Is 80 Hz the Best Crossover Frequency Setting for Your Speakers? Home Theater Basics

[@TechnoDad]

Video Timeline: 1:18 - THX Standard 4:15 - The Big Question! 5:05 - My Methodology 7:45 - My Recommendation 11:40 - The Wrap Up!

[@voodoo9077]

Since your still testing the PB4000, you should do a comparison with RCA subwoofer cable. From super expensive one, to affordable.

[@chriswelljack4910]

Techno dad i dont know what reciever u are using but do u know you can set your speakers to small and still cross them over to what ever point you want them at?

[@TechnoDad]

I don't think that will make a huge difference honestly.

[@TechnoDad]

@Chriswell, yup!

[@chriswelljack4910]

@@TechnoDad ok cool because setting your speakers to small doesnt really mean they are small its for just telling the av wat to do with the rest of the bass frequency

[@Bozlee22]

When THX came up with the 80Hz standard it was over 25 years ago. Speakers have improved dramatically since then. Test and listen for yourself to see what’s best for your system and don’t forget the Surrounds.

[@diegonieva1080]

Man, after daaaaays of trying to figure out why the sound was so crappy on my new Wharfdale towers, I came across your video and made the settings make so much more sense! All of a sudden I can hear details again! Thank you!!!!

[@ferrisburgh802]

This is really an issue that never seems to go away. Unfortunately many people, myself included fell into the trap of using the recommended 80 hz crossover for all the speakers. I didn't know much about speaker frequency response capability except it was an number in the speaker specs. Like many I purchased speakers based on recommendations from friends and reading reviews; ditto receivers. Needless to say I've wasted a lot of money. Since watching you guys on your daily podcast I have become more knowledgeable. I subscribed to your channel and came across this video. It was truly a great find. My system which consists of ML 60xts, 50xt and FX surrounds with a Polk 10 inch Sub with the FL, FR , FC set to 60 Hz and the FXs left at 80hz has really opened up the sound to the point I sat in amazement when playing my favorite go to CD which is the 1812 Overture on Mercury Living Presence with all the bells, cannon shots, etc. and the Hobbit - Battle of Five Armies movie. BTW my AVR is the Marantz SR7013 with the Emotiva BASX 2 driving the FCR speakers leaving the sub and surrounds to the Marantz (which really had a problem driving the ML 60xts despite what their specs said, that is another story). This is a long post but thank you. Perhaps this is a topic you guys should revisit on your daily podcasts.

[@guy197]

It's refreshing to see a video keeping an open mind about crossovers and not just saying "Set crossover on all your speakers to 80Hz. Period." like so many out there. Especially when it comes to the center channel.

[@Vincent-lw2sp]

I think you're 100% correct that it's all subjective and everyone's room is going to sound different. The size of the room, placement of the speakers, and listening distance are all factors that contribute to how the sound is going to change in any given situation. Tweaking to find what sounds best in your room is part of the enjoyment of the hobby (IMHO).

[@TechnoDad]

Woot Woot!

[@patk2225]

well my sound system has perfect sound reproduction and my subwoofer crossover is at 64Hz and my subwoofer doesn't make any sounds at the 90Hz frequency perfect sound is not subjective

[@Turtleback8024]

@@patk2225 I still think "perfect" is subjective though.

[@skylordsrebornpvpreplays5795]

well said

[@alexnather7614]

i can't believe that there's any dislikes, i mean come on guys. This guy is the real deal and knows what he's talking about.

[@TechnoDad]

Thanks Alex!! Haters always going to hate!

[@mark17840]

he knows a lot he is the real deal,

[@stevenoconnor5693]

@@TechnoDad i’m still working on trying to figure out what the perfect crossover would be for Bowers and Wilkins 805 D3 speakers. Any feedback you could give me would be helpful

[@Kev-O33]

lol

[@frazy1984]

Every video of yours is detailed and of professional level. Your way of mixing humour with the facts, is what makes the viewers keen on listening to you, without making them bored. I appreciate your efforts. Thanks and keep going.

[@TechnoDad]

Thank you!

[@mrfixinspitzin]

I agree 100%. For my Klipsch 8000F's I have two crossover presets on my Yamaha Aventage Receiver, one for movies @ 60hz, and one for music at @ 40hz. After listening for quite some time I have settled on these settings and could not be happier.

[@TechnoDad]

NICE!!!

