Need passive filter for home speakers

[MajorTendonitis]

Hi all , I finally got around to hooking up my Cambridge cxa80 in my gym , and I just realized it has no actve cross over to cut off the low frequencies to the front speakers , or nothing I can find in the menus . I have a paradigm 12” subwoofer for bass duties , as it has a subwoofer out on the amp , but I’m getting distortion in the paradigm millinea series full range speakers while cranking music videos on YouTube . The speakers are the slim wall mount model that I put beside my lg 48 oled .

Was hoping to find a passive crossover to attenuate the low frequencies going to the full range speakers before I blow them up . Not having a lot of luck on Amazon.ca yet . Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[lovinthehd]

Is the sub level matched to the speakers?

I see with a quick search a lot of diy options for a passive high pass filter, but no commercial ones.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi all , I finally got around to hooking up my Cambridge cxa80 in my gym , and I just realized it has no actve cross over , or nothing I can find in the menus . I have a paradigm 12” subwoofer for bass duties , as it has a subwoofer out on the amp , but I’m getting distortion in the paradigm millinea series full range speakers while cranking music videos on YouTube . The speakers are the slim wall mount model that I put beside my lg 48 oled .

Was hoping to find a passive crossover to attenuate the low frequencies going to the full range speakers . Not having a lot of luck on Amazon.ca yet . Any ideas would be appreciated.

Passive crossovers work very poorly at sub frequencies, and are not in any way to be recommended.

My own policy is not to design passive crossovers below 400 Hz.

For your situation you made a bad choice buying an integrated amp without bass management.

Rectifying this situation is mandatory and not optional otherwise you are going to blow speakers, or may be the amp as well.

So you need an amp with bass management, or separates where you can place an active crossover between pre and power amps.

Constructing a passive crossover would be risky in the extreme, as there would be cascading low pass crossover, and the load in the amp would be unpredictable, more likely than not highly adverse and blow the amp. Do not go down that route.

 

[MajorTendonitis]

Passive crossovers work very poorly at sub frequencies, and are not in any way to be recommended.

My own policy is not to design passive crossovers below 400 Hz.

For your situation you made a bad choice buying an integrated amp without bass management.

Rectifying this situation is mandatory and not optional otherwise you are going to blow speakers, or may be the amp as well.

So you need an amp with bass management, or separates where you can place an active crossover between pre and power amps.

Constructing a passive crossover would be risky in the extreme, as there would be cascading low pass crossover, and the load in the amp would be unpredictable, more likely than not highly adverse and blow the amp. Do not go down that route.

I agree I didn’t do my research when I purchased this amp years ago . I was hoping to purchase a high pass filter to put on the speaker wires going to the full range ones in order to get rid of the low frequency distortion thats probably going to blow them up .
I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult though . I just thought if there was something to attenuate the first 50 hz or so going to those full range speakers it would be nice.
the amp does have a subwoofer preamp output , and my paradigm sub has controls to set it anywhere from 50 to 120 hz cut off , so that’s taken care of.
‘I used to do a lot of car audio, and at the beginning I just used passive crossovers . I was hoping I could do the same with the fronts now

 

[MajorTendonitis]

Is the sub level matched to the speakers?

I see with a quick search a lot of diy options for a passive high pass filter, but no commercial ones.

The sub has controls on the rear for gain , crossover and phase , so no issues there . It’s the full range speakers that have me concerned , as I don’t think they are going to last long with low frequencies going to them .
I was hoping to find high pass cross overs that would attenuate 80 hz and lower . I think it’s looking like I have to build them and hope for the best .

 

[NINaudio]

Does your sub have speaker in and out connections? If so you can run the speaker signals to the sub first and set the crossover there and it will then send the signal (minus the low frequencies) on to your speakers.

 

[MajorTendonitis]

Does your sub have speaker in and out connections? If so you can run the speaker signals to the sub first and set the crossover there and it will then send the signal (minus the low frequencies) on to your speakers.

No nothing like that . I found these things called bass blockers on Amazon . Not sure how well they work though

 

[lovinthehd]

The sub has controls on the rear for gain , crossover and phase , so no issues there . It’s the full range speakers that have me concerned , as I don’t think they are going to last long with low frequencies going to them .
I was hoping to find high pass cross overs that would attenuate 80 hz and lower . I think it’s looking like I have to build them and hope for the best .

What sub is it particularly?

I asked if it's level matched, as perhaps you have sub gain set too high and your speakers can't keep up with that.

 

[MrBoat]

Check here at Parts Express ?

 

[MajorTendonitis]

What sub is it particularly?

I asked if it's level matched, as perhaps you have sub gain set too high and your speakers can't keep up with that.

Yes as far as I can tell . Paradigm DSP3200 is the sub

DSP-3200

12-inch single driver, bass-reflex, dual high-velocity low-turbulence resistive ports, built-in amplifier, USB Port / PBK Interface. 900 watts Dynamic Peak / 300 watts RMS.

www.paradigm.com

 

[MajorTendonitis]

Check here at Parts Express ?

