speaker crossover settings for begginers

[jokerpaulonline]

As a novice, I wonder if anyone can explain about speaker crossover settings. In order to get the best settings, first of all I need to know and understand what they are and do.

we all got to start somewhere

 

[ear]

tehy go from low frequency to hih frequency...from bass to treble.

say at 60 hz crossover...speaker will only receive frequency over 60 hz

 

[jokerpaulonline]

Yes, but for someone that dont know anything about the different frequency's, That dont mean a lot. How does setting it to a low or high frequency effect the sound that you are listening to. I bet there are a lot of people out there that dont really know.

 

[Frank Harvey]

HI Paul

With normal speakers, the lower you set the crossover frequency, the more work they have to do. The higher you set it, the less work they have to do because the sub is taking up some of that burden. But in your case, you don't have to worry about that because your speakers are THX ones, which mean they cut off at 80Hz (producing nothing below) and have to be used with a sub. If you've ever heard a sub, you'll know which frequencies we're talking about here - the very low ones that shake the room and give your system rumble.

You can still vary your crossover point anywhere between 80Hz and 150Hz depending on the situation. Think of it this way. The lower the frequency, the more the bass cone has to move in and out to reproduce that note, which is why subwoofers have large bass drivers that have a large cone excursion - or move in and out a lot

(think of higher frequencies as fast, short movements, and bass frequencies as slower, longer movements as far as the drive units are concerned. This is why treble units are small, because they only deal with tiny movements)

The higher you set that crossover frequency, the less cone movement is required from your speakers, because you're making the sub do it. The lower the crossover frequency, the lower your speakers have to go, so they have to do more work. But as I say, your speakers are desied to deal with frquencies down to 80Hz, and then the sub takes over.

Is this any better? That's a more simpler way I can think of describing frequencies.

 

[d4v3pum4]

Removed by Mods - House Rules. But nice try, though...

 

[jokerpaulonline]

So does that mean if you set the cross over point higher you will get a more crisp clearer sound from the speakers as they not have to work as hard?

If not, what difference would it make to the sound, say if you set the crossover to 140hz compared to 80hz?

Also does it mean whatever you set the crossover point to, say 110hz then you wont get anything below 110hz out of them speakers?

What would you set the crossover point to on the sub? or do you not set a crossover point for the sub?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Sort of, yes Paul. But 80Hz is high enough already, and something tells me you won't be playing at cinema levels

, so don't worry about higher crossover points - you can always play about with that when everything is up and running.

And yes, whatever crossover point you set on the amp, let's say 100Hz, the amp won't send anything below that frequency to the speakers - it'll be routed to the sub instead. You can either set the sub to 100Hz as well, or you can set it to BYPASS, which is then purely relying on the amplifier's crossover to do the work.

For now, just stick to 80Hz and set all speakers to this, including the sub.