How do you high pass your main speakers?

@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

Rereading this thread, I stil think that there is no need to do anything.  You won't improve your sound because your current speakers don't go low enough to worry about.  My guess is things sound really good right now.

But I want to caution about the advice in this thread  to hit your signal train with a sledgehammer of electronics.  I've posted before that I consider the signal path sacred and it should be touched as little as possible.  Running your signal through an endless rack of electronics is a sure way to end us with that common "consumer" sound.

If you do decide to so something, I highly recommend the path @erik_squires has suggested which messes with the signal the least and give your speakers the best chance of continuing to do a great job above 80Hz.

Jerry

@carlsbad2 

Thanks Jerry.

I have come to that exact conclusion.

It's like cooking. Sometimes it is best to resist adding that extra teaspoon of salt.

Appreciate the common sense advice.

Tony

Hi everybody! I'm also contemplating high passing (some of) my speakers. Regarding the capacitor advice of @erik_squires: would it be possible to add it directly before the speakers? Of course, a different value would be needed. Sorry if this is stupid, I have no background in electronics. My reasoning is like this:

1. If I'm going for the preamp-->capacitor-->power amp route with my integrated amplifier (with pre-outs and power-ins) then I would also need another interconnect cable as I cannot simply insert the capacitors in the RCA or XLR connectors in the back of my amp. The cable would need to be butchered. Plenty of extra contacts and soldering in the signal path as well as the particular voicing and the extra expense of the additional interconnect turns this into something less simple and elegant than I'd like. Not to mention that I'd have to use both the unbalanced and the balanced pre outs in this case at the same time (pre to power and also pre to subwoofer) and I don't know if this is totally without sonic consequences.

2. For connecting the speaker cables I prefer the bare wire option anyway, after trying WBT bananas and spades that is. I'd simply have to solder one speaker wire to one leg of the capacitor, while the other leg would go to the biding post (maybe at the amp end of the speaker cable in order to avoid too much vibration induced by the speaker?)

3. Or maybe this could be done inside the speaker, between the crossover and the woofer itself?

Of course, in this case only the woofer would benefit from having to deal with less deep bass while the power amplifier would not be spared of the task...