Please educate me. How low should a speaker on average go to be set as "large" on the receiver? In other words; What constitutes "full range?" Thanks for the help.
I'd say if it goes below 40 hz easily then you could set it to large. I say could because it might not be the best choice no matter how low they go. If you have a good sub with an internal amp it would help your receiver out alot to let it take care of the lower frequencies. So perhaps set your speakers to small and the crossover (if your receiver has one) to maybe 60 hz or higher if they can't reach that low. That, to me, would seem like the best way to do it. However, everyone can choose how they like it so experiment! thats the key!
I agree with oknessaD. Do you have a sub cornboy? That is the key. I do not have a sub with my home theater set up and found the sound to be much better in my set up with all 5 speakers set to large. Part of the fun of this hobby is experimentation.
i guess to me it depends more on the size of the woofer than the manufacturers ratings on the speakers.
and personally i would not set a speaker to large unless it had either dual 8" or larger drivers or a single 10 or larger.
now if the speaker had an 8" sub in the cabinet or an extra heavy duty single 8" driver then you could set it to large.
again this is my opinion but it stands to reason that most smaller speakers can not handle the explosions and hard hitting bass in that region. even if the manufacturer says the speaker plays that low,it might play that low but was not meant to reproduce the intense bass of a home theatre setup.