Newb question about low-pass on subwoofer
petertkim
Posts: 4
Hi y'all. I am a happy new owner of Rti38 + PSW250 (bought at Crutchfield for less than $400!) - my Celestion 5 speakers finally died after 13 years of faithful service...
I have my sub connected the "polk way" - front speakers connected thru the sub.
If I set the low pass, say, at 90 Hz, does that mean the sub takes over completely below 90 Hz, or do the front speakers still play "full range" and subs simply "augment" the base starting at 90 Hz?
After careful listen, it seems that my fronts are playing "full range" and subs are simply "augmenting" below low pass. Am I correct?
Also, looking at the portion of the manual for PSW450 - it has an option called "switchable high pass filter" at 80 Hz which apparently cuts off all signals to the fronts below 80 Hz - my PSW 250 does not have this option - so I assume PSW250 simply "augments" the low range.
So, does the PSW250 "augment" or take over below low pass?
I use my set up only for stereo audio and my 10 yr old Onkyo receiver does not have any other sub-connection options.
Thanks in advance for any insight.
I have my sub connected the "polk way" - front speakers connected thru the sub.
If I set the low pass, say, at 90 Hz, does that mean the sub takes over completely below 90 Hz, or do the front speakers still play "full range" and subs simply "augment" the base starting at 90 Hz?
After careful listen, it seems that my fronts are playing "full range" and subs are simply "augmenting" below low pass. Am I correct?
Also, looking at the portion of the manual for PSW450 - it has an option called "switchable high pass filter" at 80 Hz which apparently cuts off all signals to the fronts below 80 Hz - my PSW 250 does not have this option - so I assume PSW250 simply "augments" the low range.
So, does the PSW250 "augment" or take over below low pass?
I use my set up only for stereo audio and my 10 yr old Onkyo receiver does not have any other sub-connection options.
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Post edited by petertkim on
Comments
-
Welcome to the Club Polk Forum,
I believe that when hooked up the polk way (speaker wire from the avr to the sub then out to the 38s) that the sub is filtering the frequencies below 90 Hz and passing the higher frequencies along to the 38s. This allows the RTi38s to concentrate on the mids and highs while the 250 handles the low bass.
If hooked up in "parallel" with the speaker wire going to the 38s and sub in, both will receive the full frequency signal. The sub will then filter out the frequencies above 90 Hz.
Try both ways and stick with what you like best. Congratulations on the new purchase.Graham -
Peter, although the Polk manual isn't entirely clear on the point, I believe that your assumption is correct. Although the 450 has an option to switch in an 80hz high pass filter on the high level outputs, the 250 has no such option and passes a full-range signal to your 38s. If you were using a receiver which had bass management which would itself insert a high-pass filter to the 38s above 80-100hz, I'd suggest that you use that output with a coaxial cable, but your receiver apparently has no such provision. The only suggestion would be to set the 250's low pass filter to its minimum value to minimize the bass overlap with the 38s.
