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Help with correct frequency response for surrounds needed. (1 Viewer)

Jose G

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Aug 18, 2002
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The frequency response of my current speakers is 52-20,000 Hz. . Right now, I'm looking for a small pair of surrounds that will be fairly close to the listener(s). My question is what frequency range should I look for when searching for the surrounds? Eventually I will get a good sub for the lower frequency levels so does it matter if I start with surrounds at 80 Hz or should I go lower for better music listening?
 

Bill Street

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Jul 18, 2002
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I don't know which receiver you are running, but most recent A/V receivers allow you to channel your low bass for all your channels to the channels best able to handle them.

I think going for surrounds with a low drop off at 80 hz is acceptible, but many people have different opinions on this. If you do go with an 80 hz drop off and are waiting on a sub, set your main speakers to "large" and your surround speakers to "small", and the sub setting to "none". This should send all the low bass frequencies to your main speakers which have the best capacity to correctly play them.

Hope this helps

Bill Street.
 

Jose G

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Aug 18, 2002
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Thanks, Bill. I'm new to the HT scene and am ordering an HK receiver today. What if I go with a drop off of 120 Hz instaed of 80 Hz for the surrounds- is that acceptible, or since I can set the speakers to different settings does it really matter? Would people prefer surrounds that have a fuller frequency range? And is that dependent upon their using a sub?

Sorry for all the q's, just getting my feet wet.
 

Bill Street

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Which H/K model are you ordering? I have the 120 and the one thing it does not have that many other receivers do, is a controllable bass management that allows the crossover to vary between 80 and 120hz.

The more expensive models may well have this option. If your receiver doesn't, however, then you need surrounds of a sufficient size to reproduce frequencies down to the point at which the low bass is rolled over. The higher your frequency response stops, the more likely you'll lose some information.

Let's say your surround stops at 120 hz, but low crossover occurs at 100hz. In this case you would lose information that occurs below 120hz but above 100hz.
 

Jose G

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Aug 18, 2002
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I just ordered the HK225. I need to read up on what crossover means. My current speakers have a crossover of 3,000 Hz but are rated at 52-20,000 Hz. I'm not sure what that means in terms of the sub. or how the HK225 will deal with that info. I know that the specs say the frequency resonse is rated from 10 Hz - 100kHz. on the 225. I found this literature on the 225:

"The AVR 225 and AVR 125 include Harman Kardon's Advanced Digital Bass Manager, the most versatile multichannel bass-management system available. This unique system enables the LFE (low-frequency effects) channel to be routed to the left- and right-front speakers, as well as the subwoofer, if desired, to provide more available bass, and employs a fourth-order low-pass filter, rather than the commonly used second-order filter, for a smoother transition between higher and lower frequencies."

Is this the same as the controllable bass management you are speaking of?
 

Bill Street

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Jul 18, 2002
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Hi!

Quote:
------------------------------
Is this the same as the controllable bass management you are speaking of?
------------------------------

No. The information you need is at what frequency your H/K will stop sending signal to your surround speakers and, instead reroute it to the speakers that can handle the bass.

There is a wealth of information available on the "Home Theater Basics" forum. It really helped me get a grasp of all the terminology. Look for posts on this forum having to do with "Bass Management."

Hope that helps.
 

John Garcia

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80 Hz is not really that low for a speaker. For music, I prefer a speaker that can handle at least 60Hz or below.

As noted, you need to know what the x-over point is for the H/K and choose a speaker accordingly. With a 120Hz x-over, the speaker should still be able to cover at least one octave below that point, or 60Hz, since the crossover will still pass sound at least that far below the x-over point, though at a reduced output as the frequency drops (XdB/octave). The speaker itself will do the same, it will still trail off some sound below it's listed bottom point, but at a much reduced level. A speaker with a bottom of 50Hz should work fine even with an 80Hz x-over. What you DON'T want is a speaker that trails off above the x-over, then you could end up with gaps, as Bill mentioned.

Ideally, you want a speaker that is at least similar sounding to your main speakers for things to sound more realistic.
 

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