Do No Harm ... well the least harm anyway

IME, the potential benefit of using a high pass filter relates to the quality of the low bass reproduced by the main speakers, the ability of the main speakers to handle power in the low frequencies, the ability of the amplifier to supply sufficient power to run the main speakers full out, and the response of the room and susceptibility to standing waves and excitation.

A fairly good quality Marchand passive, balanced, high pass filter set around 45Hz did not improve the sound of my system, which includes stand-mounted main speakers each having two 9-inch woofers in a sealed box (acoustic suspension) design that produce solid bass to about 40 Hz. In my case, the best sound was achieved by running the main speakers full-range, and rolling in my two subs at about 45Hz.

Using a high pass filter to roll off the OPs full-range low frequency driver could possibly offer sonic benefits, if using the filter keeps the woofer in a more linear range and reduces stress on the amplifier. An appropriate roll-off point might be just a bit higher than where the speaker’s frequency curve starts to drop off, but certainly much lower than 100Hz.

@mitch2

Your post reads like you are happy with the passive filter, but you say it did not improve the sound. Please elaborate if you prefer the Marchand or not, and is that why you are selling it on USAM? I'm not trying to be a smarta$$. Thanks.

I went with a Marchand balanced passive high pass at 80hz because of a room/speaker placement issue. With my speakers in the best sounding position overall, I had a big bump from 50-70hz that was resistant to acoustic treatments. By rolling off below 80 and filling that with a sub located near floor level, that bump disappeared without even using eq on the sub. 

Every situation is different. I spent months working on acoustic treatments that reduced the bump from 10 to 5db, which I think helped with integrating the two. The overall result is a great improvement though I expect I'll continue to experiment.

@mashif

Good to know. What is the slope and lowpass frequency on your sub? Also, did you lose any of the "magic" with the Marchand? Specifically fine details, depth and imaging.

@koestner

Ha - Thanks for the reminder since I had forgotten that I listed the filter - no replies yet. 

The Marchand passive filter (XM446XLR-A) worked as advertised but it simply didn't lead to an audible improvement in the sound of my system.  It was quiet and didn't make anything sound worse, so what I learned is that the high pass filter is not needed in my system for my speakers, amps, and room.  The reasons are probably because of the power handling ability of my main speakers, the relatively high power provided by my amplifiers, and the control of the bass offered by the two subs that do not excite room resonances.  My main speakers (dual 9-inch woofers/side) roll off fairly low at around 40Hz and so rolling in my subs at about 45Hz seems to work well and it sounds good without the high pass filter.