Frequency Explained

BossHog

Being new to the world of audio equipment, I'm trying to have a better understanding of FREQUENCY. In layman's terms, exactly how does it work and what should I learn/understand to help me buy and set up audio/vid equipment.

60hz - 160hz, what does this tell me?

For example...
What audible sounds do we hear at 60Hz?

What sounds are heard at 160hz etc?

Also, at the back of a subwoofer, the Low Pass Freq dial ranges from 60hz to 160hz.

What will I hear turning the dial towards 60hz?

What will I hear turning the dial towards 160hz?

Regards!

Dennis Gardner

The frequencies that you speak of are a range of bass notes or tones that can be played by your sub. 20hz to 200hz are good range for a sub to reproduce.

The 80-160 dial is a filter controller that allows the tones below the setting point to be passed on, and those above to be filtered out. This is commonly called a crossover point where your sub stops reproducing sounds and your main speakers take over for the higher sounds.

Here is a frequency chart that shows how they relate to the piano keyboard and other musical intruments and human voices.

Frequency Chart

BossHog

So with a 60hz-160hz subwoofer low pass dial, what is an ideal crossover point setting?

Dennis, thanks for the chart

okiepolkie

Three questions first:

1) What subwoofer are you using?
2) What receiver are you using?
3) What inputs are you using going into the sub?

The answers to these questions will help determine what frequency you should set it on.

HBombToo

Originally posted by BossHog
So with a 60hz-160hz subwoofer low pass dial, what is an ideal crossover point setting?

Dennis, thanks for the chart

turn it to 160 untll you understand

BossHog

okiepolkie.

I'm using....

Harman/Kardon AVR130 receiver.
Fronts - Polk R30's
Surround - Polk R15's
SubW - Polk PSW303 using the Pre-out into the sub's LFE.

okiepolkie

Since you are using the LFE input on your sub, then you don't need to even worry with the crossover on the back of the sub. Using the LFE input bypasses the subwoofer's internal crossover and you change(or it is already set) the crossover setting inside the receiver. Most of the time, this frequency is somewhere around 80Hz.

Hope this helps.

sowen010599

Actually............

If you are using the LFE input, you need to turn the crossover all the way up (to 160 or whatever). Otherwise you'll run into cascading crossovers and all kinds of weird BS.

Meh, never-mind, I just looked up and saw PSW 303, so the crossover is bypassed with the LFE input. But, not all subs are like that. IE Velodyne, you have a bypass switch you need to flip or turn the crossover all the way up.

BossHog

I will set the crossover to 80hz in the receiver.

Should I set the fronts (R30's) to "large or small"?

sowen010599

Small

steveinaz

To answer your first question; frequency, as it applies to audio equipment describes a range of tone(s). Human hearing is thought to be between 20Hz (Hz=cycles per second) to 20,000Hz. The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch of the tone. FWIW, most adults can't hear beyond 15.5kHz, but there are exceptions. These are debatable, but generally:

20-200Hz is thought of as the bass region
200-2kHz is thought of as the midrange region
2kHz-20kHz is thought of as the treble region

of course this is not a hard/fast rule, just speaking in general terms, and there is overlap.

bknauss

Here's another good link.
http://www.recordingeq.com/EQ/req0900/primer.htm