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Xover Point for Center and Surrounds


jcmusic

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Industry standard is 80hz. Personally, I use 60hz - to me it makes the mains and center sound more full. Since most of us only have 1 subwoofer, sometimes you can get some more even bass distribution with the mains at certain frequencies...so I've settled on 60.

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Excellent advice, all. 

 

Remember the HT Subwoofer channel can do 2 things.  It's primary job is to add low frequency special effects.  But since most people's speaker systems cannot reproduce 20 Hz, including mine, it can also take the bass from the other channels, below an adjustable frequency, and play it, too.  The adjustment is to select the low notes your other speakers cannot play.  Unless placed optimally, your other speakers won't hit their advertised low limit, either.  So that's why you should set the crossover frequency 10 to 20 Hz above the advertised low limit.  In my case, 70 Hz. 

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excellent advice all around

 

the true bottom line is that a room really has to be measured to know for sure the best crossover. 

listening will definitely get you close or a good one though

 

with a measurement, it quickly becomes apparent, especially in that 50-100hz range, where the crossover should likely be

most rooms have big dips in response no matter what the speakers can do, due to the room itself

often there is a big dip in that 50-100 range somewhere, and it helps define where to set the crossover

many have a huge dip at 70-80hz due to the room dimensions and seating...in those cases although the folks cross at 80hz, 100 would be better

 

without a measurement, listen to the same music that contains some consistent bass lines and carefully listen to 60-80-100-120

you will hear distinct "strong" and "weak" areas depending upon that crossover

 

for HT, the right crossover provides a flat response, but when someone is using a setup mostly for music, it can be a preference vs reference i.e. many like a big semi-bloated bass or mid-bass with music, it mostly has to do with the recordings themselves, not our speakers

 

another factor is where those speakers are...if the surrounds for example are used as mains and mounted on the front wall, they will have massive, bloated mid-bass which can be difficult to reduce without an autocorrection system...if they were freestanding 3 feet from the walls, they would likely have very little mid-bass....it really is dependent upon the particular setup, and in the end then requires some experimentation or measurement

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Start at 80 Hz, then try it higher and lower.  For the center there is a bit of a paradox.  The center may not be able to handle the bass at 80 to 150 Hz as well as the sub, but you want to keep the lowest register of male voices out of the subwoofer. 

 

Another rule of the thumb is to look at the -3 dB point on a main speaker, and cross it over 1 octave above that.

 

The great thing about a rules of the thumb is they are contradictory. :angry:  Carl Jung compiled a list of maxims and their equally well known opposites.

 

If you play movies very loudly, you may want to protect your mains from loud bass.

 

Don't forget there is one crossover and one very different low pass filter in your AVR or pre-pro.  The THX recommended crossover is 80 Hz, for bass management of soundtrack music and dialogue, and the low pass filter for low frequency sound effects (LPF for LFE) that the filmmakers expect is 120 Hz.  Your AVR/pre-pro mixes these two together AFTER the Xover and the LPF, and shoots them out of the rear panel sub out to your subwoofer.

 

As you know, there is nothing like listening.

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