Choosing sub crossover seting in receiver ? (1 Viewer)

[Jim Mcc]

What is the best way to choose the sub's crossover setting in receiver? Should I follow the manual's recommendation? I have 5 bookshelf speakers(6.5" woofers) all set to small, and my center(3-3.5" woofers) set to small. The manual says to set crossover at 80hz. Does that sound right? My receiver has sub crossover settings of 80,100,120,and 150 hz. I also read on one of the HT forums if speakers are set to small, to set crossover at 150hz. What do you guys think? Thanks.

 

[Eddie Horton]

Set all your speakers to small. Now, if your receiver will only let you use one crossover frequency for all speakers, find out what the -3dB point is for your speakers. This is the point in the frequency response where the bass rolls off. If, for example, the highest of those numbers out of all your speakers is 65Hz, then pick the next highest setting in your receiver. This should be 80Hz. If the highest of the numbers is 85Hz, then choose 100Hz. Just use the lowest crossover frequency that you can to prevent bass from being localized, meaning you can tell that it's coming from the subwoofer. Hope this helps.

 

[MatthewKolden]

I hope this doesn't seem like i'm trying to steal this thread, but maybe I can ask an additional question on the crossover topic.

When I set my stereo up I put all of the speakers on Large and the crossover at 150Hz. This is of course due to my lack of knowledge of what the crossover is (which I now understand better after the last response). Is this bad to have everything set the way I do? It sounds great, but would it sound better if I adjusted it differently?

 

[JackS]

Matt- Do as Eddie suggested. Set you receiver to "small" speakers and then use an appropriate crossover setting.
Very few of us have full range speakers that would allow for the large setting.
I think most people with full range speakers still use the small setting as this allows for the very lowest bass to be re-directed to the subwoofer. For HT this is preferred. For music it probably isn't , but you still have control over your receiver so, adjustment or memory banks if your receiver is capable will handle this.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Eddie, how do I find out what the -3db point is for my speakers? I don't know what that means. All my speakers are set to small, as I stated. I checked rear of speakers, and they go down to 80hz. Does that mean I set crossover 1 higher than that, 100hz? Thanks.

 

[joseFMJ]

Yes...100Hz min. if your speakers are rated to 80Hz. You can also try it at 120Hz and see which sounds better.

 

[Brad E]

I personally would never set the crossover higher than 100Hz.
80Hz is a good starting point and probably the most common.

Of course this all depends on your setup, equipment and personal preference.
If your speakers go down to 80Hz then I would set it at 100Hz.

 

[Eddie Horton]

The -3dB point of a speaker is the frequency at which output is 3dB less than other higher frequencies. If your speakers are -3 at, say 65Hz, then that is the lowest the speaker will play and still keep output within 3dB of other higher frequencies. It is the spot where bass response starts to approach the point where the speaker can't play it with substantial output due to woofer size, etc. I'm sure someone can give a better explanation, but that'll do.

 

[james_]

This is already a very informative thread! The -3db point of my Paradigm Atoms is listed at 55 Hz (DIN). The next highest setting on my Marantz SR4500 is 80Hz.

However, according to the SR5400 manual, when I set the speaker size to 'small' (which I did for the Atoms) "frequencies lower than approx. 100Hz will be output from the subwoofer".

Does that mean I should set the receiver crossover to 100Hz as well? If I leave it at 80, don't I have a hole from 80Hz-100Hz?

Any advice would be appreciated!


P.S.
I set the crossover on the subwoofer (PDR-12) to almost max so that it would be effectively disabled.

 

[JackS]

James- Your sorta kinda right. The solution with your receiver since there is limited bass mgt. is to run seperate spreaker wires to your sub bypassing the .1 input. This in effect turns the subwoofer into a full range speaker in which all crossover settings will have to be made at the sub. You will need an extra pair of speaker connects or a Y adaptor. In the setup menu on the receiver answer "no subwoofer connected" You'll lose all control of the sub via the receiver doing this but you'll gain it back using the settings on the sub itself.
You might also try the Outlaw unit that is used for bass management.

 

[james_]

JackS,

Thanks for your response... I will look into that.

For the time being though, given the 'small speaker'/100Hz issue, should I set the receiver to 80Hz or 100Hz?

Frankly, I don't understand why 80Hz is even an allowed option when the 'small speaker' setting is selected since it forces the receiver crossover at 100Hz anyway.

 

[JackS]

James- In the meantime, try it both ways. Small would probably limit your main speaker somewhat but would allow for better bass. Large would definatly limit bass to the sub but might sound better to you overall.