I have an Energytake 5.2 system with a frequency response between 80hz - 20 kHz My speaker dealer mentioned that I could set the crossover at 65 Hz. I would definitely like to set the crossover on the lower side. But I feel the minimum limit should be 80hz since that is the speakers' lower frequency response limit.
J. Vigne
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Posted on
Simply try it and see what you think. Play a few selections you feel offer good sound and adjust the setting to what sounds best to you in your room. Then don't tell your speaker dealer.
Aviator
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Posted on
Jan,
I don't have a good understanding of this. But if I set my crossover at say 65Hz but the lower limit for my speakers is 80Hz, will there be a loss of signal (in the 65 - 80 range)?
J. Vigne
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Yes and no. I don't really understand all this stuff either. I start reading and all those numbers start looking the same and then some idiot puts in "8 Ohms only" and I head for the Scotch. Well, let's give this a try! It firstly depends on what you are going to set at 65 Hz. If you are setting the reciever's crossover frequency at 65 Hz you will have the reciever beginning to roll the response off at that frequency and therefore you should (usually) set your subwoofer's crossover control to its highest setting (usually about 150 HZ). If you are setting the reciever's crossover to 65 Hz and the subwoofer's control to 65 Hz you will get the effect of having both circuits reducing the bass below that frequency. That would give you a very steep roll off below that frequency and would probably result in a suck out of bass as the signal ascended through the 50 to 100 Hz range. So you choose one or the other. In a Home Theater set up you should have the provision for setting the crossover at the reciever and should choose that as the correct option. In a conventional stereo set up you may not have the option of choosing where the amplifier directs the frequencies and therefore would use the control on the sub as your only real choice. I'll make the guess that you have this in a HT set up and we will proceed from that assumption. (Now, you know what happens when you assume something don't you?) When the speaker manufacturer says the speaker's frequency response is from 80 Hz that doesn't mean you will not hear 79 Hz from the speaker. With the exception of what are termed brick wall filters such as those normally found in CD players there are no brick walls in audio. Crossovers are gradual things that will vary depending on several factors. That means that if the response is to 80 Hz the speaker is gradually dropping down in level as the frequency goes lower. It will respond to a 50 Hz signal input but the volume of that note will be substantially lower than the 80 Hz. That is the low pass side of the crossover. It is letting the low frequencies pass. The same thing apllies to the high pass side where it is designed to pass a signal from a crossover point (referred to as the "KNEE") upward to the higher frequencies. So a crossover set at 80 Hz will allow frequencies above and below that point to pass through but at increasingly less (volume) level. The same is true of your speaker since it will respond to a lower frequency but at a lower level as the natural roll off of the speaker takes place. Still with me? Now you have to consider that bass response of a speaker is relative to the position it occupies in your room. If you place a speaker, either a subwoofer or a speaker with a woofer in it, in the center (up, down and side to side) of the room it will have a response that is closest to its stated frequency response by the manufacturer. Once you move that speaker toward any boundary in the room you will increase the apparent amount of bass response each time you divide the boundary by half. See, I told you Scotch would be a good idea. What I just said was, if instead of having the speaker in a position where it has no immediate boundary (the CENTER of the room) once you put it on the floor you will have what is called the boundary effect and you will add 3dB to the apparent amount of bass due to the reflections off the floor. Against a wall will add another 3dB and in a corner will add yet another 3dB to give you a total of 9dB increase from flat response. That's a bunch o'bass! Move your subwoofer around to hear this effect. There's a lot more to this which gets into Pi and pyschacoustics but we're pretty deep enough as is. What this really means is there are inumerable combinations of set up positions that will influence the sound of your speakers. And by the way, this effect is not heard in the higher frequencies because of their short wavelength but boundaries effect the high end just as much but differently. Oh, my head is starting to hurt again. Curse you, Mr. Hertz!!! The reason Energy chose 80 Hz as the crossover frequency/low frequency limit for the small satelites is due to the typical use of 80 Hz as the approved crossover frequency for Dolby Digital. That and pushing that little woofer much beyond that would result in lots of distortion as the driver cries out in pain. So, bottom line, you should start with the croosover on your HT reciever set at 80Hz and the crossover on the sub set as high as it will go. Then, as I said, play a few selections that you think represent good bass and change the setting on the reciever up and down a notch until you think you have the smoothest response based on your set up in your room. Probably you will settle on 80 Hz as the best compromise but that is what it all is, a compromise. Everything is relative to your room and set up and what you like. My guess would be the guy who told you this just wanted to sound like he knew something he don't! If you want to, go back and tell him you've tried his suggestion but it just doesn't sound right to you and ask, since he's obviously the expert in this area, if he wouldn't come out to your house and show you how to get the system set up correctly with the crossover set at 65 Hz. That's when you will get the real answer to your question. Does that help or just confuse?