Full Range vs 80 Hz Crossover

[Isosevodes]

Hello All. I have Polk R700 speakers. Via my AVR, crossovers are set to 80 Hz. My brother the “Master Audiophile” says I should change the setting to Full Range because he says they are Full Range speakers and would sound better if I make the change. What say you? Thank you in advance!

 

[isolar8001]

Hello All. I have Polk R700 speakers. Via my AVR, crossovers are set to 80 Hz. My brother the “Master Audiophile” says I should change the setting to Full Range because he says they are Full Range speakers and would sound better if I make the change. What say you? Thank you in advance!

For Music....maybe, under certain instances.
For Movies...no way.

 

[Isosevodes]

Maybe and no way? Thats good enough for me! Thank you!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ha. Full range with a low fr of 38hz? No.
What I would consider, is a 50 or 60hz XO,and see what you think. The main thing is to experiment for yourself. Then you can decide for yourself, and know what’s best in your room.
As isolar said. Music? Maybe full range plus sub.

 

[Isosevodes]

Ha. Full range with a low fr of 38hz? No.
What I would consider, is a 50 or 60hz XO,and see what you think. The main thing is to experiment for yourself. Then you can decide for yourself, and know what’s best in your room.
As isolar said. Music? Maybe full range plus sub.

I think I’ll try the 60 first. For the Polks as well as the Center Channel????

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I think I’ll try the 60 first. For the Polks as well as the Center Channel????

What’s the cc again?

 

[Isosevodes]

What’s the cc again?

What’s the cc again?

Klipsch RP504C-II.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Klipsch RP504C-II.

It’s rated to 58hz. So imo, as Klipsch is dubious with specs, I’d just set it for 80. I mean try it for yourself so you know. But I don’t think 60 is right.

 

[Isosevodes]

It’s rated to 58hz. So imo, as Klipsch is dubious with specs, I’d just set it for 80. I mean try it for yourself so you know. But I don’t think 60 is right.

Ok. I’ll go 60 on the Polks. 80 on the Klipsch. Thank you.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ok. I’ll go 60 on the Polks. 80 on the Klipsch. Thank you.

Roger that. Report back.

 

[Isosevodes]

Will do!

 

[ski2xblack]

Potential issues letting the Polks run full range would be:
a) slightly higher IM distortion (only really an issue if you're blasting it)
b)the Polks are bass reflex alignment, so they will exhibit a considerable phase shift at the lower extremities of their response, which can be problematic when it comes to blending in the subs.

Your room is very much more of an issue at these frequencies, so running the sub with a bit of overlap with mains running full range can actually help with modal smoothing.

 

[Trebdp83]

Not just no, but F#%k No! They are not full range speakers and running them Full Band with an Onkyo mean you will have to also turn Double Bass ON to get a signal to the Subwoofer when playing two channel signals.

Double Bass is NOT like LFE+Main in Denon/Marantz receivers and Bass will be boosted to the Fronts and the subwoofer even when there is LFE. The receiver will also run much hotter using Full Band.

The subwoofer will do a better job of bass reproduction than the fronts all day long. Don’t cut it off at the knees with a low crossover to the Fronts.

As I mentioned in another thread, Klipsch and Onkyo have a preset for Klipsch speakers. The setting for the RP 404C-II is 120Hz. I doubt the 504 would be set much lower.

Adjust it all to taste of course but be mindful of the fact that the lower the crossover and louder the volume, the hotter the receiver will run. Heat is your enemy here. Let a good subwoofer do its job.

 

[Isosevodes]

Not just no, but F#%k No! They are not full range speakers and running them Full Band with an Onkyo mean you will have to also turn Double Bass ON to get a signal to the Subwoofer when playing two channel signals.

Double Bass is NOT like LFE+Main in Denon/Marantz receivers and Bass will be boosted to the Fronts and the subwoofer even when there is LFE. The receiver will also run much hotter using Full Band.

The subwoofer will do a better job of bass reproduction than the fronts all day long. Don’t cut it off at the knees with a low crossover to the Fronts.

