thanks for your reply. yes i definitely want to try the high pass filter and i too saw then ocdguy video on it and was impressed. he used a high pass filter hardware that i recall being quite expensive, which discouraged me. your pcparts ecxpress alternative is cheap enough but i dont have technical know how in this area to maybe do it myself.
so i have some questions:
1. is there pre built option that is hi quality yet affordable? going the emotica sub route with built in crossover at $299 seems enticing but i want to have freedom to choose my subs.
2. is a single rel sub good enough? ocdguy had swarm sub array. what about dual rel subs?
3. any experience with dirac?
The hookup for my Parts Express High Pass Filter is quite easy. You attach your existing speaker wire to the input tabs and add a small bit of speaker cord to the output tabs and then to your speakers. you only must check the polarity which is clearly labeled on the bottom of the crossover. I've been using this exact setup with my Rel T5 and it is outstanding now with the bass response. I may put all this in a plastic box just to make it prettier. I encourage you to try it.
1. Unfortunately, with all thing's audiophile, any other high pass filter options wil surely be much more expensive than what I have presented. You could try these inline crossover modules that would do the same thing but further upstream from the preamp out to the amp. This will depend how you hookup a sub. In my case these inline modules would not work since I am tapping off the Amp speaker connections to my Rel sub. But if you are using a seperate preamp output to your sub then these could work.
RCA inline 70hz High Pass
2. I think for most a single sub is plenty. You also gain freedom to tune by being able to move the sub around independent of the left and right channel speakers.
3. I have a home theater and use a XMC-2 Processor which uses Dirac. I haven't tried the latest version yet, but I was little underwhelmed. Many people think Dirac is one of the best and I don't dispute that. It's just that I want to primarilly adjust the bass region and Dirac wants to address the full frequency spectrum. I have Martin Logan Expression 13a's in my Home Theater. It comes with ARC as well and I need to try that as well.
For purist two channel systems, these all-in-one Auto EQ systems are bit of an overkill. I wouild prefer to have a lighter touch. That's why I like my passive high filter which is quite simple but remarkably effective.
There are many ways to attack this.
1. Roon - you might want to try a free trial of Roon and look at the built in DSP settings. Specificlly, the PEQ filters. You may have noticed in every review here ther are Roon EQ suggestions. Most people think Roon is just a glorified music management system when they should really look at it as another audio component such as a CD player, etc. Its DSP features are extremely powerful.
2. Use a hardware component like the highly recommended RME ADI-2 FS that has built in DSP and PEQ functions.
3. Look at innovative products like the Hi-Fi Berry DSP DAC Hat (about $90). that has DSP EQ functions.
4. Don't dismiss Emotiva subs with High Pass out of hand. Emotiva has an exceptionally good engineering staff and build a ton of quality at attractive prices.
Good luck.
