[davidthomps]

I am looking at picking up a set of Paradigm Atoms (Series 7).  I love the way they sound but I have on concern - it looks like I will have to setup the sub to crossover at 100 Hz.  Because I will be using the speakers mostly for muic and some critial listening I want to be sure the sub's location isn't apparent, from what I have read that would mean ideally using a crossover of 80Hz.  Does anyone have any thoughs on this?  Will crossing over at 100Hz provide a sub optimal listening experience?  Ie - should I be looking at another set of speakers?  Ones I can crossover at 80Hz?
 
Thanks

 

[Shadowboxer]

Hi - there is no easy answer to your question.
 
I used to have a REL sub (the finest sub I've ever heard for audio) that went into a small set of B&W stand mounted speakers.
 
The REL manual repeatedly stated to set the sub significantly lower than what we would think to be normal.  REL recommended setting it at about 35-50 hz.  After initially ingnoring this info and trying at 80 - and then experimenting at many different settings - I ended up at 45 hz.  To my amazement, they were right.
 
Now this is highly dependent on MANY variables such as room acoustics, speakers, amp, etc.  But on my set up, with the REL (which as a very shallow 6db crossover slope), lower is better.  Be cautions of anyone that over the internet just gives you the magic number that will work for you.
 
 

 

[yifu]

80hz is the THX standard and it is said that 80hz prevents bass localisation from the subwoofer. However 100HZ, depending on your satellites might provide a smoother integration. Even lower crossover settings are used sometimes although 50hz is usually the lowest a receiver allows. The low pass crossover (db per octave) is often used to determine actual crossover but i find the best way to determine a crossover setting is experimentation. You'll have to experiment with whatever works best for your system.