SVS PB12-plus crossover setting

[phurst]

Ok, so my PB12-plus is due next week and I'm after some information on setup.

My main speakers have a range of 50Hz – 20Khz, Centre & Surrounds have frequency range of 60Hz – 20Khz (all +/- 3dB)

Am I correct if I set the crossover frequency on my processor to 60Hz, all speakers to small and disable crossover on the PB12-plus?

 

[Ian J]

Am I correct if I set the crossover frequency on my processor to 60Hz, all speakers to small and disable crossover on the PB12-plus?

There is no correct as every combination of speakers, sub and room will be slightly diffferent.

What you are proposing seems a good starting off point which in all probability could well be optimum but try the processor set to 50Hz, 70Hz and even 80Hz just to make sure.

It would also be worthwhile setting the speakers to large and trying again

 

[HiFiRuss71]

IIRC, setting all speakers to small, will cause the AV receiver to roll them all to roll-off at 80hz, so this is a good place to to start with the sub's crossover too.

If I'm right, you'd be best to avoid multiple cascading frequency crossovers if only to keep things simple. That means rolling off speakers at different frequencies - especially the front three speakers.

One thing I'm sure of is that, in order for the crossover to work in a smooth fashion, you want to set the crossover the best part of at least 1/2 an octave above the natural roll-off of the speakers. With a quoted roll-off of 50Hz, 75 Hz is probably the best place to start, which will mean 80Hz as that's the nearest option your AVR will offer you. Your sub is a far superior beast, designed to reproduce these frequencies, so let it.

In my experience, the more bass you can relieve your main speakers of, the better the end results. They may go down to 50Hz, but they'll thank you for relieving them of this duty by providing increased mid-range and treble clarity due to reduced harmonic distortion.

There is a good reason why the THX standard picked 80Hz as the prefered crossover frequency and it wasn't luck.

Russell