re: The Home Theater thread well how you set things is up to you but to me your settings are all over the place
heres a few things to remember
THX recommends a crossover point of 80hz at 24db/octave - 80hz is a good point to stick to if your speakers can handle this Quote:
even though my fronts are capable of 39Hz
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they wont really be - the figures quoted by the manufacturer are usually +/-3db - and a crossover point needs to be one octave above its lowest point which allows the speaker a decent roll off - so if the frequency response is quoted as 39hz to 20khz then to preserve the speaker you should be setting it at one octave above 40hz (rounded off from 39hz) which is 80hz anyway
so you are low passing the subwoofer at 120hz ie allowing frequencies below 120hz to pass through while rolling off any frequencies above 120hz and then you have the front high passed at 60hz which allows frequencies above 60hz to pass while reducing the frequencies below 60hz at the rate of the crossover slope - this is definitely not ideal because between 60hz and 120hz you will be having huge peaks and this will cause the sound to be boomy and inaccurate (even though you might prefer it like this) this is because the overlapping frequencies are played by both speakers and hence they cannot integrate into a flat response
the most accurate way is to actually have an underlap of frequencies for example the sub low pass at 60hz and the main speakers high pass at 80hz (frequencies selected as a quick example for demonstration and not as a calculated figure) the reason for this is that the crossover does not reduce the frequency like a brick wall - it reduces it at the rate of the slope - so for example if you have a slope of 12db/octave on your main speaker high pass at a frequency of 80hz you will still have 40hz (which is one octave lower than 80hz) playing at 12db lower - so it stands to reason that around 60hz would be more-or-less 6db lower. Where the frequencies are played by both speakers you would have those particular frequencies bumped up because they play at x(spl) but because another speaker plays it as well it would be playing at 2x(spl)
then theres the problem of increasing levels - the decibel system is actually a logarithmic system hence we know that 3db is an actual measured doubling of your actual levels even though your brain does not perceive it as thus - but doubling anything will give you a 3db increase - so your amplifier has to work twice as hard wherever you increase anything by 3db .... and the same goes for EQ ie any frequency that you increase makes the amplifier work harder at the increased frequency - this means it will run hotter and not last as long ... as well as play with strain and distortion (which you sometimes wont hear but its there all the same)
so yep you can set it how you like because its your ears you need to please but please do find out a bit about what each setting does and the effects it has on the sound because this will help you to play the sound at safe levels and preserve your equipment for longer .... and it doesnt take much to do a few google searches and read a bit on all these things and it will be informative and educational as well and it cannot be a bad thing if helps you to get things right and increase the long term enjoyment of your equipment
Last edited by naughty001 : 23rd January 2012 at 12:12.
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