Hey folks,

I'm trying to get my 990 to integrate well with the Velodyne SMS-1. My system is:
990 pre/pro, 7500 amp, LFM-1EX sub
Martin Logan Vista (Fronts), Cinema (center), Vignette (Rears)

I jumped on the EX/SMS-1 deal a few weeks back, and haven't really gotten these to work ideally with the 990. It's close, but I'm trying to get the best of both worlds... great movie performance and great stereo performance.

Currently I have the 990 set as:
Front: Large
Center: Small, 80Hz
Surround: Small, 80Hz
Sub: LFE

When watching movies and television, I'm getting pretty much the performance I want. For music, I've been listening in Bypass mode and am really impressed with the 2-channel performance of the 990.

As I've recently added the subwoofer and SMS-1, I'm thinking it would be nice to make a 'music' curve on the SMS-1 and include the subwoofer in my stereo listening... just for some added punch in that bottom octave. But with the current settings, there's no signal at the 990's subwoofer output.

Two obvious solutions exist:
A: Change main speakers to "small", perhaps 40Hz crossover (speakers are -3dB at 43Hz).

B: Change subwoofer setting to "LR+Sub".

I've played around with the first option which is how I learned about the inaccuracies in the bass management matrix. I don't actually get a full range signal going to the front speakers, even in bypass mode. And while that would be okay in theory, the speakers just don't sound as good with the crossover activated. It's not just the bass response. I haven't used this setting in a few weeks, so I forget the exact issue, but suffice to say that the speakers sound a lot better as I have them now.

So thinking about the second option... how does LR+Sub work? If I feed the 990 with either an analog or digital stereo signal, what will go to the subwoofer? The matrix indicates either "As dictated by crossover" or "full range" depending on the scenario. What crossover setting drives this? Do I use the Front speaker crossover setting to determine the subwoofer crossover frequency when running in this mode, even with the fronts set to 'Large'?

I guess ideally I'd like the 990 to get out of my way. wink The SMS-1 is an incredible tool, but the 990 filters make it a lot harder to get the most out of the 990. Short of running a stereo (front L/R RCA) signal from the 990 directly to the SMS-1 to use for music, and hoping that the SMS-1 can switch between inputs, this LR+Sub seemed like the only real solution.

So before I clicked "Post", I called Velodyne to ask some questions about the SMS-1. The XLR LFE input and RCA inputs are not 'switchable' at all. However, Rob at Velodyne suggested I consider running the 990 as "Front: Large, No Subwoofer", and running the L/R RCAs into the SMS-1, and let the SMS-1 do all the bass management. Upside - lots of adjustability, including various programmable selections for different sources (movie vs. music), highly adjustable crossover frequencies and curves, etc. Downside... only one I can think of would be if the SMS-1 alters the beautiful sound I get without it in the signal path.

Any thoughts would certainly be appreciated!

- Jason