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Is this how a Subwoofer Crossover is supposed to work?

I bought two Starke SW12 subwoofers that I installed.  So far I'm not particularly happy with them.  They are way too loud even with the volume set almost to off.  More importantly, I'm having trouble integrating them into my system and I'm wondering if that is because their crossover setting is really functioning as I understand a crossover should. Attached please find measurements from Room Equalization Wizard with SPL graphs of the two subs (no speakers) taken at my listening position with the crossover set at 50 Hz, 90 Hz, and 130 Hz. Ignore the peaks and dips which I assume are due to room nodes.  All of those settings appear to actually have the same crossover point of 50 Hz. All that changes is the slope of the rolloff in sound levels. This isn't how I thought a properly designed crossover was supposed to work.  I thought the frequency the levels would start to roll off would change, i.e. flat to 50 hz then a sharp drop, flat to 90 hz then a sharp drop, etc. etc..  But Starke says this is how a subwoofer crossover is supposed to work.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8x4cr32pagwg48i/Two%20Subs%20Different%20Crossover%20Points%20No%20Speaker...
Any experts on here with an opinion about this?  Is it possible to buy an inexpensive active crossover that I could use in place of what is built into these subs?
pinwa
audiokinesis
2,749 posts
 
"Attempting to set crossover points, and delays for both subs at the same time is a lot of work. Far easier to do after you’ve gauged the overall response of a single sub."

Hi Erik,

My experience, and the experiences of many customers who are using four subwoofers intelligently distributed, has apparently been different from yours.

To the best of my knowledge most if not all of my customers have previous and often extensive experience with subwoofers (no newbies as far as I can recall), and instead of integration being far more difficult than when they were using a single sub, many report it to be far easier and faster. Not a single one has reported setup to be more difficult than when they were using fewer subs. And is seems reasonable to me that two subs (intelligently distributed) would fall in between one and four in difficulty of integration.

I don’t dispute your experience, but I do disagree with your generalized conclusion that "if you can’t integrate 1 sub, you can’t do 2", though a different setup paradigm may be called for.

Duke
recluse
270 posts
 
I missed the Willstentin reference

For the MOA Beast
Save yourself a headache, take a break from the subwoofer conundrum, and get some solid state.

Try https://renohifi.com

Money back trial period


erik_squires
16,338 posts
 
Duke,

@audiokinesis
Then let me ask this question another way. Looking at the OP’s original data, have you ever seen 2 subs start out that poorly in a room? :)

Best,

E
pinwa OP
291 posts
 
I appreciate all the input here although I am less enthusiastic about how this thread has devolved into the kind of digressions and name calling that seems typical of Audiogon.  Also, since these forums don't support true threading it is challenging to actually respond to each of you.

Most importantly though, is my starting question, at its simplest, is really just whether or not subwoofer crossovers are supposed to behave the way the Starke crossover is behaving.  

I'll measure an individual sub later this evening and add a setting for 200 Hz.  But assuming that still shows the rolloff starting from the same place, i.e. roughly 50 Hz, regardless of the crossover setting is that normal?

millercarbon Moabs are great but with caveats.  That discussion deserves a separate topic.
erik_squires
16,338 posts
 
Hi OP

No, the measurements do not look like very good representations of crossover behavior when changing the crossover point. However, since there are two subs involved, I can’t tell what is going on.

I completely agree with Duke that 2 subs are better than one, but I think for the sake of your sanity, you should measure one first. :) See if that doesn’t work as you’d expect.

You know, you might want to try out XSim crossover simulator.  It is free, and you can draw several ideal speakers, and use different crossovers on each, and plot their behavior.


Best,

E
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