I am moving into a new house and our home theater will be in the great room, a 15 X 17 room with vaulted ceilings. I've wanted to get floorstanding speakers for some time now, and I'm looking very intently at the 522-PT's. I love the idea of having powered subs built into the speakers. I just need some opinions on whether these work well in 7.1 setups where a standalone sub is also used. When I tell my receiver that I have "large" speakers, will it also output the LFE channel to the sub? (I own a-couple-years-old Onkyo TSDX-898 7.1 receiver.) I'm curious whether I should just go for the non-powered 633's. I will be using the system for HT and for music. I'll need a lot of sound to fill up the space - the back of the room is open into the kitchen, and it has high vaulted ceilings. Anyway, I look forward to purchasing speakers from Aperion after I close on the new place, sometime this July. I appreciate any thoughts - maybe someone is using these PT speakers with an additional sub.

Well, unless your subwoofer can extend below 30 Hz, your pretty much just gaining efficency.  For every doubling of speakers you gain 3dB in SPL.  So, if you go from 2 subs that can produce 30 Hz to 3 that can produce 30 Hz, you only gain 1.5 dB in SPL, 2 dB is pretty much the lowest level change a human ear can hear, 10 dB SPL being twice the percieved volume level.  But, the level at which you can reinforce 30 Hz will be increased since your amp/speakers have to work 'less hard' to deliver that SPL.

I would say, try out the 522-PT's without an LFE channel, and direct the LFE channel to the main speakers.  In my preamp I can set each individual speaker size, as well as the individual crossover level of each speaker, even down to the LFE/MAIN crossover when setting my main speakers to large with a subwoofer, or even TWO subwoofers with independant crossovers for each subwoofer.  I've never worked with an Onkyo on an intimate level, but I would doubt that you could do this, but if you have a large setting for front LR AND a 'subwoofer on' setting it may allow it.

Play around and see what happens....

 

Thanks for the reply.

On the subject of a subwoofer extending below 30Hz, I plan on outfitting my room with a SVS 16-46 PC-Plus, which goes well below 30Hz.

My receiver won't let me set crossover levels for each channel, but I can set the front L/R speakers to "Large" and set the subwoofer to "yes".  What I really wonder is "where does the LFE go" when using large size front speakers.  I also don't fully understand what frequencies are involved with the LFE channel of 5.1 soundtracks.  I fear that I'll have speakers that can go down to 30Hz, but nothing below 80Hz is going to them.  I guess that's what the "large" and "small" settings are all about.   I'll be looking elsewhere for more information, but anything that Aperion speakers can tell me would be welcome.

I look forward to "playing around".  I can't wait till the house is finished.

Anyone else using the PT's with a sub?

 

On most receivers if you set your speakers to Small, it cuts your speakers off at 100Hz.  Some receivers let you select other frequencies like 80Hz or 90Hz.  If you set your speakers to Large your receiver will send the full frequency range of 20Hz to 20KHz.  Even if you plan on using a subwoofer I would set the PT's to Large, this helps even out the bass response in your room.

When you turn the sub "on" the LFE channel goes to the sub and any speakers that are set to Large.  If the sub is turned "off", the LFE signal goes to only the speakers that are set to Large.

That's exactly the info that I was looking for!

You know, I hate to say it but all this information is most likely in the manual for your receiver.

Open it up, I'm sure you'll find lots of good stuff in there.

My receiver's manual doesn't get in-depth about how low frequency sound is distributed through full range speakers and a sub. That's why I posted here in the first place. What it does tell me is that I can set each set of speakers to small or large. It tells me that if the I set subwoofer to 'no', then the fronts will automatically be set to 'large'. It tells me that the crossover frequency for 'small' speakers is 80Hz. It says this for the 'large' setting: "The complete frequency range for the channel you are setting will be output from the speaker." It says this about the 'small' setting: "Set all speakers for THX speaker systems to 'small'." My questions are about the range of frequencies that are encoded in the L&R channels in multichannel soundtracks. If DD or DTS soundtracks don't contain frequencies lower than 80Hz in the non-LFE channels, then I won't be gaining any benefit from having full range speakers. I've probably asked the wrong questions in the wrong place - perhaps I should be checking out some specifications for DD and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. From the replies here, though, it sounds like I've nothing to worry about and at the very least, having full range speakers will be beneficial for listening to 2-channel music. Maybe I'll finally get to try my receiver's "Direct" mode...one that bypasses all sound processing - something I'd need to read my receiver's manual to know about.

Yep, I've got nothing to worry about. From Dolby's website, describing DD5.1: "The sound information contained in each of the six available channels is distinct and independent. These six channels are described as a "5.1-channel" system, because there are five full-bandwidth channels with 3 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range for Front Left and Right, Center, and Surround, plus one "Low Frequency Effects" (LFE) subwoofer channel devoted to frequencies from 3 to 120 Hz." -------Sorry about the posts with no breaks. It appears this forum isn't FireFox friendly.

Chris,

I have an all-Aperion 7.1 set-up with PTs for the FL/R and a 12" sub.

I think that it is perfect.  Go for it.

James