Polk Audio PSW1200, Owner'S Manual

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BASS MANAGEMENT/SPEAKER
SETUP SETTINGS
DOLBY PRO LOGIC
Wide– (center speaker only) The center
speaker is sent a full-range signal: all
the sounds that are on that channel will
go to the center speaker.
Normal– (center speaker only) Bass fre-
quencies below 100Hz are filtered out of
the center channel and sent to the Front
and Subwoofer outputs.
Phantom– (center speaker only) Not part
of the bass management/speaker setup
system at all. This simply sends all the
center information into the front speakers.
Subwoofer Output Jack– In Pro Logic
units this output is nothing more than
summed left and right front channels
with a low pass (lets only bass through)
filter, usually fixed at 80Hz. Because a
fixed filter negates the Variable Low
Pass Crossover function, one of your
main bass “tuning” tools, you shouldn’t
use this output
unless it is unfiltered.
See page 13 for information on filtered
and un-filtered outputs.
THX Variation– In THX certified Pro Logic
receivers and processors, the front main
speakers can also be selected as WIDE
(LARGE) or NORMAL (SMALL). When
selected as NORMAL (SMALL), the bass
is filtered out of the front
channels and sent to the subwoofer
output jack.
DOLBY DIGITAL AND DTS®
Dolby Labs mandates that Dolby Digital-
processor equipped electronics must
offer “all channels small” and “all chan-
nels large” options, but beyond that
there are no standards. Most units allow
any combination of “Large / Small”
choices for Front, Center and Surround
channels, but not all do. In such cases,
the PSW1200 allows you to overcome
that limitation.
Large– When you select a speaker as
“Large” that speaker will be sent a full-
range signal: all the sounds that are on
that channel will go to that speaker.
Small– Most often Center and Surround
channels are small, bass-limited speak-
ers and are set to “Small.” When you
select a speaker as “Small,” frequencies
below a certain point (usually 80Hz) are
taken out and sent somewhere else.
Where does that bass go? It will go to
the subwoofer output jack if that jack is
turned “On” (see below). If the sub-
woofer output jack is “Off,” the bass
should go to the front Left and Right
channel outputs. If you select Front
speakers as “Small” and Subwoofer
“Off” you are going to lose a lot of bass.
Subwoofer Yes (ON) / No (OFF)–
This determines whether the subwoofer
output jack is fed signal. If it is “Off,”
any bass redirected from other channels
and the LFE-channel bass should go to
the Front L&R outputs.
SMALL AND LARGE DECISION MAKING
Most of the time this choice is easy to
make. A very small bookshelf or on-wall
speaker should always be selected as
Small. A main speaker with built-in
powered subwoofers should be selected
as Large. Sometimes this choice is not
so clear cut. Is a “beefy” bookshelf
speaker like a Polk RT55 “small” or
“large”? Is it good or bad to have such
a speaker play bass?
“Small” Advantages
• By rolling off the bottom end (taking
out the bass) of a speaker, it can play
a lot louder, with less distortion. If you
play your system very loud, and your
speakers are not full-range behemoths,
this is the right choice for you
• The midrange will be clearer and
better defined
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