Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater On wall crossover settings?

Hello folks, got a question. As I stated in a few other posts, I recently setup a Axiom on-wall setup and I love it (M22's, VP150 and QS8's). I know the on walls aren't axioms most popular/best speakers but they accommodate my setup perfectly. I think they look and sound fantastic.

I have never heard any other speakers from Axiom to compare too, but I hear/read that the lows/mids from the on walls isn't quite on par with the bookshelves. True or false?

I am just curious where you "on wall" guys have your crossover settings? Right now I have everything crossed over at 100hz. With my old setup I crossed over at 80hz and it seemed to "blend a little better with the sub. Are the on walls flat down to 80hz or should I continue to use the 100hz?

info on the on wall stuff is kind of hard to come by. So thanks for any info!

You are on the correct path TonyN starting with a 100hz crossover setting. Do a comparison of 100hz and 80hz with a variety of music and some movie scenes (back to back) and pick which setting you think sounds best blended with the subwoofer.

Have fun!

I did a comparison side/side of the onwall 22's and regular m22's. The regular M22's put out more bass bacause of the larger cabinet, and I settled on a 80hz crossover. The onwall 22's sounded very close in the upper and mid frequencies. For me a 100-120hz crossover worked best for me.

Well, I was just the opposite. I found I liked the sound with the on-walls better set to Large with no crossover. You might try that just to see what you think.

If you have a sub in the mix your speakers should be set to small, even m80s.

I had a sub in the mix. I still liked them better at large. There was a definite hole in the mix with them set to small. I know, not on paper graphically, but to my ears.

I actually liked my M22 bookshelf speakers better set to large when I had my old crappy sub playing with them. I found they blended better this way, once I upgraded my sub I found I liked them better set to small with an 80hz crossover.

Thanks for the info. I am going to do some tweaking this week.

Another quick question. What cable do I need to go from the analog out on my radioshack spl meter to my laptop? Do I want to plug it into the mic input?

Also, is it a must to connect the laptop to my reciever to send the test tones? Or can I just run the ones off my disney wow disc and use the spl meter/laptop to record?

Thanks!

Are you trying to run REW or some other Frequency program?

You would hook up an RCA terminated cable from the RS meter to your mic input on the laptop, but most onboard sound cards are not very good and you may find the readings are not even close to accurate.

Tony, the usual procedure is to simply use the internal test tones that the receiver outputs and either use the auto-calibration feature of the receiver, if it has one, or the separate SPL meter for a manual calibration. No computer or separate test tone disc is needed for this.

Thanks for the replies.

Note: Keep in mind I am trying to "take the next step into calibrating". LOL

I have always calibrated levels, distances, crossovers and etc without any issues (basic stuff). What I am looking to do is use my SPL meter (connected to my laptop) to record some Hz sweeps. I'd like to see some graphing of my SPL so that I tune my Sub (PEQ) and crossover settings a little better.

Like right now if I run a sweep from the Disney WOW disc, the SPL meter jumps up or down 6db's in the lows and a little around the crossover point. Otherwise it isn't to bad. But I have no clue where exactly these dips/rises are occurring (at which frequency)to even begin tweaking. My PC13 Ultra has the PEQ adjustments so I can add or take away some db at certain frequencies.

Long story short, I'd like to have a "flatter" line throughout the frequency response. How do I go about this? I had planned on using REW or something similar.

Sorry for not making that clear. Thanks for any help.

Tony, you can test and tweak and drive your self crazy. I've spent countless hours using the real traps sweeps in 1hz increments, REW, SMS-1, filled the room with bass traps and acoustic panels (gave me the most improvement), etc.. All of these things help to a point. But, unless your using multiple subs placed correctly on opposite walls, your not going to accomplish a lot in flattening the frequency for all seating locations. Sure, you might make a difference in your primary seat, but as soon as you move a foot in either direction, or move your sub a bit, it will sound totally different. If you only have 1 sub, I would say place it close to a corner that is furthest from the largest opening of your room into the rest of the house and enjoy your Axioms.

Thank you for the honest input. So basically it is just best if I keep things simple as I'd be wasting a lot of time.

Whew...I was considering upgrading my SQ and running some REW sweeps. In the back of my mind I always wonder what if? Your post below kinda put my mind to rest on the embarking task I was about to undertake.

Thanks, Bill....

You want to do a basic setup with an SPL meter and receiver tones and/or the built in Audyssey or other setup routines. It is important to have distances, crossovers, etc. setup correctly. Also, you can experiment with sub location, often the famous Alan sub crawl is what most of us use to find a good sub location.