Separate subs for music and HT/surround

Hello DB,

    Millercarbon is correct, there's no good reason to split your subs as 2 for music and 2 for HT. Both will be improved by utilizing all 4 in both. I thought that was our plan before you had your non-working subs repaired. The 4-sub DBA concept provides excellent bass quality for music and HT.
    Is your main concern how to setup your components in one system and conveniently switch to music or HT? If so, I think we can come up with a good solution.  
    Basically, you want to use your KEF Ref1s as your front main speakers for music and HT, with your Ayre components for music and the Ayre DX-5 universal AV disc player, Bryston SP3 preamp processor, NAD amps and KEF LS50s as surround speakers. Your Ayre 5/20 series Digital Hub serves as your music preamp and has a bypass switch for HT, correct?


Tim

The SP3 distributes the front LR of HDMI audio to a balanced by-pass input of the KX-5/20 preamp that's connected to an SMS-1 as well as to the VX-5/20 amp.  If the subs are to be used only for front LR, then the SMS-1s can be daisy chained in a master/slave arrangement so all four are used for music and HT, and acoustic room correction is applied to bass from the four in unison.  Of course, bass associated with surround channels is likely to be ignored by the LS50s.  And so it goes.

db

It may be my imagination, but the bass seems better integrated with the speakers since I changed to the equalized input and output of the SMS-1 from the LFE input and output.  The bass hump seems to be gone.

db

Hello DB,

     " Of course, bass associated with surround channels is likely to be ignored by the LS50s.  And so it goes."

     I think if you go into the Bryston Ayre SP3's Source Setup menu, instructions beginning on page#13 of the SP3's manual,  and configure all the LS50s as "Small" speakers, the bass will be augmented by the subs for all your LS50 surrounds. Actually, it's best if you read your SP3 manual and, starting on page#3, go through all of the  setup screens and make sure everything is set to your requirements.  
     The speaker setup menus for setting the surrounds as "Small" speakers don't begin until about page#13 but it's important you set all settings properly.  I think it also will provide optimum performance if you experiment by initially configuring the KEF Ref.1s as "Large" (run full-range with no  bass cutoff frequency) and then compare this to configuring them as"Small" (with a bass cutoff frequency as low and as close to 40 Hz as you can set it while still sounding good to you.).  This is also the menu in which you configure all LS50s and can experiment with bass cutoff frequencies as low and as close to 40 Hz as you can set it while still sounding good to you.  
     The goal is to find the settings that sound best overall to you.  Remember, since you're setting up a Custom 4-sub DBA system, you're also able to experiment with the Volume, Crossover Frequency and Continuously Variable Phase control settings on all 4 subs individually as well as collectively through the Velodyne SMS1.  Using a Custom 4-sub DBA is much more complex than the AK Swarm 4-sub DBA that I use, but it's also more flexible and able to be finely tuned to your preferences.     
     Let me know if you have any questions.  I'm glad you decided to use four subs on music and HT and believe, once all the setup and configuration process is completed, you'll be glad, too.
     I know for certain from experience that the 4-sub DBA concept works extremely well by taking advantage of the benefits of psychoacoustics and the high quality sensors and processor in the priceless audio component attached to the top of our necks.

Tim

It’s been a long time since I read the Bryston SP3 manual, except for snippets. I should follow Tim’s advice. I had forgotten that HDMI from the disc player goes to the the SP3 for audio distribution, so the SP3 will control what’s passed on to the balanced inputs of the Ayre preamp for HT.

So fellow tweekers, I have a handsome high-gloss piano-black KEF Ref 204/2C sitting in my hall that I removed because the LR speakers image so well it seemed redundant. It’s about 3.5’ long and weighs nearly 100 pounds, with a Uni-Q surrounded by four 5.5" cones. Should I reinstall that and use the NAD M22 to drive it? That would entail moving the long low equipment rack from the front to the side of the room. I’ve never tried it with the Ref 1, but I suspect being so similar it might blend even better with the Ref 1s than it did with the Ref 107.2s, and that was pretty seamless. I think the 204/2C was designed for the Ref 207.2s that also had a Uni-Q. Advice sought.

db