As I mentioned in another thread, Klipsch and Onkyo have a preset for Klipsch speakers. The setting for the RP 404C-II is 120Hz. I doubt the 504 would be set much lower.

Adjust it all to taste of course but be mindful of the fact that the lower the crossover and louder the volume, the hotter the receiver will run. Heat is your enemy here. Let a The good subwoofer do its job.

The Full Range is definitely off the table. I forgot to mention that the sub is an RSL Speedwoofer 12S. What is your opinion for XO for the Polks and Klipsch CC? Please keep your reply newbie simple. Thank you so much.

 

[isolar8001]

Will do!

Those sub crossovers aren't dead-on cutoffs....they slope up and down.
Better to be too high than too low.
Those Polks have good upper bass but don't have any sub bass.

Like Treb just said, you will overwork your amp crossing the system too low, not to mention increasing distortion at higher volumes.

Best to just leave it at 80hz unless your room is some kind of acoustical nightmare.

 

[Trebdp83]

I also wouldn’t go lower than 80Hz on any speaker there. The 7100 is fine but it is no RZ70. But, every room has its own issues and some might go as low as 60Hz. There will be trade offs with any combination of settings but none of the components should be overworked.

The 80Hz number has been a given for a long time and some might be surprised that a 100Hz or even a 120Hz setting may provide better audible results depending on the room and combination of the components making up the system. Most of the fun will be had figuring it all out.

 

[Isosevodes]

Thank you all for the input! I will experiment and report later!

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello All. I have Polk R700 speakers. Via my AVR, crossovers are set to 80 Hz. My brother the “Master Audiophile” says I should change the setting to Full Range because he says they are Full Range speakers and would sound better if I make the change. What say you? Thank you in advance!

He could be correct. I run all my speakers, except the ceiling speakers full range, and yes, that includes movies. All my base layer speakers are powerful capable speakers. If yours are, your brother may be correct. In "Marantz" world that means setting the receiver to LFE + Main. There is no doubt that I get by far the best results that way.

 

[Trebdp83]

No, he could not be correct. No, his speakers and Onkyo receiver combo are not capable of Full Band playback of movie or music tracks at high volume for long periods of time.

The LFE+Main feature in Denon/Marantz models is superior to Onkyo’s Double Bass feature. Double Bass does not just copy Front channel low frequencies to the subwoofer. It actually boosts them in the Front and subwoofer channels. This is also the case with multichannel tracks and LFE signals. The Front speakers will be worked hard at high volume and things could get ugly for the receiver as well.

Most folks using mid tier AVRs are also using speakers that are not Full Band capable speakers and should be using sensible crossovers and capable subwoofers to do the heavy lifting.

Anybody frequenting this site has seen pics posted by @TLS Guy of his speakers. We may still in this thread. The Polks mentioned in this thread aren’t anything like them. The Onkyo TX-NR7100, Polk R700 speakers and RSL Speedwoofer 12S will do fine if used within their limits. That goes for the components in any given system.

 

[TLS Guy]

No, he could not be correct. No, his speakers and Onkyo receiver combo are not capable of Full Band playback of movie or music tracks at high volume for long periods of time.

The LFE+Main feature in Denon/Marantz models is superior to Onkyo’s Double Bass feature. Double Bass does not just copy Front channel low frequencies to the subwoofer. It actually boosts them in the Front and subwoofer channels. This is also the case with multichannel tracks and LFE signals. The Front speakers will be worked hard at high volume and things could get ugly for the receiver as well.

Most folks using mid tier AVRs are also using speakers that are not Full Band capable speakers and should be using sensible crossovers and capable subwoofers to do the heavy lifting.

Anybody frequenting this site has seen pics posted by @TLS Guy of his speakers. We may still in this thread. The Polks mentioned in this thread aren’t anything like them. The Onkyo TX-NR7100, Polk R700 speakers and RSL Speedwoofer 12S will do fine if used within their limits. That goes for the components in any given system.

I had no idea that was how the double bass feature worked on Onkyo. That sounds totally daft. The Marantz/Denon system helps get good even bass throughout the room.