Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Crossover setting for new M80s

Hey everyone. I can proudly say I am part of the growing Axiom family now. I got my M80s last week and GEEZ!!!!! These are by far the finest sounding speakers I have ever heard. I have never auditioned any really high prices speakers since I can't afford them, so I can't compair these to such as some do. They blow away anything I have heard under $2000 lets just say that. One question though. For those who enjoy 2 channel audio, what crossover setting do you use on your receiver to get the best sound from these? They sound great in pure direct with no SW, but my EP500 will be here next week and I would like to see if I can mix that into my music listening as well as HT. Gotto go, the wife and kids just left for an hour so time to turn it up....

Congrats Jon! Generally speaking, the crossover should be around 80Hz to 60Hz. There is no definite rule, though. Play with it a bit and see what you like.

Hello! Newbie axiomite myself... listening as I post. I'm still amazed.. I run my M80's in pure direct (for music) in large mode, with my sub supporting the lower end, and love it. Crossing at 60hz for movies right now. I had never run tests on my present sub (Def Tech PF15), but after some disappointing results I made the additional plunge for the EP500 (due Friday). I'll post how I set it up. Funny, I'm normally very conservative financially.. let's just say I didn't expect to hear what I've heard! Cash is flyin outta my pockets baby! Had I discovered Axiom a few years ago...I'd be in trouble!

Welcome Jon. I keep my reciever at 80, and the sub at bypass, letting the reciever control the sub.

I have 60's and use a 80hz crossover on the receiver with the EP500 in bypass mode also. I also leave all my speakers to small, not large. In my opinion, 80hz is the best overall setting for both music and home theater. For just music, you could probably use 60hz, however, I would still use small on the mains. You will still get killer bass, and be able to really crank it up...

Well here I go with another 'devil's advocate' query, with the quest to fully understand..

If a good sub is part of your HT, why purchase nearly full range floor standers (M80's, M60's), if the best results for music and movies are obtained by crossing them at 60 or 80hz? Wouldn't nearly identical results be obtained by M50's or M22's in that situation (higher cross for M22)? I'm more than satisfied with my choices... just seeking the wisdom of those more experienced than I.

That is a good point, Spoiler. Sometimes you can get a bit more impact out of floorstanders. Sometimes a large room calls for large speakers. Some people will buy floorstanders just because they can. My brother-in-law runs his floorstanders full range with a sub.

No rules need apply, per se. Any which way you look at it, you're gonna get good sound. For me, I would buy the floorstanders and use them full range for two channel music, and then run them with the sub for home theater. This way a lot of the low frequency load is taken off the receiver.

There are many more reasons, and I'm sure others will chime in.

Though the crossover is set to 60 or 80hz doesn't mean there are not frequencies below that point that make it to the speakers. With a floorstanding speaker opposed to a bookshelf there is a fuller sound. This has been reported by most when going from M22s to the M60s and also from those that have gone from M60s to the M80s.

I like to call it the slippery slope.

>>If a good sub is part of your HT, why purchase nearly full range floor standers (M80's, M60's), if the best results for music and movies are obtained by crossing them at 60 or 80hz?

Very good question. If you think about it, though, the big difference between M80s and say M50s is not the bass, but more drivers to handle the higher notes. If you want to play at high sound levels in a medium or large room you need to move a bunch of air even for the frequencies above 80 Hz, and that's where the extra drivers of the M60 and M80 come in.

Let's say the sub covers from 20 to 80 Hz, or two octaves. The main speakers still need to handle the remaining 8 octaves, and there's a lot of energy in those 8 octaves.

Could you make a speaker with all the drivers of an M60 or M80, put it in a smaller box and sacrifice some bass extension, and still get as good a sound in an HT system ? Probably, but nobody would buy it