[@azriazris]

Same to me working 25years in home theater 👍👍👍 80hz,100 Hz no matter how respectively in your home theater setup comes live when listening no noisy vocal, bass, trible and surround sound every each speaker and subwoofer must balanced.When listen you love very much.❤️❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍👍👍

[@andreusburton8838]

Just wanted to say thank you for the tips in this video. I adjusted my crossovers and it made a world of difference. You were definitely correct. I did get a much fuller and even sounding bass from my speakers, especially with fronts. Please keep making videos. I thoroughly enjoy your channel.

[@zanfear]

For about 10 years I had no idea about crossover frequency settings (I'm 26 but I'm the tech guy in my family lol). I'm going to have to play around with our set up. What did you end up choosing as crossovers for your speakers?

[@MrJgibo1]

I've been enjoying my Klipsch RF 820s with my SVS SB 4000. Watched over 50 4k movies. Finally got around to using REW. Found I had a big dip at 42 hz despite the great bass. Had to adjust one of the DSP and put it out of phase. Now I'm in heaven all over again 😁

[@brendanlawton7518]

I usually follow SVS's guideline of double what your speaker is rated {eg. 40Hz rating set to 80 75Hz set to 150} Seems to be a good starting point then get closer to actual rating of speakers.

[@TechnoDad]

That's a good way to look at it!

[@blueboyblue]

Even in the Subwoofer range, as frequency goes up, the beams or directionality of the speaker becomes more directional. At lower frequencies, sound tends to sound Omni-Directional or all directional. At above 80hz, the bass sound starts to become more directional. That is, instead of coming from everywhere, it seems to be coming from a specific direction. Now this is a steady process, the higher the frequency, the more you can determine the direction the sound is coming from. Under 80hz, the sound tends to be coming from everywhere which is what you want for Sub-Bass for Movies, and even for Music.

[@BloopsnBleeps]

I had my sub at 80 along with my speakers. I experimented a bit with it at lfe but the localization ruined it for me. I split the difference at 100 hz and it's amazing. Just trust your ears. Running: Yamaha aventage 3080 Klipsch 280fs Klipsch 240s Klipsch 440c Klipsch r 115sw Going to now start experimenting my front stage. Good call.

[@TechnoDad]

Nice Wyatt! Let me know how it goes!

[@captainspaulding4777]

Wyatt King, smartest analyzation I’ve ever heard. “Trust your ears.” I’ve always done that too. Same thing when setting speaker level. I have hearing loss in my left ear. Setting the left channels a bit higher balance everything out for me. It may not be great for others in the room with perfect hearing, but it’s my equipment and I paid for it.

[@Brian_Fantastic]

I have the Klipsch R-26F, and I used the John Wick club scene as my demo as well. I believe I landed at 60hz for these speakers. I had the towers set to large for months, but after making this change I notice a huge difference in quality.

[@TechnoDad]

Nice Brian! Thank you for sharing your experience!

[@VimalReynolds]

I am just getting back into home theater, and this video and others on your channel have helped tremendously. Thanks.

[@TechnoDad]

You're VERY welcome Vimal! Thank you for watching!

[@itgeeky6313]

Agreed, I am not an expert at home Theatre systems but I have been learning a lot from Techno Dad's videos... The guy really knows his stuff.

[@deepanmurugan467]

01:50 LFE and bass management are not the same thing btw ! Im pretty sure you know this very well Techno Dad but its just the way you said it (phrased it) here sounded like bass management was for LFE or that crossover was for LFE. LFE is a channel on its own & as long as you have dedicated subwoofers taking in LFE input from AVR/Processors that is it as far as LFE is concerned, nothing to do with crossovers & the other speakers. Bass management on the other hand is handing over lower frequencies to subwoofers that the main speakers might not be able to produce at all or might struggle to produce without distorting, and as we all know crossover is the cutoff point for this "handing over" of lower frequencies from the main speakers to the subwoofer. PS: Not trying to be a wise-ass, but thought this clarification is important.

[@TechnoDad]

Yeah, I get what you're saying and I do know the difference. Probably is a little confusing...maybe I'll make a video about the difference!

[@MasterKoala777]

I knew they were different too, and the most confusing part to me was the discussion about the overlap (80 Hz cross over to 120 Hz LFE low pass filter). It's not a real overlap, since the LFE channel is distinct from anything that crosses over via bass management. 🙂 Edit: I watched that portion again and yes it does make sense to say "overlap" as both the sub and mains output something between 80-120Hz. My mind was just looking for the distinction between LFE vs cross over, i.e. they (sub and mains) do not redundantly output the same sound.

[@chriswelljack4910]

Thats why i like my emotiva xmc-1 preamp processor bass management

[@chriswelljack4910]

A lot of av reciever needs to simplify this thing just use crossover for the surround speakers and let the sub handles from where that were set to cut off giving people who dont know much about crossover is gonna screw things up real bad specially on the sub

[@thiagodelgado3128]

So @@TechnoDad Do it please cause I still didn't get the difference.

