Kef R3 + SVS 3000 Micro - digital crossover (at what frequency?)

[thenamelessone7]

I got KEF R3 and SVS 3000 Micro. I am going to buy MiniDSP Flex and I would like to cross them over digitally. I am also buying UMIK-2 to be able to measure real in-room frequency response.

There are quite quite annoying reflections in my living room because it is very minimally furnished.

What frequency do you suggest I choose? How should I proceed step by step?

Thanks for the insights.

 

[o7_brother]

Just chiming to say ou don't need the UMIK-2 if you're only doing in-room measurements, the UMIK-1 is fine.

What have you read/researched so far, in terms of how to do a 2.1 setup?

 

[thenamelessone7]

I have ready that I need to do sub crawl to find the optimal position for the subwoofer. That sounded like great advice in my previous apartment which was full of hoarded "junk" and actually had really good acoustics as a result.

The new minimalist living room has a lot of flat surfaces and there are some weird reverbs going on which I cannot identify without a measuring microphone. SVS suggests to make the x-over at 60Hz in absence of another DSP device but I would probably like to cross over at a higher frequency and do high pass filter via MiniDSP Flex to offload some bass and remove sub-bass frequencies from the speakers. They are fairly close to the wall (roughly 13") and I cannot really pull them forward any more. I feel like this might be the culprit of the reverbs.

 

[delta76]

I'm also interested in the topic. Still a lot to learn, but on a theoretical level, I'd start with 60hz. R3 get to 58Hz with -3dB so 60Hz is a safe point to "leave it to the sub". Then you can fine tune further with volume of each speaker /sub.

 

[gavagai]

The new minimalist living room has a lot of flat surfaces and there are some weird reverbs going on which I cannot identify without a measuring microphone.

It doesn't matter for a sub.

I would probably like to cross over at a higher frequency and do high pass filter via MiniDSP Flex to offload some bass and remove sub-bass frequencies from the speakers.

That's probably the good way to do it. But you have to keep in mind that the higher the crossover will be, the higher the room modes will come into play (I suppose that you know the stuff about bass localisation and crossover frequency).
If you always listen at the same place, in the religious fashion, no problem.
If you don't, or you intend to watch movies with other people, you may want to cross your sub to the natural rolloff of your main speaker.

I see no problem at all with this option : the Kef R3 has a really good bass driver with good distortions. The port is well though, so you don't have to get rid of nasty resonances. Its audio band is very narrow, so no problem with intermodulation distorsion.

Naturally you don't have to choose if you use two presets with your flex. You will need put your sub in LFE mode.
Last advice : don't do this theoretically. Do this on actual measurements. You probably also need an equalization.

 

[Matias]

I would cross between 60 and 80 Hz, listening for changes between both, and also REW + UMIK-1 to fix the room.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Having owned that sub my suggestion is to let the R3’s do the work and cross the sub between 40 - 50 otherwise the little guy will struggle to keep up.
Measurements will be the real test though.

 

[Fahzz]

What crossover point is suggested for an older "full size" SVS SB 12 with R3's? I know it's room and ear dependent, but I'd like an idea where to start. Thanks.

 

[dshreter]

Start with the measurements of the R3 speakers only and look at the major in-room deviations in bass response. If you have a major suck-out or peak at say 70Hz, you might want the sub working there. If you actually have smooth response down to 60Hz, then you know you could safely crossover at the lower frequency.

 

[thenamelessone7]

What crossover point is suggested for an older "full size" SVS SB 12 with R3's? I know it's room and ear dependent, but I'd like an idea where to start. Thanks.

I think SVS is basing recommendations off your speaker brand and model rather than the sub you bought from them. For KEF R3 the recommended crossover is 60Hz and 24dB per octave slope.