Speaker cross over frequencies?

[Automission]

I'm currently running a set of Monitor Audio Bronze speakers on an onkyo 606.
I have them set as the following:
BR6:120hz (towers)
BRLCR: 80hz (centre)
BR2's:60hz (surrounds)
BRW10:90hz (sub)

My sub also has a dial on the back to adjust it's volume and cross over, which one should I adjust? Are those settings right or not, I really don't get these settings.

I'm told anything below the number is sent to the sub, wouldn't it be better to send the bass to the corresponding speaker, rather than having the sub do it all? I figured the sub was meant to compliment the speakers, not do 100% of the bass, why else have speakers with so many bass cones in them!

[Beerserker]

This sticky https://forum.blu-ray.com/subwoofers...-settings.html explains what you need to know. Right off the bat, you have the setting on your mains too high and the surrounds too low.

Crossovers for all but the sub are high-passs meaning currently your surrounds are trying to play down to 60hz, but the mains are only playing down to 120hz. Swap those two setting right now then read the sticky to further decide how you want to tune your system.

[Big Daddy]

In addition to the Crossover thread mentioned above, you should read A Guide to Bass Management.

You should increase the LPF of LFE to 120Hz. Also, the crossover for the fronts are a bit too high. Are they the results of Audyssey calibration or did you set them yourself?

[Automission]

I set them myself, I felt the bass was far too low otherwise. Should it really have that much bass?

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Automission

I set them myself, I felt the bass was far too low otherwise. Should it really have that much bass?

Have you ran the auto setup feature in your receiver yet? If you haven't then you should. It does more than set crossovers. It sets speaker distances and adjusts the equalizer settings in your receiver to help account for the effects your room has on the sound. Before you do, though, set the gain knob (volume) on the back of your sub to somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 and turn the crossover knob up as high as it will go. You're doing crossover management with your receiver so you want to take the sub's crossover out of play altogether.

[Automission]

I did run the setup originally but it set the speakers at ridiculous distances and at -15db, which was really silent. What does changing the hz do exactly? Tell the speakers what frequency bass to play?

No offence but the links on this forum explain the matter in all complicated wave lengths, etc and never really gives the basics.

[Intamin]

Originally Posted by Automission

I did run the setup originally but it set the speakers at ridiculous distances and at -15db, which was really silent. What does changing the hz do exactly? Tell the speakers what frequency bass to play?

No offence but the links on this forum explain the matter in all complicated wave lengths, etc and never really gives the basics.

Changing the hz changes how much of the frequency the speaker plays (20hz-20khz is the audible frequency range). As of right now, you have your fronts playing down to 120hz, but they more than likely can play as low as 50hz (check the manual or the mfg page to find out their frequency response). The other issue is, is that you have fronts at 120hz, and your sub crossed at 80hz. You have 40hz of info that isn't being played at all.

[Automission]

so by that logic I should either put the sub up to 120, or lower the fronts down to the level of the sub? And that means as low a possible hz as possible is best then, as it'l play as low as that and everything above? Or will a really low hz just cut out all the treble?

I also ran the automated setup. It played the speakers at -9 db, which means I need to crank the receiver up to 50 to be audible, which is awfully strange.

It also gave me these settings:
front left/right: Full Band
Center: 80hz
surrounds: Full band
Sub 120hz lfe.

fronts and rears at full band? That can not be right, can it?

[jomari]

Originally Posted by Automission

It also gave me these settings:
front left/right: Full Band
Center: 80hz
surrounds: Full band
Sub 120hz lfe.

fronts and rears at full band? That can not be right, can it?

its not. this is one part that audyssey and mcacc cannot determine for you. aside from my previous explanations, big daddy has worded it much better.

all in all, change the fronts and surround to the appropriate crossover settings.

[Automission]

Okay, thanks for the tips, will take it from here. The center seems fine, it's just the rest I can't sort. I tried the sub turned up to 120hz, but it was so ****ing loud, it over powered everything. Regardless of volume levels, so I think I might leave it at 90/100 as it doesn't take too much and just gives a nice rumble.

Still not sure on the towers and surrounds. I do like the idea of setting them lower and getting a wider sound range, only I worry the more low end sound will overpower the high end. And like I said, if I send it to the sub, that just over powers them all!

[Intamin]

Originally Posted by Automission

Okay, thanks for the tips, will take it from here. The center seems fine, it's just the rest I can't sort. I tried the sub turned up to 120hz, but it was so ****ing loud, it over powered everything. Regardless of volume levels, so I think I might leave it at 90/100 as it doesn't take too much and just gives a nice rumble.

Still not sure on the towers and surrounds. I do like the idea of setting them lower and getting a wider sound range, only I worry the more low end sound will overpower the high end. And like I said, if I send it to the sub, that just over powers them all!

Turn your sub to 80hz. Put your towers at 80hz and your surrounds at 80hz. Subs aren't really meant to play frequencies much higher than 80 and that's where things start to get muddy and boomy. This is a simple fix. If you don't like that sound, keep your sub at 80hz and try lowering the crossover on your fronts and surrounds. Also, do not set them to full band. You won't have too much bass by turning your speakers to a lower crossover, it'll actually take away some of the bass from the sub and should even things out more.

[Steve]

Based on the specs of your speakers you can use the following crossover settings:

BR6: 40, 50, or 60 Hz
BRLCR: 70 or 80 Hz
BR2: 50 or 60 Hz
LPF of LFE in your receiver: 120 Hz (if it sounds too muddy turn it back to 100 or 80)
Subwoofer in your receiver: On/Yes
All speakers set to small
Or you can go with the universal setting of 80 Hz for everything.
(I don't remember exactly how the Onkyo menu is set up but you shouldn't have any trouble figuring out how to apply these settings.)

When you ran Audyssey, did you have the microphone at ear height at your listening positions? The distance settings are calculated from your listening position, and I always had good luck with the distance settings made by Audyssey when I had an Onkyo receiver. Also remember that it's setting the individual speaker trim (volume) levels so that all speakers produce the same volume while you're seated in those positions. You don't want any speaker noticeably louder than the others. It also sets those trim levels based on predetermined criteria so that when you have the volume of the receiver set at a certain level you should be getting 75 or 85 dB at your seating positions. I don't know off the top of my head if Onkyo sets up for 75 or 85 dB, and I don't know what volume setting that would be either, since this receiver's volume display counts up from 0 rather than the other way around. If you raise the level of any one speaker you should raise the others the same amount to correspond. Or you can always measure and set the trim levels using an SPL meter.

[liquidice]

I'm suddenly wondering how your subwoofer is hooked up. You say it's really loud when you turned it up to 120hz, but that doesn't seem to make to much sense. I'm wondering if your somehow sending a full range signal to the subwoofer.

I know it sounds stupid, but are you truly running a line from subwoofer out of receiver to the the input on the subwoofer itself?

Just had to ask.

[Automission]

connected it to the pre out subwoofer and connected it to the red socket on the back of the sub as it has both red and white.

[dewd]

Only use the pre-out. No reason to use the other connections.

Your Onkyo sets the speakers to FULL if they are detected under 80hz. Best to reset them to 80hz. Put the LFE at 120hz. If your sub has an option to bypass the internal crossover, do it. If not, turn the crossover as high as it will go.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Automission

connected it to the pre out subwoofer and connected it to the red socket on the back of the sub as it has both red and white.

What level do you have the volume/gain on the back of the sub? It really should at or around 11 o'clock or 12 o'clock. Perhaps this is why your sub is so overpowering........