Subwoofer cross over frequency

[wywong]

Hi,
I have a 5.1 system with B&W 804S as the front left and right, HTM3S as center and a pair of small Mirage as surrounds powered by Classe ssp-300 and CA-5100. Can someone advise me what sub-woofer cross over frequency I should use to get the best sound. Shoud I set it at 60 or 80 Hz. Thanks!!

[htsteve]

Try both and see which sounds better in your room. Many people, including me, have it at 80 Hz. The more capable your sub is, the more I would trust it to cover at higher bass levels.



Hope this helps.

[mjb]

80hz seems a bit high for a sub, but try and see which setting you prefer :T

[bigburner]

If you are using your system to listen to music or watch music DVDs then I would set up the front speakers to play 80 Hz and above. I would then experiment with my sub to play anywhere from 120 Hz to 80 Hz and below.

Conventional theory dictates that there should be minimal overlap between your fronts and your sub but my advice is to ignore conventional theory and trust your ears (I can hear the howls of disapproval already).

If your sub is positioned in between your fronts, as it should be if music is your preference, then you will find that you can get away with a much higher frequency from your sub, e.g. 120 Hz.

If you are using your system to watch movies then I can't advise you.

Nigel.

[dukester]

Hi,
I have a 5.1 system with B&W 804S as the front left and right, HTM3S as center and a pair of small Mirage as surrounds powered by Classe ssp-300 and CA-5100. Can someone advise me what sub-woofer cross over frequency I should use to get the best sound. Shoud I set it at 60 or 80 Hz. Thanks!!

The majority of my sub use is for HT (until i can get a hold of a good analog sub). I tend to keep it at 60 to minimize the booming...sounds cleaner imo.

[emig5m]

My sub is calibrated so good, and the positioning of my front mains to seating position is so good that with 2-channel stereo, you literally cannot hear a difference with most music between 40Hz to 100Hz crossover. Now my center channel is in kind of in a cubby or the placement to seating position is just not 100% (I admit, I'll tweak positioning of the front mains for 2-channel until it's just right, and go through the same lengths to calibrate the sub, but will be totally lazy with the rest of the channels and not put much of any effort into positioning) so I really MUST crossover at 100Hz or my dialog channel sounds muddy. So for 2-channel I can use almost any crossover and not hear much of any difference, but for movies/surround, 100Hz is absolutely required to clear up my dialog - might have some phasing issues with the rear channels too in surround, who knows, I'll just leave it at 100Hz for now until I change the room around this winter (when I have the time for tweaking).