[QUOTE]Originally posted by steves:
It is generally agreed by most all audiophiles that if your speakers are not capable of reproducing the frequency range from 20kHz down to 20Hz -no more than -3dB down- then you do not have full range speakers. Period.
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i don't know much about 'most audiophiles' opinions, but there is virtually NO program fed to the 5 main speakers below 40hz., multichannel music or HT soundtrack. this qualifies a lot of affordable floor standers.
i have found that there simply aren't many 'audiophiles' comments available in the multichannel digital format arena. i personally consider many of the people who post here to be very knowledgeable in this relatively new format.
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I do not consider a speaker/subwoofer setup using an external crossover to meet the criteria of a full range speaker, even in a stereo arrangement.
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i don't understand this comment.
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And then you have **THX**! So, everybody -- set all your speakers to "small" and crossovers at 80Hz and be amazed at how well it works!
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i have modeled every speaker in my database and found that implementing a high pass filter before the amp (at 40, 60, 80 and 100hz.) causes a huge 6db hump at the crossover point. in fact, the resulting strain on the driver causes it to unload in the vast majority of cases at reference level. if you select 80hz as a high pass to all 5 speakers, and if lower than 80hz as a lowpass on your sub sounds better to you, you lose information. if higher than 80hz sounds better as a lowpass, you have double bass. soundhound, bstan, et al, have eliminated theses shortcomings with the redirection of the bass info, but still have changed the original mix of many multichannel programs. how can this ever be considered 'audiophile'?

both the producers of surround soundtracks (see soundhound's comments) and multichannel music discs (see the telarc link) use 5 full range speakers and a sub with no bass management to monitor the mix of the the masters. it only makes sense to play it back the same way...masses be damned.