Crossover Frequency Question (1 Viewer)

[erew99]

Hi there, I am still in the process of setting up my speakers. Things are sounding pretty good, but want to make some adjustments. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Why do I need to set the crossovers? I will list the speakers, maybe someone has the answers on what I should set the crossover to, or HOW to figure out what it should be. Front left/right = Polk Monitor 30 bookshelf Total Frequency Response 55Hz - 25kHz Surrounds = Polk OWM3 Total Frequency Response 80-25KHz Center = Polk CS1 Total Frequency Response 55Hz - 25kHz Sub = Polk PSW10 Total Frequency Response 35Hz - 200Hz Currently all speakers are set to LARGE. I believe I can set the surrounds and center to SMALL. Thanks in advance!

 

[erew99]

I came across some posts on how to start figuring this out. Set all speakers to SMALL Front left/right = Polk Monitor 30 bookshelf Crossover - 80hz Surrounds = Polk OWM3 Crossover - 100hz Center = Polk CS1 Crossover - 80hz Sub = Polk PSW10 use knob on back to set to 80hz.

 

[schan1269]

What AVR is this? A single point crossover(Pioneer/Elite and Yamaha...bottom end of "everybody")? Or is this multi-crossover("not bottom end" Onkyo/Denon/Marantz/HK)?

 

[erew99]

It is a Sony STRDH520 - I don't know what you mean... sorry.

 

[schan1269]

Well... Do you have "individual choices" for each pair of speakers as to crossover? Or do you only have 1 crossover and "big/small" as your choices? And by the way, the terms "big/small" is irrelevant. What it "should have been called" is.. Do you want this pair of speakers included in bass management...??? Yes=Small No=Big

 

[erew99]

I have individual choices for each speaker. FRONTS CENTER SURROUNDS I will set all speakers to small and adjust the crossover accordingly. I'm just looking for good starting numbers. From what I've read, the goal is to make sure you cannot localize the subwoofer and limit what frequencies are sent to each speaker, therefore saving on power consumption.

 

[schan1269]

Still not getting the question I asked, but OK... Set your crossover at 80, since I assume you can only choose one crossover. Then your surrounds should be able to survive the extra 20hz. 80hz is "typically" where you can't localize bass.

 

[erew99]

I'm sorry, I meant to answer it. I can set each crossover for each speaker section. The manual is showing an entry for crossovers for the 3 groups: FRONTS CENTER SURROUNDS

 

[schan1269]

Then set your front and center at 80...the rear at 100...to match the speakers... Or, you could set the fronts as low as 60. Depends on what choices you get.

 

[Al.Anderson]

And don't set the sub to 80, set it to off or max. The crossover is being handled by the receiver, so you don't want to get the sub involved. (A corsover point is not a wall, it's a slope, so you'll have the two systems performing filtering on the same frequencies.)

 

[erew99]

Excellent. Thanks Sam. Great thing to know AJ. Appreciate it guys. I'll play around with it and figure out what I like best. I'll post back tomorrow, but I'm sure this info will go a long way.

 

[erew99]

Hi all, I set the crossovers for what sounds good to me. I set the fronts - 70, surrounds - 100, and center - 80. It sounds different for sure and liking the results. I have a SPL meter, but haven't used it in years. The only thing registering on the tone was the subwoofer. No other speaker moved the needle. I used C-weight, slow response, and moved the dial from 60 all the way to 120, but still nothing. Any suggestions on that? Also - what does setting the speaker distance do for the receiver?

 

[erew99]

One more thing.. AJ - the Sub doesn't have an 'off' option. It just has 80 - 160 on the dial. I set it to 100, since I set the rears to 100 crossover.

 

[Al.Anderson]

One more thing.. AJ - the Sub doesn't have an 'off' option. It just has 80 - 160 on the dial. I set it to 100, since I set the rears to 100 crossover.

You should set it to the max, 160, for the reason I gave above: you're having two component do the same thing and they'll interfere with each other.

 

[erew99]

AJ- will do. I am enjoying the system so far, but feel like the bass isn't on the same volume... I used an SPL meter for all the speakers, but the SUB is tricky (to me) to get right. Is there something I'm missing? I have WEIGHT = C , SLOW RESPONSE..... Set the SPL to 60, but it is WAY too high on the SPL meter.

 

[schan1269]

It "could be" you are used to boomier bass than "correct". The only way to know if bass is truly lacking is to see a real time plot. You also need to know the "corrected plot" of your SPL meter.

 

[erew99]

I can try to do it by ear. What I think sounds 'best' to me. I've upped it a bit to where I think it should be. It's not boomy, but felt it was lacking a bit. After upping the bass a bit, it sounds better. I can't really localize the bass either.