Adding a low pass crossover

[aaron6939]

Hello all, I built me a folded horn subwwofer from plans I found on the net and have been using it with my HT system for a while now. This thing sounds incredible but I get alot of overlay with my mains. The 90 HZ cutoff on my receiver for the LFE aparently isn't low enough. I am using the LFE out from my yamaha HTR-5280 receiver into an external stereo amp that I am running in bridged mode. As far as I can tell there is no crossover adjustment on the receiver itself.

Is there some kind of VARIABLE crossover on the market that I can add to the sub, whether it's something that can go right into the sub cabinet or inline with the LFE???

Thanks

 

[sholling]

Are you sure you don't have double bass turned on?

 

[highfigh]

Hello all, I built me a folded horn subwwofer from plans I found on the net and have been using it with my HT system for a while now. This thing sounds incredible but I get alot of overlay with my mains. The 90 HZ cutoff on my receiver for the LFE aparently isn't low enough. I am using the LFE out from my yamaha HTR-5280 receiver into an external stereo amp that I am running in bridged mode. As far as I can tell there is no crossover adjustment on the receiver itself.

Is there some kind of VARIABLE crossover on the market that I can add to the sub, whether it's something that can go right into the sub cabinet or inline with the LFE???

Thanks

If you have thought about adding an equalizer anyway, a lot of them come with a variable low-pass.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Is there some kind of VARIABLE crossover on the market that I can add to the sub, whether it's something that can go right into the sub cabinet or inline with the LFE???

Sure, any analog pro audio crossover will do. Most manufacturers have migrated to digital crossovers these days, so you can get older analog models cheap on eBay, such as the excellent Ashly XR1000 crossovers from the 1990s or similar offerings from Rane and other brands.

I don’t know of any analog equalizers with a low pass that goes all the way down to bass range, but the Yamaha YDP2006 digital parametric does – so you get two functions in a single component. You may not even need a different crossover frequency; adding another 90 Hz filter would get you 48 dB/octave attenuation – that might be enough to do the trick.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[aaron6939]

I have contemplated an active crossover, and am sure it would work, but I was looking for a cheaper solution. I would really like something I could wire into the sub cabinet: like you would do with a two or three way crossover, I just want a one way, with a dial so I can cut off at whatever frequency sounds best.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

I seriously doubt such a thing exists. I’m no expert in passive crossovers, but from what I understand the crossover frequency is largely determined by the components used. This means you’d have to have an entire network of capacitors, chokes, etc. for every frequency the dial selector could activate. Not terribly practical from either a physical or economic standpoint.

Not to mention, passive crossovers rob power. If it cost you a even few dB in output, that’d be the equivalent of cutting your amp’s power in half. Kinda loses the “cheaper solution” objective if you end up having to buy a bigger, more power amp, doesn’t it?

There's one of those Yamaha equalizers (that has user-adjustable low-pass filters) on eBay right now that will probably sell for well under $100.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[highfigh]

I have contemplated an active crossover, and am sure it would work, but I was looking for a cheaper solution. I would really like something I could wire into the sub cabinet: like you would do with a two or three way crossover, I just want a one way, with a dial so I can cut off at whatever frequency sounds best.

It sounds like you want a passive crossover and for low pass using high quality caps and coils with variable frequency cutoff, it will cost more than a decent active one in an equalizer. Also, passive crossovers cause insertion loss and phase shift, which aren't good for the sound.

 

[aaron6939]

Alright cool, thanks for the good info. I guess I'll keep a lookout on ebay.