Sub best at high crossover?

Here are my considerations so far.

First of all, it would be nice if more users of well-placed DD-18 subs (or similar) in fairly large rooms would chime in with their actual listening experiences in this debate.

What I hear in a situation with a good system and room, is a detrimental effect due to engaging the crossover in the sub. In many other situations, this may instead be a big plus, overcoming the minuses.

In my situation, I am not so much using the sub for what it does to the bass, since I have full-range speakers anyway, but more for what it does to the overall musical impression. The DD-18 helps my main speakers to "throw" the music at me and establish a depth perspective. It is the first of many subs I've used that I really liked. I had a Sunfire sub that was amazing although it danced along the floor and distorted a lot, and then, a Bowers and Wilkins that could never be woken from the big sleep. I next changed to a pair of REL Strata 3 that were quite good, but one DD-18 was even better.

This discussion concerns sub setup for augmenting speakers in fairly large rooms. My impression is, that if the positional and analog setup is good enough, it is best to "defeat" the crossover and the associated electronics. However, there is some give and take at this point, my best electronic presets with the DD18 sound very good also.

No one disagrees? Other impressions?

Since no-one has posted a DD-18 listening experience similar to mine, I wonder if it is partly caused by local circumstances, like the bass suckout in the middle of my room, and also because the effect is subtle, there is a give and take. I have my sub's presets set to 1 = crossover 199hz (defeat), 2 = 100hz, 3 = 80hz, 4 = 70 and so on down to 40 or so. These were set up through calibration. The flexibility of the sub is a big plus. The bass perhaps sounds more correct when I use lower crossovers. I've often felt that the standard 80hz sounds just fine, with most LPs. As I've said, this is much the rule through quite different pairs of speakers (they all run full-range, since this works best in my room - I learned that from my REL subs). So this idea of not using the crossover, and rather turn the volume 30 - 50 percent down compared to the presets, is something I've found out after some years of using the presets. Obviously this only works if the speakers are doing quite well in the bass. There is probably a price to pay in overlap speakers/bass but for me it is less than the problem of the equalizer in the sub, which somehow brings me closer to digital, and I am allergic to that.

O holter, this thread is getting silly. You've received rational advice and if it feels good do it advice. What is it you're looking for? I personally use a pair of Velodyne HGS-15s with an SMS-1 bass manager in a medium size room, so my experience is not the same as yours. I like to be unaware of the sub or any other speaker as the source of music. If it's an authoritative answer you seek, why not just go with the THX recommended 80 Hz; if it's an explanation for your perception, why not engage in magical thinking as so many other audiophiles do?

db

Impossible to question what your hearing or your taste in fidelity. I'm confused as to what your seeking here.

I owned a DD 18 and now two DD 12plus. I've never tried running them or any other subwoofer system full out. I mistakenly ran the DD 18 at 80Hz which bloated that region from the first moments. A touch of #1 preset put it right back in the groove.

Your speaker manufacture is rather vague regarding the frequency response of your speakers other than to say they have response down to 35Hz +/-? and that they are a ported bass reflex in design. Hardly what I would call full range, but thats me.

If your speakers are down -6dB or more at 35Hz and considering your rooms acoustical nature then supplementing that region would make sense.