[Alwayswantmore]

Some background:

If you connect both the mains and the sub directly to your receiver, all three speakers will be driven in parallel. The signal going to the sub will be filtered (at the sub), so only low frequencies are heard from the sub [while the mains are still being driven with the full range of fequencies].

That is why phase shift may be needed to help keep bass from the sub from interacting and canceling bass from the mains [this is what happens in the Bose noise canceling headphones - Bose simply feeds a signal to your ears that is out of phase with the ambient noise, resulting in the noise being cancelled].

As you move to more elaborate (and expensive) systems, some manufactures have a true crossover that feeds only the lows to the sub, and likewise feeds the rest of the signal -- without the lows -- to the main speakers. This method is better because the sub and mains will not fight each other, and the mid-range may improve on the mains because they no longer are being asked to reproduce the low end.

Good listening!

 

[Little J040]

I know that in my car stereo setup i have no lows going to my main speakers but there just small 5.25" components, so i dont miss the bass that they produce. It just seems weird to have 2 12's in the mains and not use them. The phase shift helped a lot, i played with it for a minute then noticed the bass didnt sound like crap anymore. should i just plug the mains into the "B" speakers now?

 

[Alwayswantmore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little J040 ...should i just plug the mains into the "B" speakers now?

Because you have 12s" you may or may not find the addition of sub to help the sound. But try it both ways and see which is better.

Based on what I understand of your setup, I would connect the mains directly to the receiver. Is the B speaker channel switchable on / off? If so, I would move the sub to the B outputs so I could use the receiver to switch off the signal to the sub at will. But from a sound standpoint you should be able to connect the mains to either A or B with no difference. [The A & B outputs are connected in parallel within your receiver, so both are getting the same signal.]

Side note: Getting the best sound from a sub is a bit of an art. Your best bet is to try a number of different settings / physical positions for both the mains and sub / etc. until you find what works best. In my case I spent a number of hours getting it tuned to my satisfaction.

Also: Most mains sound best when moved out from the wall a few feet if possible. And if you can, sit directly between the mains for the best stereo image. Lastly, the width of the speakers from each other, and the distance between you (the listener) and the speakers (i.e. the shape of the triangle) can make a real big difference on SQ. I guess that is one advantage of headphones: Room placement / room interaction do not factor into SQ.

 

[Little J040]

haha yeah def. this positioning crap can take a while to master... Thanks again for all your advice ken!

cheers,

Jeff