# Speaker Setup Help



## jdtuttle (Jan 25, 2010)

Just purchased a new Yamaha RX-V1065 and need help with speaker setup.
I have some old CSW Ensamble II 5.1 speakers. I've been using them for 12 years and they still sound good. The fronts came with a passive sub, but I do have a powered CSW 8" sub.

I have both subs hooked up. My question is should I eliminate the passive sub and just use the powered sub or use both?

The receivers auto setup YPAO set the crossover at 160hz. I thought that was a little high.

Any help or comments are appreciated.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

Generally the crossover frequency is selected based on the low frequency response of the speakers. Is it possible that they don't perform well before 160hz?

How is the passive sub powered? via the Yamaha or some other amp?

I see the Yamaha has 2 LFE outputs and also has a couple powered outputs (zone 2, etc).


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## jdtuttle (Jan 25, 2010)

I've tried the crossover at 100hz and it sounds about the same.

The passive sub is powered by the receiver and connected to the left and right front speakers.
The powered sub is connected to one of the LFE outputs on the receiver.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

I'd probably just use the powered sub and set the speakers to "small" - or whatever the Yamaha setting is, to make sure that bass gets redirected to the powered sub connected to the LFE output.


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## jdtuttle (Jan 25, 2010)

Thanks for the advise, I'll give it a try.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

What's the passive sub look like by the way? How big is the driver?


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## jdtuttle (Jan 25, 2010)

The passive sub has two 6.5" drivers firing down from the top half to a cone opening in the front where the sound comes out.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

Since the passive sub came with the fronts, I would assume they are made to work with each other.
Is the passive sub kinda like how the Bose Accoustimass bass module works (does your bass module have speaker terminals to feed the front speakers)?

I would use REW or get a disc with test tones and see how low the fronts/passive sub plays down to. If they do a good job down below 80hz, I would use the passive sub (set it at the front of the listening area).
And set the powered sub up to the sub output from the AVR.
Set the crossover to 80hz.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The passive sub is an integral part of the front speakers. They have internal passive high and low pass XO's. The sub is meant to be daisy chained to the satellites and the receiver's high level speaker outs. The active sub can be run off the low level sub out on the receivers. It will be OK to run both subs together in this manner. :T


http://download.cambridgesoundworks.com/manuals/new_ens2.pdf


Whether this works best or not will be up to your room and placement of the subs and the listening position. Experiment.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

Well I apologize for my advise! Thanks for the corrections.

I've never seen a daisy chained setup like that before. Interesting.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

It is a speaker system from days gone by. I only knew this info because I am old... lddude:


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## jdtuttle (Jan 25, 2010)

Well, I'm an old guy too! These speakers have served me well for 12 years. Yes, they are daisy chained together.

I would eventually like to get some new fronts and use the old sat's for the surround back in a 7.1 configuration. It's hard to tell what new speakers will sound good with these antiques.


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