A case for running speakers full range - Tekton Double Impact SE w/ SVS SB16 subs

Its better to run full range, for the simple reason that the more bass sources the better. This is the principle on which Distributed Bass Array is based, that more subs is better than few. This is another one where people have repeated something that looks good on paper (relieve amp/speakers) even though it works poorly (if at all) in practice.

My Tektons and subs performed much better when the speakers were run full range.The dynamics especially suffered.

The Absolute Sound recently ran two interviews with leading subwoofer designers.  One strongly advocated for running full-range, one strongly advocated for *not* running full-range.  Go figure.

@dtximages --

I see zero effects less dynamics, in fact i feel much more. I feel like the narrative of relieving the amp of the low freq creates more dynamics is probably just a theory created by people who have their speakers set up wrong or are using very small speakers.

It can be a theory-laden approach, for sure, but the outcome depends on several factors that should disprove absolute statements either for or against. In your case the specific combination of the Tekton’s and SVS’s (two of them?) as well as the (similar) cross-over frequency chosen in both configurations, could have significant say here. I’ve previously owned the SVS SB16-Ultra, and it’s a fine sub. Where I find it may impress the most is <30Hz, whereas further up through the midbass it’s a less lively affair. High-passing your Tekton’s at 50Hz may be a way of exposing this weakness of the SVS subs (a range where the DI’s are likely stronger, especially in tandem with or overlapping the SVS’s here), hereby robbing the sound of some impact and "presence" in this region. If you’d really want to feel the effect of relieving the amp (and mains) a HP should be set no lower than ~80Hz, but in your specific set-up it mayn’t matter much - or, rather, enough. Try it out, though, high-passing you DI’s even at 100Hz or so (the SVS’s easily go this high), and see how it fares to your ears. I suspect you’ll prefer the configuration of running the DI’s full-range, but hey, it’s only turning some knobs, and you may be able to optimize the placement of you DI’s even more once they’re relieved of central to lower bass duties.

High-passing the mains (preferably not much lower than 80Hz) can work wonders, and if it doesn’t in your case, well, that’s made you the wiser - in your particular context.

EDIT: as Miller points out running your DI's full-range could make for what's practically a DBA set-up with a pair(?) of SB16's placed away from your mains. Is that how you've placed the subs (i.e.: spread out, away from the DI's)? 

The number one problem in getting good bass in a room is low frequency waves are very long, this creates powerful modes, and lumpy slow muddy bass is the result. The modes move around the room depending on where the bass drivers are located. So the answer is to have bass drivers at lots of different locations. There are still modes and so the bass from any one driver is still lumpy, but by having a lot of them each one is at a much lower level where it causes fewer problems and they all add together resulting in powerful smooth articulate bass. 

This being the case is why its better to run the mains full range. They may not have as good low bass as the subs, but to the extent they have any bass output at all it helps average into and smooth out the overall response. Smooth bass is fast bass. 

The subs don't have to be spread out. One of the white papers on this mentions four subs basically stacked on on top of the other. Inevitably they cannot all be in exactly the same location, and to the extent they are different each one produces a different set of modes. The effect is maximized by spreading asymmetrically around the room. But its very good even when that isn't done.