Ahh, ideally, in "stereo" bypass mode, the sub is not being used at all (there is no analog crossover there), so no phase issue.

With small mains, and using a 2 channel input in bypass mode, you will get double bass though. I'd be willing to bet, that in this case, the bass in bypass mode into the mains is out of phase with the summed bass crossed over to the sub *as compared to using a 2 channel input digitally*. I don't think anyone's tested this, but I'd reckon it's the same mechanism that creates the double bass in the 1st place with the 5.1 analog inputs (but is bypassable with the 80 Hz analog crossover).

I personally would like to believe, that there's absolutely no difference between the 5.1 analog inputs, and the stereo/2 channel inputs in bypass mode in terms of sound quality. Just the fact that the 2 channel inputs (with the speakers set as small) *also* has the double bass problem leads me to believe that at least *some* of the analog signal path is shared between those two options.

[This message has been edited by Kevin C Brown (edited February 04, 2003).]