Thank you this is what I was contemplating on using . Can’t see why this wouldn’t be a viable option ?
it’s unfortunate parts express is only in the USA . Going to take some time getting them here to Canada

80 Hz High Pass 8 Ohm Crossover

80 Hz High Pass 8 Ohm CrossoverConvenient crossovers that work great in any application requiring economical, flexible filtering. Also for use in car stereo installations with component speaker systems. Low pass, band pass, and high pass models complement woofers, midranges, and tweeters...

www.parts-express.com

was just looking at the speakers specs, and they only go down to 75 hz . I think an 80 hz cutoff should be the answer

Millenia LP 2

CA$599.99

5-driver, 2-way bass-reflex includes powered drivers and passive radiators.

±3 dB from 120 Hz – 21 kHz

75 Hz (DIN)

92 dB / 89 dB

 

[NINaudio]

I'd honestly go higher than 80 Hz. Slim on wall speakers are not exactly known for their bass extension and the -3 dB point is listed as 120 Hz.

 

[NINaudio]

Measurements show that speaker's output essentially falls off a cliff below 200 Hz.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/paradigm-millenia-lp-2-review-measurements.47312/

 

[NINaudio]

Before picking a random high pass point I'd suggest you listen to some test tones at your regular listening levels and determine at which frequency it starts distorting and pick a high pass point above that.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thank you this is what I was contemplating on using . Can’t see why this wouldn’t be a viable option ?
it’s unfortunate parts express is only in the USA . Going to take some time getting them here to Canada

80 Hz High Pass 8 Ohm Crossover

80 Hz High Pass 8 Ohm CrossoverConvenient crossovers that work great in any application requiring economical, flexible filtering. Also for use in car stereo installations with component speaker systems. Low pass, band pass, and high pass models complement woofers, midranges, and tweeters...

www.parts-express.com

was just looking at the speakers specs, and they only go down to 75 hz . I think an 80 hz cutoff should be the answer

Millenia LP 2

CA$599.99

5-driver, 2-way bass-reflex includes powered drivers and passive radiators.

±3 dB from 120 Hz – 21 kHz

75 Hz (DIN)

92 dB / 89 dB

You have no idea where it will cut off. The impedance curve of the speaker will make absolute nonsense of the specified crossover point. At the point of the impedance rise of your speakers, that crossover will do nothing except place a significant resistance between your amp and speakers.

The resulting load cascading those filters could be an absolute nightmare, that no one good predict. I can't emphasize enough that this is a VERY BAD idea.

 

[MrBoat]

Thank you this is what I was contemplating on using . Can’t see why this wouldn’t be a viable option ?
it’s unfortunate parts express is only in the USA . Going to take some time getting them here to Canada

80 Hz High Pass 8 Ohm Crossover

80 Hz High Pass 8 Ohm CrossoverConvenient crossovers that work great in any application requiring economical, flexible filtering. Also for use in car stereo installations with component speaker systems. Low pass, band pass, and high pass models complement woofers, midranges, and tweeters...

www.parts-express.com

was just looking at the speakers specs, and they only go down to 75 hz . I think an 80 hz cutoff should be the answer

Millenia LP 2

CA$599.99

5-driver, 2-way bass-reflex includes powered drivers and passive radiators.

±3 dB from 120 Hz – 21 kHz

75 Hz (DIN)

92 dB / 89 dB

I do not know. I bought one for a cheap amp that has a separate amplified channel for passive subs but no low pass filter. I was going to use it for a portable system but other projects jumped in front of it.

 

[MajorTendonitis]

You have no idea where it will cut off. The impedance curve of the speaker will make absolute nonsense of the specified crossover point. At the point of the impedance rise of your speakers, that crossover will do nothing except place a significant resistance between your amp and speakers.

The resulting load cascading those filters could be an absolute nightmare, that no one good predict. I can't emphasize enough that this is a VERY BAD idea.

I just don’t know what other options are available at this point, well other than selling the receiver and getting a new one . It sure looks pretty though

 

[MajorTendonitis]

Measurements show that speaker's output essentially falls off a cliff below 200 Hz.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/paradigm-millenia-lp-2-review-measurements.47312/

Wow that’s brutal . Wish I had enough real estate for conventional speakers , but that’s not an option. Well it is if I rethink the entire thing and mount conventional speakers under the oled panel .
With this new information, I think the speakers are more of an issue than the amp . If I had known this a few years ago I would not have used these speakers .
i took a chance because years ago I was using a paradigm sub and centre combo , and it sounded great imo .
In reality these slim speakers are just not going to cut it I guess.
Glad I posted a thread here with you guys , and I thank all of you that chimed in , great stuff

 

[TLS Guy]

Wow that’s brutal . Wish I had enough real estate for conventional speakers , but that’s not an option

 

[TLS Guy]

That is why you absolutely need a unit with proper bass management. If you go passive you will have no idea where the crossover actually is and you can guarantee an awful frequency response.

So you will need a sub with an FR out to at least 150 Hz and preferably higher.

I would sell that Cambridge unit and buy an AVR with bass management. Otherwise I think you are going to have damage. If distortion is obvious something is going to blow up and be more expensive.