Hi folks,
I would like to ask for your opinions on my speaker/subwoofer setup.
First let me make clear that I'm not by any means a bona fide audiophile, but simply a melomaniac who enjoys decent sounding music. My setup is therefore pretty mid-fi, if such a term exists: Technics 1200 turntables equipped with Shure Whitelabel cartridges, vintage
Rotel RA-612 amplifier,
Ecler Smac Pro 20 mixer/preamp,
Monitor Audio RS1 main speakers and - here's the thing - 2 subwoofers; a
James EMB1000 and a smaller
Elac Sub 303 ESP.
The James is connected to my mixer, while the Elac is connected to the main amp (see illustration below).
The main speakers, small as they are, go surprisingly low when rear bass reflex ports are unblocked. Bass is thus present, but it’s not a very high quality bass, especially since the speakers are placed kind of in the corners of the room and hence tend to a certain boominess (no, I don't have any other placement option).
Having the subwoofers, I feel I should try to avoid the speaker boominess (and frequencies from clashing all too much), so I have the speaker reflex ports blocked. I have also activated the 40Hz high pass filter which is (for some reason) built into the amplifier, cutting only the signal going to the main speakers.
The James subwoofer is really powerful in frequencies down to 20hz while the smaller Elac unit cuts at 40Hz. I have therefore set the James subwoofer to cross over at around 60-70Hz, managing only true sub bass.
I find that the overall sound benefits greatly from setting the smaller Elac subwoofer to cross over at around 160Hz, kind of taking over where the James sub cuts and also taking care of the bass notes the main speakers could (boomingly) reproduce, had I not blocked the reflex ports.
When I bought the James EMB1000, my intention was to get rid of the Elac and use only the James, but I'm telling you: I have tried using only the James unit crossing over at 180 Hz, but I find the resulting bass being just too massive, lacking the...
perkiness I achieve in the 80 - 160Hz range with the Elac.
Now, to my question: I was thinking it could be a good idea to put a high pass filter on the main speakers and Elac subwoofer, in order to let the James alone take care of those low frequencies without interference from the mains and the Elac.
But, at what frequency should I cross over, and which roll off would be best (
the filter would have a fixed filter frequency and roll off, so I wouldn't be able to do it by trial and error)? I’m considering 80Hz with a 24dB roll off, but that's mostly based on my gut feeling. Any suggestions? Is it even a good idea?
Regards,
F
