Crossover Setting

skrewloose

Ok I have a pioneer 509 receiver, and polk rm6700 speakers, along with a psw12 sub. I redid my system some, and have a question. I was looking at the crossover setting. My receiver can be set for 200, 150, 100. My speaker manual says they can go down 2 98 or so frequency wise, but have a -3db limit of 130. I have no idea what this limit Means. Should I go by that and use the 150, or can my speakers reach down to 100, or would letting the sub handle 100-150 be preferable anyway? Any feedback is greatly appreciate. I am in a tweek mood, so wanted to see what others thought.

Ruin

The -3db limit means that although your speakers will go down to the stated range, they will not produce as much sound below the -3db limit, they will produce 3db less sound. 3db is actually a significant difference.

Ideally your sub should not have to reproduce high bass frequencies since is is designed for low bass and subsonic. If you could crossover at 130 that would be best given the limits of your mains. Just play with it and see how it sounds. you could crossover at 100 at EQ your bass for +3db boost in the 100 to 130 range to make up for the loss or you could crossover at 150 and let your sub handle things up to 150. It is important that you not double filter though, your sub has to have a port that will accept a straight LFE or line level signal without filtering it.

Ruin

adam2434

I'd try 100 and 150 Hz, and see which sounds best.

If using 150 Hz, I'd try to move the sub as close as possible to the front speakers in order to reduce localization of the sub. The higher the frequencies going to the sub, the more you will be able to pinpoint the sub, which is distracting.

In either case, I'd calibrate levels with a SPL meter and make adjustments from there if necessary.

And as Ruin stated, use the LFE input on the sub.

skrewloose

Well, I have no eq on the receiver, only the volume for each channel. Still want to upgrade receivers, but have not yet. And yeah, my sub is near my front right speaker. I have fooled with it some, and the only diff I notice is the bass doesn't sound as "high" with the 100 setting, but if I am missing sound, and yeah, it seems a little less vibrant with the 100 setting, then I will stick with 150 till I get a receiver that has more specific crossovers. Thanks for the advice. Any other imput is always welcome. I know I do not know everything, so always willing to learn more. And a lot of people have told me to invest in a sound meter, just never have yet.