[WayTooCrazy]

  Well, I wanted better speakers than my Dell "throw away" ones that we had at work. I then used my Denon receiver and my Quad 11L2 speakers. It sounded fantastic, but due to the dual ported enclosure and being so close to the wall (small desk), I could hear port noise and buffetting on loud
 
 
passages. So, I figured, time to replace them (and they were too big for my desk anyway) and get a dedicated 2.1 system. I looked around for something with ports in front of the speaker. I wound up choosing the Audioengine A2+. They are a nice speaker and excellently built, but they have their shortcomings. My first one, was the stupid rear facing volume knob. The next one, was the fact that these speakers are a 2-way that attempts to get down to 65Hz off of a 2.75" woofer. Now. I listen to all genres of music and these play them fair enough, but if you toss in my liking for Metal and throw in some double bass or fast guitar riffs, and they just break up.
 
   My next attempt to help combat that, was to grab a subwoofer that was given to me. It was a Monoprice 8" sub that could be had for $60. I kind of laughed at the attempt at the pairing, but after a little bit of tuning and placement under my desk. I wasn't laughing anymore. It was quite enjoyable. I set the sub to 140Hz or so and blending in the volume to make the A2+ sound larger. It worked. They sound much better! More authority! The problem though, the A2+ were still playing down to 65Hz and it was hurting their sound. I dealt with it because I didn't know what to try next.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Then, with some discussion with other people, I was directed to look at an Active Crossover. I chose the Rolls SX45. I listened to Crossfade - Starless as it was in my queue. The bass and guitar blended together in the beginning of the track here as well. Then, I disconnected everything and wired up the SX45. Turned the volume up on the sub and the A2+ and lowered it on the SX45. I started to play the track again. OMG! I can hear the bass, I can actually hear the guitar properly playing together, and not just mashed together. It sounded so much better that I instantly broke into a smile.  Now, I'm still testing, but I'm excited that this is finally sounding pretty darn good.  Now, I do have 1 confession to make, I'm feeding the A2+ from a Schiit Modi 2 Uber. So, when you add everything up, I've spent more than I should have and could probably have done better with another system. Though, I liked the A2+ enough, already had the sub and picked up the Modi2 for headphone listening. So, the only thing that was really added that was not already being purchased for some duty was the SX45, and right now. I'm happy I did pick it up.
 

​

 

[Wilson]

I used to use an AudioEngine connected to my docking, and then have a digital amplifier driving 2 good quality loudspeakers.  That was my desktop setup for quite sometime.  
 
Then I got tired of all the wires and stuff cluttering around the desk, and I replaced all those with a pair of KEF x300 powered speakers.   All I have now is just a USB wire to my docking.  The sound is fabulous for desktop usage and especially on viewing movies.   I have been quite happy with this set up, except that a headphone out is missing.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

  I used to use an AudioEngine connected to my docking, and then have a digital amplifier driving 2 good quality loudspeakers.  That was my desktop setup for quite sometime.  
 
Then I got tired of all the wires and stuff cluttering around the desk, and I replaced all those with a pair of KEF x300 powered speakers.   All I have now is just a USB wire to my docking.  The sound is fabulous for desktop usage and especially on viewing movies.   I have been quite happy with this set up, except that a headphone out is missing.

I bet those sound Amazing!

 

[Wilson]

Yes, I was surprised and quite satisfied.
 
Happy listening!
 
W

 

[cel4145]

Seems like a fun project.

Are you still crossing over the speakers at 140 hz now that you have the crossover? If so, makes sense. The original A2s were measured to have a bass boost in the upper mid bass that levels back off around 140hz. Good guess that A2+ are similar. My understanding that the bass boost is amplifier induced by the A2, so it's likely showing distortion in the bass before the mids or treble limits are reached:

Fig.5 Audioengine2, anechoic response on tweeter axis at 50", averaged across 30° horizontal window and corrected for microphone response, with the nearfield responses of the port (red) and woofer (blue) plotted below 700 and 300Hz, respectively, and the complex sum of the nearfield responses plotted below 300Hz (black).
Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/audioengine-2-powered-loudspeaker-measurements

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Seems like a fun project.

