Separate subs for music and HT/surround

I've grown suspicious of inserting anything between the Ayre preamp and amp.  Even the Marchand fully balanced passive high-pass reduced the sense of openness and air that was quite noticeable.  I removed it.  That the Bryston SP3 provides 2nd order high-pass filtering made me realize I'd be inserting it between the preamp and amp, so I'll use the Velodyne SMS-1 for both bass management and acoustic room correction.

Surround is via HDMI, so the SP3 will pass front LR to a by-pass input of the Ayre preamp.

Hello DB,

      I understand, connecting the surround front LR main speakers outputs from the SP3 to a LR designated input on your Ayre preamp is functionally the same thing as having a HT/Bypass Switch on the Ayre preamp.  All resulting in you having a convenient method of switching between music and HT use/listening on your unified system.  
     Well done!  And you accomplished this all without taking my original advice of using your Oppo 205.   I meant it when I stated  I trust you know what you're doing.
     BTW, if everything functions up to your expectations, I'm willing to purchase your Oppo 205 at a reasonably premium price along with the shipping costs if you no longer need it.


Thanks and congratulations,
              Tim

Tim,

The HGS-10 is ready for pickup, but I'm waiting for the HGS-15 that I hope may be available next week.  Using the setup I described above works well, and an input of the KX-5/20 preamp can be set to by-pass so the SP3 controls level for surround.

I'm always amazed by how the addition of subs enhances depth of soundstage.  I look forward using four subs.  I dreaming about a way to use the big Ref 204/2C other than as a center speaker.

db  

Hello DB,

     I really think you're going to be thrilled with the quality of the bass performance in your system/room once you have all four subs back from repair and set-up.  
     For optimum performance, I suggest you position and configure all four subs manually before running any room correction on the Velodyne SMS-1s.  I know we discussed optimum positioning of the subs previously and I believe you're aware of the importance of setting the volume and crossover frequencies precisely for seamless integration with your KEF Ref1 mains and how to do it. 
  However, I don't think I shared with you my simple trick method of setting the continuously variable phase control optimally on each of your subs. Here it is:

1.  Temporarily invert, or reverse, the polarity on both of your Ref1s by reversing the speaker wire connections to the opposite positions.   The positive speaker wire is connected to the negative speaker terminal and the negative speaker wire is connected to the positive speaker terminal. It's very important that this polarity inversion is done only on the back of each main speaker and the speaker wire connections on the amp are not altered and remain unchanged.

2.  Play some music with good and repetitive bass and sit in your listening seat.

3   Have an assistant slowly turn the continuously variable phase control in one direction and back while you determine when the bass sounds weakest or worst to you, which is the proper setting.  Repeat this procedure for each sub.

4.  Once completed, reconnect the speaker wire connections on both of your Ref1s to the proper, non-inverted positions.

5  Play the music with good and repetitive bass again, sit at your listening seat and verify the bass sounds very good and natural to you.

     This procedure works very well because it's actually much easier to determine when the bass sounds worst than when it sounds best.

     As I'm sure you know, trying to figure out an alternative use for your spectacularly beautiful KEF Ref 204/2C, besides the work of art room centerpiece and very competent center channel speaker it is world renowned as being and very obviously is, has been scientifically proven to be futile.  So, I suggest you just cut it out and reinstall it already.

Later,
 Tim

I had previously done the quick setup of the Velodyne SMS-1 bass manager, so never really studied the manual. I discovered I should have been feeding the equalized output back to the preamp, a connection I had been failing to make. The aim is to set a comfortable spectrum level for the speakers using the video display then match it with the subs, a step I had been leaving out during my decade or more of use!

db, Piled Higher and Deeper