Setting the crossover freq on subwoofers

[xor]

I just added a Tapco sw10 sub to Tapco S8s and wondered if anyone else had the same set-up, and what frequency they set the crossovers at.

The S8s go down to 40hz, and the sw10's (34hz) crossover starts at 55hz to 110hz (from memory). Setting it to 80hz (the notched point on the knob) seems to give the best sound, but it would make more sense to me if they crossed-over at 55hz, a little above the lowest the S8s can go to. I read somewhere that setting the sub crossover to 10hz above the lowest freq of the main speakers was the way to go, but it doesn't seem to be that way, at least not in my studio.

Anyone else had adventures in sub crossover frequencies?

[manray]

From my experience having the sub slightly above that of your main monitors is a good start, your figure of 10hz sounds about right so that would put your cross-over around 55-55hz. This is very dependant on the quality of your mains. Despite them being spec'ed as 40hz, will they only reach that with a single tone or can they sustain that with the full mix in play? If you see what i mean. You might be getting better sound with a higher crossover because your monitors arent properly reaching low enough so your sub needs to be higher to compensate.

I really dont like sub setups because they are a serious pain to have them perfectly matched. If its too low your tracks are too bass heavy and if its too high your tracks are too light. I dont know if this is in line with main stream opinion but i think spending more on a single set of monitors than a split monitor/sub usually yields better results.

Hope that helps.

[xor]

From my experience having the sub slightly above that of your main monitors is a good start, your figure of 10hz sounds about right so that would put your cross-over around 55-55hz. This is very dependant on the quality of your mains. Despite them being spec'ed as 40hz, will they only reach that with a single tone or can they sustain that with the full mix in play? If you see what i mean. You might be getting better sound with a higher crossover because your monitors arent properly reaching low enough so your sub needs to be higher to compensate.

I really dont like sub setups because they are a serious pain to have them perfectly matched. If its too low your tracks are too bass heavy and if its too high your tracks are too light. I dont know if this is in line with main stream opinion but i think spending more on a single set of monitors than a split monitor/sub usually yields better results.

Hope that helps.

Cheers manray. Well, I always thought the S8s on their own had a great bass response (certainly better than the Dynaudio BM5s I have), but I haven't actually tested how low they respond accurately. They must be fairly close to the 40hz because (as far as I'm aware) the sw10 sends nothing below 55hz to the S8s (with the sensitivity turned to zero so nothing goes through the sub) and there is significantly less bass relative to the S8s unhooked from the sub.

You're right, I am wondering about the wisdom of having bought the sub, as I was happy with the S8s on their own - but seeing as I'm writing bass music more seriously now, I thought it made sense. It's just a matter of experimenting to get the right balance I suppose.

[manray]

I dont think it's a waste, it just means more work doing it this way round.

Good luck

[el hombre invisible]

80hz

[xor]

80hz

Well said. Any other thoughts on that?

[xor]

I dont think it's a waste, it just means more work doing it this way round.

Which is exactly what I don't need! I've got it set to 55hz at the present and it's sounding better than without the sub - it's odd because the sounds in the higher frequencies sound better placed and better defined now. I think it's a matter of getting used to using a sub, and how it affects the overall sound, because it *should* be beneficial.

[untidy]

I just added a Tapco sw10 sub to Tapco S8s and wondered if anyone else had the same set-up, and what frequency they set the crossovers at.

The S8s go down to 40hz, and the sw10's (34hz) crossover starts at 55hz to 110hz (from memory). Setting it to 80hz (the notched point on the knob) seems to give the best sound, but it would make more sense to me if they crossed-over at 55hz, a little above the lowest the S8s can go to. I read somewhere that setting the sub crossover to 10hz above the lowest freq of the main speakers was the way to go, but it doesn't seem to be that way, at least not in my studio.

Anyone else had adventures in sub crossover frequencies?

I don't have the same setup you have. However, from this I just changed the sub crossover frequency I had set on my initial subout signal to 10 hz, the deeps are alot clearer. I, thank you for the inspiration.