Are you still crossing over the speakers at 140 hz now that you have the crossover? If so, makes sense. The original A2s were measured to have a bass boost in the upper mid bass that levels back off around 140hz. Good guess that A2+ are similar. My understanding that the bass boost is amplifier induced by the A2, so it's likely showing distortion in the bass before the mids or treble limits are reached:

I actually was playing with the speakers and have gone down to 90hz and lower. Funny thing is, with the Active crossover, I can dial out the sub and JUST listen to the speakers. When I used them without the crossover, the sound was a bit muddy in the mid-bass, bass regions (which I now see shows in the charts as well). The high end on the tweeters sounds great. There is roll-off, but it is still an enjoyable sound.  With the crossover in place, the sound was "cleaned up". I would say that the sound I get out of them has definitely increased. Even without a sub involved, they sound cleaner. I also enjoy the fact I can separately dial them in for different genres. Great buy and highly recommended (Rolls SX45).

 

[cel4145]

Well, that active crossovers definitely sounds like a fun toy to play with. If you like that and want to go even more advanced one day in the future, look into the mini dsp: https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/minidsp-4x10-hd. Because it's software driven, not only can you set the crossover, but you can EQ as well. And they sell a USB measurement mic so you can graph your speaker (and sub) response in order to EQ it even more precisely by ear. I've been tempted to get one on more than one occasion

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Well, that active crossovers definitely sounds like a fun toy to play with. If you like that and want to go even more advanced one day in the future, look into the mini dsp: https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/minidsp-4x10-hd. Because it's software driven, not only can you set the crossover, but you can EQ as well. And they sell a USB measurement mic so you can graph your speaker (and sub) response in order to EQ it even more precisely by ear. I've been tempted to get one on more than one occasion

That looks neat, but definitely not for my situation. I'd be totally open to that for a dedicated 2.1 listening room though.

 

[cel4145]

Oh, yeah. People are even putting the smaller version (fewer channels) in cars to EQ the response. Probably really useful there since cars are awful listening environments in terms of influence over sound.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Still testing and tuning. I'm loving the fact that at whim, I can increase the BASS and get BASS head music, or just leave it be for more accuracy.

 

[avhed]

Delete

 

[avhed]

Well, I wanted better speakers than my Dell "throw away" ones that we had at work. I then used my Denon receiver and my Quad 11L2 speakers. It sounded fantastic, but due to the dual ported enclosure and being so close to the wall (small desk), I could hear port noise and buffetting on loud


passages. So, I figured, time to replace them (and they were too big for my desk anyway) and get a dedicated 2.1 system. I looked around for something with ports in front of the speaker. I wound up choosing the Audioengine A2+. They are a nice speaker and excellently built, but they have their shortcomings. My first one, was the stupid rear facing volume knob. The next one, was the fact that these speakers are a 2-way that attempts to get down to 65Hz off of a 2.75" woofer. Now. I listen to all genres of music and these play them fair enough, but if you toss in my liking for Metal and throw in some double bass or fast guitar riffs, and they just break up.

My next attempt to help combat that, was to grab a subwoofer that was given to me. It was a Monoprice 8" sub that could be had for $60. I kind of laughed at the attempt at the pairing, but after a little bit of tuning and placement under my desk. I wasn't laughing anymore. It was quite enjoyable. I set the sub to 140Hz or so and blending in the volume to make the A2+ sound larger. It worked. They sound much better! More authority! The problem though, the A2+ were still playing down to 65Hz and it was hurting their sound. I dealt with it because I didn't know what to try next.







Then, with some discussion with other people, I was directed to look at an Active Crossover. I chose the Rolls SX45. I listened to Crossfade - Starless as it was in my queue. The bass and guitar blended together in the beginning of the track here as well. Then, I disconnected everything and wired up the SX45. Turned the volume up on the sub and the A2+ and lowered it on the SX45. I started to play the track again. OMG! I can hear the bass, I can actually hear the guitar properly playing together, and not just mashed together. It sounded so much better that I instantly broke into a smile. Now, I'm still testing, but I'm excited that this is finally sounding pretty darn good. Now, I do have 1 confession to make, I'm feeding the A2+ from a Schiit Modi 2 Uber. So, when you add everything up, I've spent more than I should have and could probably have done better with another system. Though, I liked the A2+ enough, already had the sub and picked up the Modi2 for headphone listening. So, the only thing that was really added that was not already being purchased for some duty was the SX45, and right now. I'm happy I did pick it up.

​

to Way Too Crazy: Your Monoprice pic is overlaid on the text. Cannot read that line.
The Rolls line sure looks nice. almost the rest of the market are encased in a rack mount size or a car style casing. Plus others use a 24db/octave slope.
I could not find a internal pic of the Rolls SX45. I like to see what I am getting?
Is the Rolls SX21 Mini Crossover slope @ 24db/octave too much for the A2s
What other brands of crossovers are suitable for this application?
The SX45 crosses over a max frequency of 2.5khz, 1100 high than the designed frequency. What effect will this have on the sound?