Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Will changing crossovers help with sound?

My current receiver, HK AVR65, is set to crossover at 100hz and I can't change this. My M22Ti's and VP150 go down to 80hz and I was wondering if buying a new receiver where I could set the crossover to 80hz would improve sound much? What types of sounds would be affected?

Greg

For my taste, the crossover at 100hz is too high. The sub has to produce more of the sound frequency, something it is not really built to do. Although, 100hz is not bad, I usually prefer a lower setting like 80 or 60hz. How about using the subs crossover?

I was wondering the same thing, what would you set on the receiver then? Would you max it out like you do on subs when you have the receiver manage the crossover. A few nights ago I was at a friends house and his Pioneer receiver only went to 100hz at the lowest, I was trying to figure out how to use the sub knob instead.

Do you have to use High Level inputs on Axioms subs to use the internal crossover?

As far as I can tell, all I can do with my AVR65 is set the main speakers to large or small. Doing so will either send full range audio to sattelite speakers or only what is above 100hz. So basically, the subwoofer's setting has no effect. In fact, I tend to think a subwoofer's control can only affect what it plays back, not what it draws from the receiver. Maybe I am wrong on this one?

80hz sounds good. I wonder if I could buy an HK AVR435, try it out and if I don't like it send it back? I hate being a flake like that though.

Greg

Dude M22's are not considered satellite speakers you must be confusing them with BOSE

Mea culpa! (whatever that means)

I was using the term satellite generically but you are of course correct.

Greg

In reply to:

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Mea culpa! (whatever that means)

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"Mea culpa" is a latin phrase uttered to accept guilt. It translates to "my fault."

Greg, an 80Hz crossover is suggested by THX and others as being a reasonable compromise; high enough to take a significant part of the lowest bass burden off the other speakers and the amps driving them, but not so high as to make the sub easily localizable. Unless your sub is located far away from your mains and doesn't blend in well with them it probably makes little difference to use a 100Hz crossover and wouldn't be a good reason to buy new equipment.

Attempting to use the internal sub crossover isn't helpful in this regard. If the speakers were still set small, the 100Hz receiver crossover would still control both the low pass to the sub and the high pass to the speakers. Use of the sub's internal crossover affects only the low pass to the sub(possibly interfering with the receiver in this function), and doesn't have any effect on the high pass to the speakers. If the speakers are set large, there is no crossover involving them(again, the sub's crossover doesn't affect them), they have to play full-range, and the benefits of bass management are lost.

You know, it seems with the critical aspect of trying to blend a sub into most hifi systems, why don't more manufacturer's offer more bass management controls?

Would Outlaw's ICBM work with Greg's receiver?