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Steve81
Audioholics Five-0
That depends on the subwoofer. Subs are also expected to play up to at least 120Hz to cover the LFE channel as well.I agree. Once you start having -3dB points above 80hz, you start getting into territory where you’re asking a sub to play frequencies above what it was designed to do.
IMHO, crossing above 80Hz does have significant benefits for the dynamic capability of a system. Think of it this way: ignoring potential port contributions (negligible in many cases since most bookshelves are tuned to reach as low as possible), for any given SPL, a 120Hz tone requires less than half the cone travel of an 80Hz tone, or put another way, you would have to raise the volume of the 120Hz a little more than 6dB to match the excursion of the 80Hz tone. In a system like mine, where the relatively modest L/C/Rs have dual 5.25" woofers, that essentially eliminates woofer excursion as a major limitation to dynamic range, and has the side benefit of reducing distortion at any given level as well. YMMV of course.