i have the aperion power towers (with 8in built in sub each), 533 aperion vac center channel, aperion in walls for surround, and also an aperion 10in sub in my 5.1 setup. my room is kind of large 14x25x10ceilings with an opening into a dining room 10x14. i know i have to play around with the settings but what would you guys set up the left and right main as Speaker Size--(1.) LARGE excepting a full frequency 2. SMALL with a crossover at 40hz 3. as L + R + SUB which the 970 manual says sends a full range singal + lfe signal to the mains as well as the sub. Mind you with 3 subs in this setup i have plenty of bass and i could easily dial in more bass with the volume gains, but what i'm looking for is the ideal setup. which of those 3 setting you go with? 1 2 or 3?

Are the built-in subs in the Aperions are being fed a copy of the subwoofer signal, or are they using the left/right channel signals? If they're connected to the 990's sub output, I'd go with small and a crossover of 80Hz. If they're using the left/right signals, I'd go with either small with a 40Hz crossover or large with a 40Hz crossover and L/R+Sub (whichever sounds better).

the aperion built in subs are connected to the left and right output of the 970. i'm leaning to setting them up as large so they would get a full range signal, but not as L+R+Sub which I believe would give the power towers a full range signal + feed them the Sub signal also. my power tower can play down to 30hz, while my dedicated sub can drop down to 25hz. knowing this do you think you would leave them as full range, or would you also feed the power towers the sub signal also (L+R+Sub). Since the power towers go down to 30hz, i don't want to waste that. Usually, in the Left and Right Signal, is there a lot of frequency in that 30hz range? What do you think?

On the bright side, there is more than one "right" way to do it. With the towers' subs getting the left/right signal, I think that either approach is reasonable. You might try large mains with the sub either set to "LFE only" or to "L/R+Sub" and the fronts crossed over at 40Hz (with a mix of music and some movie material to test them) and see which you prefer.

I think the point of the powered tower is that it is for full range. Run it as +sub to get the most out of the built-in sub. Your 10 inch sub should be moved to a room location to optimize bass response.

It would be interesting to see what an equalizer would do with your system.

i'm playing with the crossover settings of my mains (right now i have them set up as small), buy i can't tell a big difference in the sound between 40hz, 60hz, 80hz, settings? is there a big audible difference between the settings? what should i be listening for?

The cheap way: Do you have a "THX Certified" DVD? On the THX Optimizer, there's a great bass sweep that goes from 200hz down to 20hz. If that sounds smooth from start to finish, as in no big peaks and valleys, then you're set. The other, listening way to check bass is to play something that has acoustic bass or piano in it. If you can't tell when the sound shifts from your mains to your subs, you're set.

The not so cheap way: Get a RTA with a measurement microphone. Plot out the response in your room.

i have the AVIA DVD. Will that work? And if so which test do you recommend J?


right now i'm thinking of leaving my Aperion Main with built in sub set at either 1. Large and LFE for the Sub, or
2. Large and + L+R for the Sub

which test on the Avia DVD would you use to test this? In your opinion, which setting would yo go with?

I actually own the DVE disc so I'm not that familiar with the AVIA disc. Looking at the table of contents for the AVIA disc online, it looks like it gives you a whole slew of options for subwoofer tests. I would honestly try them all. Just make sure you're doing them while at reference level and sitting in your sweet spot. By ear, you're trying to find the most seamless transition from speaker to speaker while performing any of the sweep tests. You can back up your ears by watching a SPL meter while doing the tests as well. Oh, and forget the acoustic bass or piano tests. I made a mistake and missed where your crossover settings are. They're way too low for you to notice any difference with a 40hz setting.

My instinct would tell me that your second setting choice of "Large and LFE for sub" would be better. Why? Well, you got the "L&R" covered with your towers. Again, you gotta trust your ears to make the final judgement.

thanks j.