[@shaunrichards744]

Your the man techno dad I tried it on my polk tower speakers which can go down to 40 Hz set my ROTEL processor mains to 60 Hz and left my center and surrounds at 80Hz and set subwoofer at 120Hz and made a big difference to bass performance over the recommended ROTEL default settings which was 100Hz.

[@TechnoDad]

Nice Shaun! I'm glad it worked out for you!

[@mohammedkumail5373]

THIS WAY ONLY ONE SPEAK WHO IS COMPETENT AND TRUE TO HIS WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE, ABSOLUTELY AWESOME TUTORIAL, LIKED THE WAY YOU SLAPPED UR CRITICS😁KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MATE!! 👍👍

[@mikez-ht7706]

Great Video! I leave all my settings at 80hz/Atmos at 100hz plus lfe at 120hz dual 12" DB12 subs & sounds perfect for me, all depends on what you like & what equipment you are using. My Fluance Signature series towers going down at 35hz. 2.0 for music i change to full band without the dual subs.

[@TechnoDad]

Nice!!!

[@Spirited_Driver]

I love experimenting with the crossovers, I run 11.2.2 including a 4-way B&W HTM centre, and 12" tower mains, 10"&15" subwoofers, 6.5" everywhere else. I have the 15" sealed velodyne set around 40hz, it moves a lot of air that you feel on your pants its such a nice boost in extension into the sub frequencies. My 10" audio research is ported so its got a punch in the higher 80hz area and i have it set to 90hz. The mains and heights set to large 40hz highpass they sweeten everything at a flat but very full response throughout the entire frequency sweep. the centre although 4-way doesnt have much bass output lower than around 100hz despite its size, its set to 100. Then i have the crossover for the Low frequency extension setting that sends subwoofer signal to the mains as well as the subwoofer, its set to 150hz which seems to sound better.giving all the bass to the mains as well.

[@BluesChoker01]

FYI, I've disconnected my subs from the floor with shock platforms usually used for say, monitors or guitar amps on risers. This allows them to move a bit and direct more sound into the listening area, and less into the carpeted floor. Huge difference after tuning!!

[@TechnoDad]

Nice! I always decouple my subwoofer from the floor. I even do that with my center channel. I also do that in my music studio with monitors and my large Marshall tube combo. I have found a product that will do the same for speakers but it's pricey. I need to make a video on them soon!

[@BluesChoker01]

@@TechnoDad Channa, This may be off topic here. I'm an acoustic and electric guitarist now that I've semi-retired. Mo time, mo music. :-) I have software to slow tracks maintaining pitch, changing keys, altered tunings, etc, for learning to play new stuff. But I'd like to improve my software arsenal for recording. As you know, many recorded versions of songs have two or three guitars which you have to combine into fewer instruments for a live performance--unless you have the rare luxury of three guitarists! True, combining parts is learning event that increases knowledge and promotes a better sound, but it can be tedious. I'd like to play the different parts myself and mix them. I'd have to add some percussion and base, etc. Do you think one platform, say Apple has the best music apps? It's amazing that we can afford software and hardware that used to cost hundreds of thousands of bucks and took up half a room. :-) Is there a better place to get your thoughts? Thx!!!

[@PauldeSilvaG]

Totally agree with you on this. The Audyssey XT32 does it all for you and more e.g. crossovers, channel levels, time delays and EQs and phasings.

[@cdy2179]

THX chose 80hz because it's the point where most find bass not localized. If you measure the response seat to seat the modal frequencies are all over the place. If you know how to properly place and align multiple subs you're seat to seat response will be very similar. This means letting the subs handle as much as possible gives a more accurate response for more seats. Also most have to sit near the rear wall. If you can sit at least 3.5' (1/4 wavelength of 80hz) or a tad more away from the rear wall you give rears room to image but also the rear wall SBIR null (where reflection interacts with direct causing a null ) can be avoided with an 80hz crossover as you're crossing to subs above the the SBIR frequency so the null is fixed. Sitting closer or using a lower crossover brings the null back into the repsonse. If the subs are properly setup and confirmed via response measurements this should always give a superior experience. If you use one sub as it seems is being done here every seat will vary greatly and letting mains handle more may sound better as the sub setup needs work. For those that don't know how to align subs for a similar response at all seats then sure experiment with crossover points. But there is a very good reason THX chose it.

