Speaker internal crossover matching receiver crossover

[Johnny Canuck]

I noticed the Axiom 80TI towers have a crossover of 160hz..my Polk RTI 12's are at 120. Now if someone is setting up their receiver and setting it at, say, 80hz like I have and is so highly recommended, what difference does the setting on the speaker have to do with anything? Thanks for explaining this. Should I really be putting my reciver crossover at 120?

I do notice the bass is much louder the higher I go but 80hz sounds like the nicest blend of everything, I just have to turn up the sub volume more.

JC

 

[Swerd]

I noticed the Axiom 80TI towers have a crossover of 160hz..my Polk RTI 12's are at 120. Now if someone is setting up their receiver and setting it at, say, 80hz like I have and is so highly recommended, what difference does the setting on the speaker have to do with anything? Thanks for explaining this. Should I really be putting my reciver crossover at 120?

No try much lower than 120 Hz. I think you are getting two different crossovers confused. The Polk RTi12s have an internal crossover at 120 Hz between the three 7" bass drivers (Polk adds to the confusion by calling them subwoofers) and the 5¼" midrange drivers. Your HT receiver controls the crossover between your external powered subwoofer and your Polk speakers. It should not be set at the same frequency as the 120 Hz crossover of your Polks. Try setting it lower, a lot lower. Try 40 or 60 Hz if your receiver allows it. And read the Audioholics articles about Bass Management http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/bassmanagementbasics.php

 

[Giuseppe]

Wow, me and you have a very similar system, lol. Hey, how much did you get your RTi12's for?

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I paid too much. $1599 Canadian about a year and a half ago. I do like the sound now that I have an amp on the lows. The CSI 5 is an awesome center channel and you can't get better for the money than the RTI 6's in the back..

how do you like your set up?

Thanks for explaining this guys. The receiver crossover is for the sub...now I have read that some say to open up the RTI 12's and disconnect the crossover. Why would someone do this?

JC

 

[Swerd]

The receiver crossover is for the sub...now I have read that some say to open up the RTI 12's and disconnect the crossover. Why would someone do this?JC

Polk claims the RTi12s are able to produce deep bass. So why would you limit that with the receiver's crossover and use a subwoofer instead? It depends on how powerful your receiver is and how much power the RTi12s demand to produce deep bass. You have a subwoofer with its own built-in amplifier. You can relieve the power demand that bass production makes on your receiver by limiting its bass response and shifting that burden to the subwoofers amp. It is said that this allows the reciever's amplifiers to work better on the remaining sound above the crossover point.

You can choose what crossover point sounds best to you. Try several different points: 40, 60, 80 Hz, maybe higher, and include using both the subwoofer and the RTi12s without a crossover (set them to large). There is no single correct way to do this. The locations of your speakers in the listening room can create a variety of different answers to this question.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Thanks Swerd

if I go down to 60, or 40 for that matter, bass is much much less. I think 80 is best, with 100 occasionally on some music.

I have tried the rti's on large and they have plenty of bass on their own, especially when set on "stereo" setting on the receiver and using the tone controls, turn the bass up. Also room EQ. I am using a power amp on the so called "subwoofers" of the Polks too so the strain on the receiver is minimal.

JC