Hello all,

I have a question for y'all. I know that most folks who have a powered/active Triton tower calibrates their system by setting the towers to full-range/Large speakers and also use the LFE input. Wouldn't this "double up" certain frequencies by having the same frequencies going through the regular speaker lines and then also through the LFE input? I was thinking that theoretically, it makes more sense to either (1) do full-range / large speakers and no LFE input, or (2) do Small speakers with LFE input.

Is there some "doubling up" that is going on, but things like Audyssey are properly calibrating? Am I not understanding this properly?

Your input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hello KimchiHo,

Welcome to the GE Forum. Golden Ear recommends connecting speaker wires to the Triton 1/2/3 series speakers and setting the amplifier speaker to LARGE or FULL RANGE. If the Amplifier is an AV Receiver, it will almost certainly also provide a Sub-Woofer Output (LFE output). Connect this output to the Triton speaker's LFE input (use an RCA Cable Splitter to connect a single amplifier sub output to both Triton Speakers LFE Inputs.).

So long as the amplifier is set up for LARGE or FULL RANGE, when listening to music, there will not be any doubling of signals because the amplifier is sending the entire range of frequencies to the speaker outputs and nothing to the sub woofer output (unless the amplifier has a DOUBLE BASS or ANALOG DIRECT BASS or some similar setting option and unless that option is turned ON).

When watching a movie and using a multi-channel sound option, there will generally be an LFE signal generated within the amplifier and provided to the sub woofer output.

However, a number of Triton owners, myself included, set the speakers to SMALL or select a specific crossover frequency, depending upon the amplifier's capabilities. Then, we use features like DOUBLE BASS or ANALOG DIRECT BASS to split the signal within the amplifier and send the low frequencies to the sub woofer output so that they can be fed directly into the Tritons' LFE Inputs.

Search the GE forum - you will find many posts discussing this topic and the pros and cons of using different setup options.

Bottom line - make sure you understand what your AV Receiver can do and then experiment with different settings combinations to discover which method of sound reproduction seems best to you. There is no "Gold Standard Setup". What sounds best to you will be determined by a number of factors, including personal preferences, the types of music to which you listen, your room and total speaker configuration, etc.

Have fun and enjoy learning how your Tritons perform under various setup options.

Best,

Art

Hi Art,

Thanks for your reply. It looks like the setups you are describing are the 2 setups that I mentioned, which make sense to me.

The setup that doesn't make sense to me, yet is recommended by some users and Goldenear, is the one in which the speakers are set to full-range/large AND also using the LFE input. So, for example, all frequencies below 100Hz would be sent to the Tritons via the regular speaker cables, as well as through the LFE input.

Any thoughts on this?

KimchiHo wrote: Hi Art,

Thanks for your reply. It looks like the setups you are describing are the 2 setups that I mentioned, which make sense to me.

The setup that doesn't make sense to me, yet is recommended by some users and Goldenear, is the one in which the speakers are set to full-range/large AND also using the LFE input. So, for example, all frequencies below 100Hz would be sent to the Tritons via the regular speaker cables, as well as through the LFE input.

Any thoughts on this?

Hi, KimchiHO

As Art has said, welcome to the forum! Regarding your question, if speakers are set as Large, with LFE connections, all non LFE bass will be sent to the Large speakers only,not the LFE channel, and just additional LFE signals from .1 channels will also be sent to the Large speakers. The only way the signals would be "doubled up" is if settings like "enhanced bass" are used. In that case, you're right, ALL bass signals under the crossover would be sent to BOTH the Large and LFE channels. I have my Tritons set as Large, also with LFE connections, and have had no issues with doubled up, muddied bass.

Rick

Hi KimchiHo,

I have experimented with the setup you mentioned. There is a detailed report on my setup experiments in another recent post in this forum. See "More LFE Settings Experiments" and read through the posts to find my report on using Double Bass.

I think that setting the Tritons to LARGE or FULL RANGE and also using ANALOG DIRECT BASS or DOUBLE BASS settings does not provide the best combination. However, during my experiments, when I set the Tritons to FULL RANGE, but did not use either ANALOG DIRECT BASS or DOUBLE BASS, I found the bass from my Tritons to be less than ideal ("Thin" is my term for what I heard). Other folks however, prefer FULL RANGE and no bass signals on the LFE cable during music reproduction.

Note that, in all probability, there will be noticeable differences in music sound if you are listening in a multi-channel mode, such as Dolby PLII, or some custom receiver-specific sound field setting, when compared to listening in either Pure Audio, Pure Direct Audio, Stereo, or All Channel Stereo modes. In multi-channel modes, when playing two-channel music sources such as CDs, the Receiver may generate some sort of LFE signal regardless of the LARGE, FULL RANGE, SMALL, or Specific Crossover setting - in addition to whatever signals are being sent down the speaker wires.

I have learned a significant amount about my system's capabilities since I began my sound experiments, notwithstanding the fact that I am a retired Electronic Engineer. I encourage you to study and experiment. Acquiring a source of Test Tones to burn to a CD is a good idea. They can be found as free downloads - search the Web.

Enjoy and report back.

Best,

Art

rjohn79395 wrote:

KimchiHo wrote: Hi Art,

Thanks for your reply. It looks like the setups you are describing are the 2 setups that I mentioned, which make sense to me.

The setup that doesn't make sense to me, yet is recommended by some users and Goldenear, is the one in which the speakers are set to full-range/large AND also using the LFE input. So, for example, all frequencies below 100Hz would be sent to the Tritons via the regular speaker cables, as well as through the LFE input.

Any thoughts on this?

Hi, KimchiHO

As Art has said, welcome to the forum! Regarding your question, if speakers are set as Large, with LFE connections, all non LFE bass will be sent to the Large speakers only,not the LFE channel, and just additional LFE signals from .1 channels will also be sent to the Large speakers. The only way the signals would be "doubled up" is if settings like "enhanced bass" are used. In that case, you're right, ALL bass signals under the crossover would be sent to BOTH the Large and LFE channels. I have my Tritons set as Large, also with LFE connections, and have had no issues with doubled up, muddied bass.

Rick

Ahhhh, so you're saying that using the Large-speaker setting doesn't add the LFE signal to the L/R channels. I was under the wrong impression that it does. Thanks for the clarification!