How do you high pass your main speakers?

I’m familiar with ATCs (mine pair is the ATC SCM12 Pro passive monitor). These are sealed/acoustic suspension designs with terrific bass that disappears rather abruptly below the resonance frequiency, which I believe is in the mid-40s.

As for the high pass, after trying all manner of workarounds, I ended up buying a used but perfect-functioning electronic crossover, the Marchand XM66, which has 24 dB/octave slopes (ideal for your application) and a variable crossover. I’m accustomed to setting mine anywhere from 70 Hz to 80 Hz. That means:

-- all frequencies below the crossover point go to my subwoofer (JLAudio e110);

-- and all frequencies above the crossover point go to the ATCs, or the other pair of speakers I use on my desktop, the vintage KEF 103.2s, also a sealed 2-way design

I chose this crossover frequency because the sub is so capable in that range; while the ATCs, wonderful though their bass is, are working harder the lower the frequencies go to the resonant frequencies. So I relieve them of their hardest workload.

This electronic crossover is very transparent acoustically. I really can’t distinguish between it being in-line vs not being in-line.

That’s my recommendation: an external crossover with high crossover slopes. Note that Marchand also makes electronic crossover with fixed crossovers (via internal cards you can purchase). And example of that is the XM9. The most elaborate of their crossovers, the more expensive XM44, allows you to individually select crossover cards at the frequency and slope you specify.

@tony1954 wrote:

Actually my MiniDSP crossover is set to 80Hz for the subs so there would be a redundancy of frequencies from that 80Hz threshold and where the ATC's roll off around 54Hz. 

Perhaps it might be best to just tweak the crossover point a little bit lower to mitigate any spike between 54Hz and 80Hz.

Some prefer a slight overlap between the subs and mains, but I would use the supplied lower knee specs by ATC for your SCM19's and work from there setting an appropriate low-pass point juggling through the range here. The ATC's being a sealed design with a shallow lower end roll-off I suspect you would be better off lowering the LP from 80Hz and experiment with slope steepness. Using a DBA arrangement and setting delays, depending on the specific implementation, must be close to a nightmare to get right - although some may argue it's less important, but I digress. Your ears must decide, so whatever works, works (in my own actively configured speaker setup I use the same LP and HP frequency between the subs and mains with 36dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley slopes, so very little "redundancy" at the crossover. Proper delay settings here is of vital importance). 

Doesn't your MiniDSP have extra output channels? You already have all you need then to experiment high-passing your mains. 

@tony1954 

I would try the ATC speakers crossed over between 65-75 Hz with a 2nd order Butterworth filter on the miniDSP.  The sub should be crossed over at 65-75 Hz with a 4th order Linkwitz-Riley type crossover.- either in the miniDSP, or using the subwoofer's own crossover (assuming here the sub has a 4th order low-pass cross over option).  The idea is for the ATC's natural roll-off and that of the miniDSP to combine together.  The combo will be equivalent to 4th order and close to a  Linkwitz-Riley alignment.  (If you have a home theatre processor, this can also be achieved by setting the ATC's to small.)  Start with the polarity of both the ATC and the sub as positive.  Depending on where you locate the subs relative to the ATC, you may also need to play with the phase adj knob on the sub if it has one.

@tony1954 Great year! I'm 02/12. I have been crossing over to subwoofers since the Dahlquist LP1 was released in 1979. The LP 1 used an active 2nd order low pass filter and a passive 1st order high pass filter. They gave a kit of capacitors and you had to solder the right ones into the unit based on your main amp's input impedance. Fc = 1/2PiRC R is the input impedance of the amp and C is the capacitor in Farads which you had to select based on the crossover frequency you wanted. This is a first order or 6 dB/oct filter which is very slow. You can do this by putting the right sized cap in series with the input of your amp. I soldered them in all the time and I recommend this for those who have subs that only have low pass filters. You can get analog two way crossovers like the unit JL Audio makes but even better is digital bass management which allows you to time and phase align the subwoofer as well as allowing much steeper slopes without distortion and Room Control. These units are made by MiniDSP and dBx. There are also full feature digital preamps that include bass management from Trinnov, DEQX. Legacy, MiniDSP, and Anthem. 

@ditusa's link is excellent and you should read it through. 

In order to fine tune a subwoofer's crossover you need to be able to select both frequency and slope of both the high pass and low pass filters independently. My ancient TacT digital preamp gives you a selection of crossover frequencies from 20 to 300 Hz in 1 Hz intervals, 1st through 10th order and you can change them on the fly with the remote control! Today only the DEQX gives you this kind of flexibility. The goal here is to use the highest crossover frequency you can using the equipment you have. If you can hear the subwoofer, tell there is one in the system other than feeling the lowest notes then you still have work to do. The higher the crossover point the more likely it is you will hear the subwoofer. The slower the slope the more likely it is you will hear the subwoofer. Turn off the main speakers and listen to just the sub. If you can hear midrange coming out of it you have a problem. You have two choices. Lower the crossover point or speed up the slope. I use Sound Labs ESLs. I currently high pass the SLs at 120 Hz  6th order and low pass the subs at 110 Hz 8th order. Because removing the low bass from the main speakers lowers distortion I never recommend using a crossover lower than 80 Hz. If the main speaker is a full range driver like my SLs you do not want to go lower than 100 Hz. 

The next problem is time and phase alignment. If you do not have the ability to adjust this digitally the best starting place is to keep all your speakers and subwoofers equidistant from the listening position. Place you two subwoofers at intervals between the main speakers right up against the wall. Using a tape measure measure the distance between the subs and your listening position. Now adjust your main speakers so they are the same distance away. If you want them farther off the wall you will have to move them out laterally. If you can not make this set up sound right then the smartest way to proceed is by getting a calibrated USB microphone and see what is happening. You can then adjust the speaker positioning to minimize group delays. Or you can get a Digital preamp that will come with a measurement mic and let the computer do everything for you. The other beauty about digital preamps is that they usually provide digital EQ capability which allows you to make your system sound exactly as you want it to without adding any distortion. You also do not need a separate DAC as they are included. The MiniDSP HSD is only $1,200.00. At this moment I think the soon to be released DEQX Pre 8 and Pre 4 are going to be best. They have not released the prices yet. I am going to be Beta testing the Pre 8 shortly. 

add 1 cap for dynamic OR add 2 cap and 2 inductor for thd