RM6900 crossover setting?

KenM

I have the RM6900 speakers. I have read about and tried the recommended sub hookup but would like to try the LFE method.

The pioneer VSX1015 has crossovers of 50, 80, 100, 150 and 200. The speakers frequency at -3db are 100Hz - 20kHz and the sub at -3db is 28Hz - 180Hz (however overall frequency range of sub is stated as 35Hz - 125Hz which is kind of confusing to me, shouldn't the range be wider).

I have equalized and set/checked reference levels at 75db, with the sub set lower at 72db using radio shack sound meter (read that you should subtract 3db using this meter). Speakers are set as small.

As far as crossover, I have seen recommendations that the crossover should be set one octave above the lowest frequency, which in this case would put it at 200. Trying this it sounds too boomy. Set at 80, bass seems very lacking. I find the crossover set at 100 sounds the best to my inexperienced ears, but tend to think maybe I should set it at 150 which sounds better than 200 but still a little to boomy or muddy.

I also did a THX frequency sweep off a DVD ( Fight Club) and couldn't really tell any difference between 80, 100, 150, & 200 as far as frequency loss or transition smoothness. Makes me think I my listening skills are lacking.

My question is, based strictly on the frequency of the speakers and not my inexperienced ears, what should the crossover be set to.

Thanks!

MaxxuM

The problem is not your ears, but the room. Fifty percent of your sound quality is acoustics – poor acoustics and you have poor sound, period. Think of your living space as part of your home theater. If you are not willing to address it directly then you have to make compromises to the electronic side of your home theater and that usually means limiting your whole experience (e.g. poor sound). One of the big signs of a poor home theater setup is setting your speakers to ‘large’ to improve sound. By doing so the AVR will not send the low frequencies to the sub and as a result it ‘cures’ their muddy or boomy sound at the expense of now never hearing some of the movies audio (usually a big chunk too).

Now, acoustics is a big complex beast that almost never will be cured in a normal persons living room – does this mean you are doomed to poor sound? No, it just means you’ll have to make compromises. The easiest one being the worst IMO is setting your speakers to ‘large’. Not only will it limit your experience by cutting out chunks of audio from the movie it also robs power from the satellites (low freq are more difficult to produce than higher) and it will distort the sound from your satellites.

The first thing you can do is move the sub around. Keep it away from corners (it increases resonance), if it is close to a wall, move it away. If you do not have concrete floors (or sub floor) then something is going to have to go under it to reduce resonance (I would do this anyway). If you do not know about bass traps I would do a search on Google to learn more about them.

If you would like more help in dealing with your rooms acoustics please describe your room starting with its dimensions (length, width and height), what the walls, floor and ceiling are made off, what types and how much glass is in the room (tables, windows, mirrors and frames), if you have carpet, rugs or draperies, what you have covering the windows and so on. Room acoustics can be as easy as moving around furniture or adding different drapes or a throw rug. For as little as 300 bucks you could improve your theater experience by more than 30 percent!

Oh, and I would not set it any higher than 100Hz Once you pass 120Hz bass can be localized (people will know where it is coming from and look at your sub every time there is an explosion which is a bad thing).

TheReaper

You are correct that your two best choices are 100 and 150. If it sounds best to you at 100hz, that is where you should put it. The idea of tunning is to maximize your enjoyment in the sound.