Could someone give an example of what type of speakers need to be set at Large or Small on each channel of a Harman Kardon AVR510 A/V reciever's settings? I have toyed around with these settings but can't figure out which is the correct setting for the size of speakers that I have.

I have the following Infinity speakers:

Fronts: RS-5 Towers w/dual 6.5"woofers 1" tweeters each.

Center: CC3 w/dual 5"woofers 1" tweeter

Rears: RS-3 w/single 5"woofer 1" tweeter

Sub: BU-2 12" Floor Firing Woofer

Help please!!

Your RS-5's could probably be set to large....it's all up to what sounds best to you. I'd probably set the center to small, regardless. Personally, for HT, I'd set up the mains as small....for music...large. I don't really like having a sub in the loop when I'm listening to music....just MHO.

Small: Bass below 80 Hz goes to your sub
Large: Full bandwidth goes to your mains / center

My first instinct would be the set your front speakers to small as 6 1/2" drivers are not capable of producing a full range frequency.

But anyway set them to small listen to both a theater and a music track you're familiar with at a slightly higher than your usual volume listening level, then switch them to large and do listen again and decide which you like best.

I too have all Infinity speakers except I'm using the Studio Monitor line with SM-125s up front with 12" drivers, the SM Video, and SM 65s in the rear - Have a BU-150 15" 200 watt sub as well - overkill I know.

Ah, the great 'large vs. small' debate. I think the best way to determine if your mains can handle the large setting would be to find a particularly bass-heavy scene (like the plane crash scene in Fight Club, chapters 2 & 16 in Toy Story 2, and pretty much the entire Haunting (dts) disc) and listen with your mains set to small and sub turned on. Then listen with your mains set to large and turn your sub off comepletely. Which set-up gave you the most bass? I haven't heard your speakers, but I'd be willing to bet the sub on option was the way to go in your case.


DPSinPA:

I too have all Infinity speakers except I'm using the Studio Monitor line with SM-125s up front with 12" drivers, the SM Video, and SM 65s in the rear - Have a BU-150 15" 200 watt sub as well - overkill I know.

I'm currently using Def Tech BP2002TL's, all around with a CLR 2500 center channel (all with powered subs) and an Acoustic Research ARS500 for LFE (to be replaced by a pair of SVS 1648's)....there is no such thing as overkill, my friend

Unless any of your speakers go down to 20-25Hz and still with clarity, set them all to small. There was a big thread on avscience.com that talked about this issue in detail. I was convinced to go small all around and it sounds great. The key is a good sub and good placement of that sub. If you don't like the sound of your sub in movies or music, then your sub isn't performing well enough.

You'd have to spend quite a bit more money on full range speakers that perform well at the low frequencies than to go with typical speakers matched with a good sub.

I have all mine set to "Large" and I only have Paradigm Atoms with a 5.25 woofer.

Do they go down to 25HZ, NO way that is what the 2 12" subs are for..

I would rather set them all to "Large" and have them roll off naturally than have them crossed over at 80HZ. They will go lower than 80HZ before they begin to rolloff.

I have played them as loud as I care to without my 2 subs on and they do not distort.

I also keep the Bass and Treble setting on the receiver set to a flat response which I think is important

I guess it is all about what you think sounds better, but just because you don't have HUGE speakers doesn't mean you can't set them to "Large".

Here's the thread I was talking about...
http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003524.html

The especially important posts are from by Brian Florian. If anything, it got me to move away from my fears of "wasting the below 80Hz" that my fronts speakers can do. My fronts and center go down to about 37Hz +- 3db. All smalls now give me all nearly flat response down to 20Hz, while the fronts as large had a "doubling" of level at the 40-80Hz range for the fronts even though the rears' curve was flat. My SPL doesn't lie. But then, in the end, it's your ears as well that are important.