response (whatever that means) for use with the U2s (and also for the U1 which is a single box with two sub woofers instead of separated in two boxes like the U2s). This is in contrast to NHT's X2 which is a general crossover for any subwoofer application. I once read a message from an NHT support person (I don't recall where) that told someone specifically not to purchase an X1 for use with another (i.e. non-U1/U2) subwoofer system because of the specific design and integration of the X1 with the U1/U2; the person recommended purchasing an X2 or some other third party crossover instead. For these reasons, I am a little hesitant to take the X1 out of the equation. For your information, the X1 has the following controls: Low Pass; Phase; Degrees; Master Gain; Boundary EQ; and LFE Gain. the X2 has the same controls and looks identical to the X1.

Any additional thoughts, if any, would be appreciated.

Can you adjust the X1 frequency cutoff to a maximum setting, somewhere above 120 hz? This would effectively remove it from control while you adjusted the 990 to where you need it. I would want the 990 to control the LFE signal to all of the speakers. Do the subs or the A1s themselves have controls or do they depend on the X1 for all control. Somewhere there is an adjustment for the LFE cutoff frequency. You should be able to use either one. Either way you need to control the cutoff with one or the other and not both.

XenonMan, thank you very much for the additional thoughts. I forgot to mention that there are 2 additional controls on the back of the X1 and they are (i) a High Pass Filter with 50Hz, 80Hz, and 110Hz settings and (ii) a stero or mono switch for the subwoofers in case you have multiple subs and want to use them in stereo mode (that makes me think of a question that I will defer until below). I currently have (a) the High Pass Filter set at 80Hz and also have the Outlaw 990 set to 80Hz and small Left and Right, but I am currently only using the X1 for my subs which are only hooked up to the LFE out on the X1 (which from reading yours and Gonk's responses and the X1 manual, the X1 perhaps is serving no real purpose in this configuration and perhaps is causing me to lose some bass), and (b) the mono/stereo switch to mono to run my dual U2 sub boxes. Therefore, I believe I have been missing/losing some base. However, this is my first venture into the Audiophile world (only 15 months so far) with no comparison except unremarkable car and house receivers; and what I have currently set up has sounded always sounded pretty outstanding to me and it keeps getting better from tweaks I keep making from advice in here such as Gonk's recent suggestion to pass my BluRay sound to my receiver in Bitstream through my optical connection.

In any event, after reading the X1 manual again last night and digesting yours and Gonk's responses in this post and elsewhere, I believe I am just going to switch and use the X1 base management/crossover features instead of the Outlaw 990 crossover. The X1 seems to have a lot of base management and cross-over controls that are tailored to the U2 subs and making them work optimally with my other NHT speakers. I am just now able to understand the manual and, I believe, how to correctly set the X1 and 990 up to achieve optimal performance.

For example, I am thinking of setting the Outlaw 990 Left and Right mains to "large" and subwoofer to "yes" too (which I believe is still an option with large selected--I am at work as I write this) and then sending the Left and Right signals out from the 990 to the X1 Left and Right input, and also send the 990 subwoofer output signal to X1 LFE input; and then send the X1 High Pass outputs to my NHT M6 Left and Right, and the 2 Sub outputs to my 2 U2 subs. If I am recalling the manual correctly (I am at work as I write this), I believe the manual recommends this type of a set up. This is because, again if I recall correctly, actual LFE effects are not standardized on various media and thus the X1 manages/mixes/sums-up both the base and any LFE extension and then passes normal base and LFE to the subs according to the settings you have chosen (e.g. there is a master sub gain control and there is also a separate LFE gain control). Let me know if anyone sees any possible problems with this approach.

Finally, to the question I alluded to above, should I switch from mono sub to stereo subs since I do have to U2 sub boxes and they are placed Left and Right in a standard stereo location? Please let me know your thoughts on using stereo versus mono subs (e.g. likes or dislikes, and/or influences or difference, if any, between music sound or home theater sound), especially if you can still have LFE effects passed to the subs throught the X1.

I am looking forward to your thoughts. And sorry for being so long winded--I just can't seem to help it.

I think the wiring method you describe is the most sensible way to use an outboard crossover system like the X1 - in fact, there was one review I found where the X1 was packaged with a different set of NHT subs and some speakers that were designed to be mounted on top of the subs (basically creating "full range" speakers with a mixed active/passive crossover). With the inputs and outputs on the X1 that you mentioned, I think this arrangement and the 990 settings you mentioned will work.

I don't know how the X1 handles stereo sub output. If it supports that arrangement (which would steer low-pass data from the left front into the left sub and right front into right sub at the same time the LFE channel goes to both speakers), it would seem like a good approach to use.

Gonk, thank you for the confirmation of my approach. Of course, a listening test will tell me more once it is hooked up that way.

For your information, the "other" speaker to which you refer is basically a derrivation of the speaker system I have where intead of using the M6 as satalites, the M6 Left and Right speakers are basically mounted on top of the U2 subwoofer speakers and marketed as a full range speaker system for floor mounting under a different name.

Again, thank you very much for the input!

Happy Holidays to all!

Update: I have now hooked up my X2 and 990 as noted above (i.e. running the 990 L/R outs to the X2 L/R ins, the 990 Sub out to the X2 LFE in, the X2 High Pass L/R outs first to Outlaw 2200s then to NHT M6 L/R, the X2 Sub L/R outs frist to NHT A1s then to NHT U2 L/R, set the 990 L/R to Large, the 990 Crossover to 200, the 990 Sub to L/R + sub, the X2 Crossover to 80, and the X2 sub mono/stereo switch t stereo), and what a huge positive difference this made in terms of bass effect and overall sound stage. I am pretty new to the audiophile game and have not had anything to which to compare my system but it sounded pretty awesome to me; so I am very surprised that making these additional connections/changes made such a profound effect on my whole system. Therefore, I very much appreciate the feedback and insights I have learned from the Outlaw Saloon.

Correction, my 990 Crossover is set to 40 not 200.