Subwoofer Crossover?

[Redbone]

I have always had confusion as to how and where I should set up my subwoofer to crossover from the mains.

I am running a floorstanding set of speakers containing two 5.5" bass /mid drivers that go down to 55Hz.

I was told in the past that all speakers should be set to small regardless of size with the crossover set at 80Hz.

When I purchased the front main speakers the dealer said I would benefit better setting them to large & crossing them at 60Hz. I listen to music about 60% of the time so I did what he said. Though I hear from a lot of people including Hsu Research engineers, that all speakers should be set to small regardless of size.

How are most systems set up that have floorstanders in front and a sub? Always thought you should cross at the lowest point your speakers can reproduce.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[mulester7]

I have always had confusion as to how and where I should set up my subwoofer to crossover from the mains.

I am running a floorstanding set of speakers containing two 5.5" bass /mid drivers that go down to 55Hz.

I was told in the past that all speakers should be set to small regardless of size with the crossover set at 80Hz.

When I purchased the front main speakers the dealer said I would benefit better setting them to large & crossing them at 60Hz. I listen to music about 60% of the time so I did what he said. Though I hear from a lot of people including Hsu Research engineers, that all speakers should be set to small regardless of size.

How are most systems set up that have floorstanders in front and a sub? Always thought you should cross at the lowest point your speakers can reproduce.

Any advice is appreciated.

.....Redbone, I would run two-way floorstanders and two-way bookshelves for sure as small....with three-way floorstanders up front, I would see what 60-down out the LFE would bring....

 

[mike c]

well, how did it sound when you changed from small-80 to large-60?

personally, i think you should go back to small-80 or at the very least small-60 (for experimentation)

 

[Redbone]

It sounded a lot different when I switched from small 80 to big 60. A lot more sledgehammer bass at small 80, kind of thought it was lacking something at big 60.

 

[Sheep]

large sends all the bass to the speakers, no matter what.

Run the speaker Small 60, or whatever the rolloff frequency is.

SheepStar

 

[Redbone]

Thanks I appreciate the info....

 

[jcPanny]

Crossover settings

As indicated above, the crossover setting is irrelevant for the mains (or any other speaker) that you set to large. Most receivers have a global crossover frequency that applies to all channels including the center and surrounds. This is why THX and most users pick 80 Hz because most surround speakers can't play down to the 50-60 Hz range.