Subwoofer crossover setting

[Mazinger]

Hi, I have a 200 watts ( 36hz - 200hz) subwoofer, I setup my receiver crossover at 100 Hz and have all my speakers as "small" ( have bookshelf front and center speakers, satellite speakers in the back).... but I'm not sure how to setup the crossover ( 50Hz-200Hz ) and the gain controls in the subwoofer itself..
I read the crossover control in the sub should be turned all the way up to let the receiver do the job..... but how about the volume control in the sub ??
I'm confused about who's really managing the crossover....thanks

Mazinger

[Mazinger]

Anyone?? Please...

[MrBoylan]

Hi, I have a 200 watts ( 36hz - 200hz) subwoofer, I setup my receiver crossover at 100 Hz and have all my speakers as "small" ( have bookshelf front and center speakers, satellite speakers in the back).... but I'm not sure how to setup the crossover ( 50Hz-200Hz ) and the gain controls in the subwoofer itself..
I read the crossover control in the sub should be turned all the way up to let the receiver do the job..... but how about the volume control in the sub ??
I'm confused about who's really managing the crossover....thanks

Mazinger

Not sure what player or receiver you have since you didn't post this. Do you have the Panasonic BD80 or BD85 or the OPPO Blu-ray player or something else? If you're talking about using the multi-channel analog outputs of a Blu-ray player and you have the speakers set to small in the player, then the bass from the main channels and from the LFE channel is all being sent out via the subwoofer output, and it is down about 15 dB from where it needs to be relative to the other channels. Few players allow you to boost the subwoofer channel in the player itself (except the OPPO and one or two others), so you need to adjust for this in your receiver and/or on the subwoofer's gain controls.

Before you do anything else, read this tutorial on setting up analog outputs:

How to set up a Blu-ray Player with multi-channel analog outputs

As to how to set your crossover on the sub,you should probably leave it at the highest frequency setting. Blu-ray players have a built-in crossover, normally fixed at 80 Hz or 100 Hz. Anything below that goes to the sub, above that goes to the "Small" speakers. If you dial the sub crossover below 80 Hz, then some of the bass signal will be completely absent as it won't got to either the sub or the main speakers.

The gain control should be set wherever the bass sounds best. Your best bet is to use an SPL meter and test disc, preferably something with pink noise tests and with low frequency sweeps, like the original AVIA Guide to Home Theater disc or something similar. Measure the output levels from your primary listening position and then tweak it by ear with some of your favorite music and movies.

Good luck,

-Chris

[Mazinger]

I have a Panasonic BD85 blu ray connected to my old Pioneer VSX- 811S through the multichannel outputs, my Pioneer let me adjust the level of all speakers and I have the sub in +10....
What is the crossover on the Panasonic BD85??? ...
I always had the gain and the crossover in the sub at the 12 o'clock position which is at the 80Hz setting, going to increase it ...

Thanks again

[MrBoylan]

I have a Panasonic BD85 blu ray connected to my old Pioneer VSX- 811S through the multichannel outputs, my Pioneer let me adjust the level of all speakers and I have the sub in +10....
What is the crossover on the Panasonic BD85??? ...
I always had the gain and the crossover in the sub at the 12 o'clock position which is at the 80Hz setting, going to increase it ...

Thanks again

The sub level technically needs to be +15 on the receiver relative to the other channels if you have any of the speakers set to "small" in the player.

I believe the BD85's crossover is 100 Hz like the BD80 was but I will double-check on that. Setting your sub xover to 80 would not be the best bet as then 80 to 100 Hz would be pretty weak.

-CB