LFE or L&R connections

If this is a surround sound receiver with limited bass management you can use the L/R pre out to sub and set front to large. This gives you more tweekability in the bass.

The LFE input of a sub is going to play whatever the receiver tells it to, bypassing the subwoofer crossover.

You can also use the LFE out of receiver to L or R input of sub if no L/R pre outs existed.

Whichever component has teh best bass management should... well... manage the bass.

When using the LFE input on a powered subwoofer is the internal crossover always bypassed using this input? Is this a design that all subwoofers share? If I want to use the crossover in my Receiver I should use the LFE connection. If I want to use my subwoofers crossover then I should use the Left and Right connection. Is this correct?

I'm not sure that every single subwoofer bypasses the crossover on the LFE input but all that I sell do. And yes the rest of your understanding of my initial explanation is correct. Just look at the manual for both sub and receiver to see which one does what.

For instance if your receiver sets a high crossover point for the FL/R speakers when they are set to small you would want to set them to large. If, however this will not allow the subwoofer to play through the LFE output in 2 channel mode (and you wanted it to) you would want to use the L/R outputs and set the subwoofer to "none" in teh receiver set-up menue. If your subwoofer uses a continuously varriable crossover rather than one with set stops on particular frequencies you may want to use the receiver for bass management (LFE output).