Subwoofer Crossover Question

Well I just re-read your original post - I don't know how I missed your description of the spec's on FR which have your speakers down 2db at 28hz and 6db at 23 hz.

This is a remarkable FR! Unless you are trying to correct room response issues by locating the subs in locations that will fill in nulls heard at the listening position I would think that subs will do more to screw up the sound than improve it. -2 db and -6db isn't much actual volume wise, and would be considered a very shallow slope. That assumes however that you want a flat FR. Certainly if you are trying to increase/elevate the bass response with out changing the frequencies above say 100hz then the subs can do it, but keep the cross over point at its lowest, or close thereto. Have fun.

Newbie,

You make some excellent points but the spec on his speakers
are +/- 2db down to 28hz so they could not be down 6db at 32hz.

With that said I concur with your following statement.

"Not what you want to hear perhaps, but if your speakers are only down 6db at 23hz I question the value of using subs at all."

OTOH, if the OP uses the speakers for Home Theater or listens a lot to organ music.....

At this point it would be helpful if Matt would tell us what he feels is missing.

When a spec states something as + or - 2db it means that a product (speakers in your case) will only increase or lose volume by the specified 2db between the lowest and highest frequency's stated. So in your case, between the very low frequency of 28hz and the very high frequency of 25khz the speakers will only add or subtract 2db from the music sent to them.

DB's or decibels is a measurement of volume or loudness. 1db is considered the smallest amount of change in loudness that humans can hear. However in practice 10db to most people sounds like twice as loud. So 6db would be half way.

If you have ever messed with something that has traditional bass and treble knobs, 6db would be the same as turning the knob about half way.

HTH.

I just looked at Matt's system and he already HAS the REL's, he's not looking for advise on if he should add them to his system. I apologize for my misunderstanding the question.

So at this point it would be helpful to know how the subs are currently hooked up.

Matt,

One line of thinking is that subs can relieve mains and the amps that drive them from extreme LF duty. Subs can also help smooth LF response in room. THX recommends a crossover of 80 Hz, a frequency low enough that its source should not be localized. Whatever the setting, the goal is to not have any speaker identified as a source of sound within the sound stage. You do not want to be aware of the subs.

The frequency response of a speaker usually is measured in some sort of anechoic environment. (Rooms with deep anechoic ability are expensive to build.) The 3 dB down point often is used as an indicator of the useful frequency range of the speaker, but its actual response will be a function of your room.

db