• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

2.1 system optimal high/low pass crossover frequency and type

Diegs

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2023
Messages
18
Likes
19
What are your thoughts on crossover frequency and type for a 2.1 music system?

Mains: Monolith Encore T6
Sub: SVS PB-1000
Amp: VTV AMPLIFIER Purifi Eigentakt Stereo
Pre/DAC/Streamer: MiniDSP SHD
Phono: Fluance RT85 and FOSI X2 Preamp

Been experimenting and landed on these crossover settings: Mains 40hz Butterworth 12db and Sub 45hz Butterworth 24db. This seems unusual in comparison to the THX recommended 80hz, but I didn’t like the way it sounded.
 

Attachments

  • image0.jpeg
    image0.jpeg
    234.8 KB · Views: 42
Most people here would recomend measuring in order to confirm results and get an idea of what is going on in the room (room modes). REW and a UMIK-1 or UMIK-2 is a good way to get started. 80 Hz and LR 2 or LR 4 are reasonable starting points but depending on how your room and speakers and sub intetact "Cookie cutter" standard xover curves are seldom ideal. It is a big subject but rather than just going by ear you will be better off using measurements combined with listening to arrive at the best solution. Good luck and have fun.
 
Thanks, I have not done any measurements yet. I did try Dirac live on the MiniDSP and didn’t care for those results, made the speakers sound thin and hollow. I’ll give it a try with the LR filters and higher xover points, but 80hz just seems so high for large main speakers.
 
The great thing about measurements is you can measure and listen and then change, measure, and listen again. After awhile you will learn what you like and how it measures, it may not be a "flat" response but that is always a good place to start. Without measurements it is easy to get swayed by visual ques or your mood.

40 Hz is not an unreasonable xover for full range speakers but with full range speakers a sub is usually used to help smooth out bass response due to room modes rather than add lower response.
 
The great thing about measurements is you can measure and listen and then change, measure, and listen again. After awhile you will learn what you like and how it measures, it may not be a "flat" response but that is always a good place to start. Without measurements it is easy to get swayed by visual ques or your mood.

40 Hz is not an unreasonable xover for full range speakers but with full range speakers a sub is usually used to help smooth out bass response due to room modes rather than add lower response.
You put into words (smoothing) what I think I am trying to get to. Going to start researching measuring rew / modes to put a little science behind it. Thanks
 
Dug into REW and it’s very deep, I will not be jumping into that rabbit hole for my budget living room system. I’ll keep researching and experimenting. Based on my sessions so far a low crossover frequency is the key point for getting the sound I like. What’s really cool about the MiniDSP I can put my favorite settings into the presets and then A/B/C/D against each other and rank them.
 
Don't overcomplicate REW, start simple, just do a moving mic average around the main listening position and look for any very obvious aberrations. Understand in the bass, flat is generally not desirable, a house curve similar to the Harmon Curve or one of the like is usually more satisfying, so simply experiment with target curves. If you can fill in nulls by messing with crossover points or phase, great, but don't try to boost out of a null. Also don't worry about being "done". Meaning you have very powerful software to significantly manipulate the quality (especially of the bass), you're probably not going to hit it out of the park first few go-arounds. If you get to a good spot, save it and you can always go back there, but keep exploring as your curiosity leads you, you can get pretty far trusting your ears and confirming with a mic. I recall when I got started trying to find bass that appealed to me, I didn't know what the Harmon Curve was but I got pretty close to it by my own means, it was a fun "aha!" moment when I saw what the Harmon curve was and it almost overlayed directly over the curve I had cooked up on my own.
 
Back
Top Bottom