Question about subwoofer crossover

[Kain]

Lets say I have it set to 80Hz on my receiver. When the sound goes below that level, do my main speakers stop giving out bass and send the signal to the subwoofer? Or, when the sound goes below that level, the mains AND subwoofer will the bass?

Basically, what I am asking is that when the sound goes below the crossover setting, do the mains stop producing the bass and signal goes to the subwoofer, or do both the mains and the subwoofer produce the bass when the sound goes below a crossover setting?

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Home Theater:

Display: Sony VPL-VW11HT 16:9 LCD Projector

Receiver: Denon AVC-A11SR (European version of Denon AVR-4802)

DVD Player: Sony DVP-NS900 (European version)

Center: Klipsch RC-7

Mains: Klipsch RF-7s

Surrounds: Klipsch RS-7s

Subwoofer: SVS CS-Ultra w/Samson S1000 amplifier

[Seb]

depends on your receiver and its settings, but here goes:

first, you have to understand that a crossover is progressive. it has a slope. therefore, your mains will still receive some signal under 80Hz, just less and less as you go down in frequencies.

second, it depends whether you set your mains to small, but if you do, the sub will take over, meaning the mains will not receive any deep bass. there is a setting that is called mains+LFE or something where the signal still goes to the mains. but i'm not too sure about that, you'd have to ask Denon owners.

the LFE (Low Frequency Effects, dedicated bass track) always goes to the sub when you have one.

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'cuz not a lot of people have ever said

"Pump up the treble!"

[HornEd]

KAiN64, generally speaking, waves 80Hz are non-directional... unless they are "colored" by some defect in the system. Also, below 80Hz the waves become longer and longer until they crash into one another after bouncing off the walls. When this happens they cancel each other out. They are called standing waves

and they are not cute.

The more speakers you have in your system that put out waves under about 80Hz, the greater your potential to rob yourself of the bass you paid so dearly for. That's the reason to set your speakers to "SMALL" and let those Ultras take care of the bass... they will produce all you need.

Freeing your main speakers from the long excursions required to make low bass waves gives them a better opportunity to take care of the rest of the spectrum with greater proficiency.

Be well and keep on building one of Dubai's slickest rigs. HornEd

[boa12]

ed, i could know take your advice & get bigger centers (front & rear) as I now have an adjustable cross in the new pre/pro. ed, you need one of these. cutting the 30s down at 40-50hz allows them the freedom to fly in that 2nd octave much more so than the 80-90hz cross.

& they still blend well w/ the sub cut at the same spot (low pass). just much more slam in that 2nd octave.

ed probably remembers me griping about that fixed crossover. well kain will now enjoy that flexibility w/ the denon 4802 (or european equivalent) as the makers are finally getting the clue. small is best but even better w/ that adjustability. just set it at 40 or 60hz w/ those rf-7 set small & that puts the low pass to sub & high pass to speakers at the same point.

ahhh, much better now.

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My Home Systems Page

[AlanN]

How about for RF-IIIs? Set sub crossover as low as possible (<60hz) or something else? Thanks.

[boa12]

alan, welcome on. but there's no cut/dried answer since it depends on your set-up, tastes, room, equipment (sub capability), etc. are you using the crossover on your sub &/or an adjustable crossover in your receiver's bass management?

the ideal for the rf-3 w/ a capable sub & an adjustable crossover in your receiver dsp/sub preout to sub connection would probably lie in the 40-60hz range for both the high pass & low pass cross point. but hard to say exactly from here. takes some experimentation.

one thing i definitely advise against when using the sub preout connection from your a/v receiver or pre/pro

to the sub is using the sub's low pass crossover control at all. switch it out if u can or turn it all the way up to like 120hz or as high as it will go. otherwise w/ the way most dsp are configured, your sub will be cutting off some of the LFE channel output it's getting.

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My Home Systems Page

This message has been edited by boa12 on 02-06-2002 at 03:01 PM

[AlanN]

Thanks Boa. That is how I have it set up now. With the crossover on the sub all the way up and the receiver set to >60 (Sony DB 840 lowest setting). The bass is definitely cleaner than when I had the speakers set to large. But seems to lose some richness in the vocals and low mid-range. I'll probably get used to it - and maybe I should try to get a better sub than old Klipsch low end 10". Slightly different question, but are there "ideal" khz and db settings for the RF III bass, mid and treble controls to get a flat sound? Thanks.

[boa12]

alan, the best way to get a flat sound from the klipsch

is of course to leave the eq flat. that's what i do 'cept for a lil notch filter eq-ing for the bass.

to get a flat response between your speakers, ears, & room influences, then some eq may be needed. but that's dif for everybody. you can do it by ear or w/ a sound meter. definitely use the meter to set the output levels.

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My Home Systems Page

[AlanN]

figured there was probably no simple answer, but what is "a little notch filter equalizing for the bass"?