Properly balancing a bi-amped speaker?

[Reorx]

I have a JBL Pro speaker that is bi-amped.
1 amp is for tweeters, 1 amp woofers.

I currently balanced it by ear, adjusting the volume / gain on the amps. But it's not quite right.

The questions I have are:

How would you properly balance the tweeters and woofers?
Would you use a software spectrum analyzer loaded on a laptop?
Would you use a SPL meter + tones and set the tweeter and woofers to the same spl (one at a time)?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Reorx

 

[Ethan Winer]

Reorx,

> How would you properly balance the tweeters and woofers? <

You didn't mention the speaker model, but most "all in one" bi-amped speakers I've seen are set permanently and don't need user adjustment.

> Would you use a software spectrum analyzer loaded on a laptop? Would you use a SPL meter + tones and set the tweeter and woofers to the same spl (one at a time)? <

Yes, you'd use a third-octave analyzer and a calibrated measuring microphone at the listening position, and then adjust each speaker separately. Then check once more with both speakers running (mono).

--Ethan

 

[Reorx]

Reorx,
You didn't mention the speaker model, but most "all in one" bi-amped speakers I've seen are set permanently and don't need user adjustment.

Yes, you'd use a third-octave analyzer and a calibrated measuring microphone at the listening position, and then adjust each speaker separately. Then check once more with both speakers running (mono).
--Ethan

JBL Pro SP222, there is a link in my sig.
It uses a NL4 connector, 2 wires from each amp. 1 pair for the tweeter, 1 pair for the woofers.
There are no adjustments on the speaker itself, everything has to be done elsewhere.

What software package have you used, and would you recommend?

 

[Ethan Winer]

Reorx,

> There are no adjustments on the speaker itself, everything has to be done elsewhere. <

Gotcha. I was thinking of self-powered speakers. I have a pair of very large 4430 JBL professional monitors in my home recording studio. I power them with two stereo Crown amps (> 1 KW total), and use a Rane active crossover which I set using a third-octave analyzer.

> What software package have you used, and would you recommend? <

These days I use the ETF software:

www.etfacoustic.com

This program runs on Windows and costs $150, but you can use the free demo. The more advanced features omitted from the demo are very useful, but the demo does third-octave analysis and that's all you need for this particular application. When you get to the point of acoustically treating your room (if you haven't already) the full package is worthwhile.

--Ethan