I have a quick question about 950 in 6 channel direct mode. My understanding of the 'bypass/direct' mode is that the 950 does not process the signal at all when it is set in this mode. The 950 simply acts as a volumn control and gives you the most direct and clean path from the source to the amp to speaker. So if this is the case, then why is it that when I listen to regular CD's on my Sony SCD-CE775 SACD player my sub would come on? Was my assumption wrong or is it possible that the CD player is doing some sort of bass management and sending out a bass signal? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Both 6-channel direct and stereo bypass are unprocessed, but there's more going on than just that. The 5.1 input includes an analog bass management that would still deliver low freq information to your sub, even if you were just playing a two-channel analog source. The stereo bypass also allows for a crossover -- the stereo signal is delivered to the mains untouched, but if the mains are set to "small" the 950 takes a copy of the input, converts it to digital, runs it through bass management, and sends the low freq material to the sub. Does that help?

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

Thanks Gonk. I guess this is the famous double bass issue everyone was talking about. Your explaination finally helped me understand what double bass meant. Thanks again.