No matter how good is your speaker, 5" woofers can only do so much.
Hmm....Are you saying that if OP is using an excellent large 3 ways in the same room and same location, he will still need same high crossover to sound good?Here, you’d be surprised. Keep in mind that by the measurements JBL 705 is capable of higher output than JBL 308!
The issue here is room/placement related, not speaker related. There’s no reason in that setup not to use the crossover to work around such issues, so the higher cross (which is generally speaking my default) is a great fix.
Hmm....Are you saying that if OP is using an excellent large 3 ways in the same room and same location, he will still need same high crossover to sound good?
Entirely possible, yes. Rooms don’t care about your plans.
First of all, you don't know what is going on in OP's room.
Secondly, regarding using high crossover point, when did you last see any member mention they have large speakers?
So far I have read about this one and KEF LS50, which is another 5" woofer speaker.
Thirdly, I have two 5.1 setups and 4 stereo setups in 4 different rooms in various sizes. I have played with speakers with 5", 7", and 10" woofers, placed in same room and same location. Yes, 5" crossed high most of the time sounded much better than crossed low. Less so with 7" and 10" woofers speakers.
Please share your own experience with us.
I do know the loudspeakers at issue well.
There is at least one person above who notes using a 120Hz crossover with markedly more capable mains. I also write from personal experience.
While I don’t doubt that, I assure you none of those 5” speakers were this capable. Again, note that in Sound und Recording’s measurements this pint sized wonder had more bass capability than the 8” woofer model in JBL’s lower line. Depending on listening distance and SPL expectations your observations make sense.
I currently use JBL 708 with multiple subwoofers. A 120Hz crossover happens to provide the objectively smoothest and subjectively most enveloping bass. Previously I used loudspeakers with two 7” woofers flanking a coax. The same was true then, in this room. In a different room things may work out very differently.
Can any of you come up with theories as to what might be happening here with science?
No, of course not! "SCIENCE" is not a bunch of "THEORIES"
I take it (SWAG) to mean a best guess based on logic, practical experience and known principles, but without having sufficient knowledge of the situation and limited data.
i meant the crossover between sub and speakers.What do you mean "a speaker's crossover"? A crossover is that very intersection between low pass and high pass filters for sub/speakers. Or do you mean the speaker's internal crossover between drivers via the passive network?