[@MrPhirit]

in the real world application it sounds fuller and better when you let your mains play down to the 60s, 50s and 40s The sound front stage comes alive so take it with a pinch of salt but what you experience and what the "Norm" is are two different things..

[@TheReverendSlim]

In-room extension is always lower than the speaker's natural rolloff. I have found that in most rooms, given the typical slope of crossovers, your best setting will be a half-octave above the spec'd -3dB rolloff. So multiply the speaker's -3dB point by 1.5 and you will usually nail it, barring phase alignment issues.

[@TechnoDad]

Hi! Great tip, I'll check it out!

[@ForPetesake552]

Glad I found this video, cause I’ve been kind of scratching my head about this very topic. Great review!!

[@TechnoDad]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@ForPetesake552]

@@TechnoDad thank you again.

[@KarateMark]

I think that the 80Hz crossover has more to do with creating uniformity in your theater. It might sound better at your one seat to have your towers playing below 80hz...but it might actually make it sound worse at another seat in your theater. It also may be that your seat has a null at 50 Hz because of your sub placement...and so you are getting to actually hear the 50 hz sounds when you adjust your front speaker crossover. If you have bass uniformity from good subwoofers then the fullness will be there if your other speakers are at 80hz. Having multiple Subs really helps with uniformity not only at your primary seat but across all seats in your theater. But it takes proper placement of the subs. And unfortunately the location of your front towers is not usually the optimal for creating uniform bass.

[@alexgarza6195]

Ty

[@gman1087]

My front and centre speakers roll of at 40 hrtz and sub from 50 herts....it sounds amazing low end wise ...mids n tops clear and crisp...totally works for me

[@TechnoDad]

Nice G Man!

[@wattspeakers]

I've experienced the same thing. Moderate home theater setup with a Sony Atmos receiver, and full Energy Connoisseur setup. LRC are CC-10's, LH & RH are CB-10's, LR RR are CB-20's and there's 3 CSW-C8 subs. All the main speakers are 60-20k, and 92db. I've tried all sorts of crossover points, and it sounds really nice at the THX 80hz, but I've got them all set at 70hz and 0db which surprisingly makes a considerable difference and the whole system sounds richer and fuller with certain effects and music that are being played in surround that would otherwise be subdued. The subs are at -5 but they've got a 97db efficiency, and I have effect/eq set to off and it all sounds pretty sweet regardless if it's a new Atmos movie, an old 5.1, or even stereo. Thanks for the video!

[@johndesousa7379]

For people with cheaper systems even though the towers may play low you may not want to push low frequencies through them because it will take away from the clarity of the mids and highs plus it would be sucking power from the receiver unnecessarily. The sub can better produce the low frequencies over the towers. I usually hand off at 120 hz if there is no mid bass drivers on the towers.

[@drakestevens5053]

I like your video! It's refreshing to hear advice telling people to to try out different settings to see what sounds best for their unique setup, rather than pretending to know something specific about something with so many variables. I loved how you described your process, particularly how you explained why you chose the test clip that you did. Great information. My 5.2.4 Atmos setup in the family room is set at 80Hz because it sounds best with my Boston HS-40 surrounds and height speakers. My 5.1 in the man cave, however, is set at 60Hz because it sounds fuller with my Infinity Sterling SS-03 speakers. The right crossover point really does depend upon speaker size and placement, and room size and acoustics. New fan of your channel! Thank you!

[@TechnoDad]

Hello Drake, and welcome! I am a music producer and DJ, so I play around with frequencies all the time when mixing music. There are times where you just have to trust your ears. You said it yourself, there are too many variables and making a broad statement about what it should be set to is a difficult thing.

[@michaelcharles5273]

Hey i changed my Klipsch RP 280f to Large which made a big difference in my sound, my music is much fuller. I had to lower my sub levels but i LOVE the change. Great video Thank you.

[@TechnoDad]

Awesome!

[@Enemji]

Yes. 80hz is probably the best crossover because 1) most decent speakers can go down that low 2) Most humans can hear that bass as tight 3) at that crossover point, there is a peak, an automatic boost for your L&R + subwoofer are playing that.

[@TOONMAN200]

WOW I always used 80 Hz on my home theater 7.1 system. After watching your video, I reset the crossover to 60Hz. The whole rome seem to come alive. I think crossover should be set, according to the equipment being used. All my speakers are in the ceiling, except the center channel and subwoofer. Thanks again for the good advice.

[@TechnoDad]

Thanks for sharing!

[@josefermalino461]

After watching this bro I changed my bic pl 980 tower speakers that can go as low as 22hz to 50hz from 80hz dammmm what a big difference it improves a lot.. then my center channel bic pl 28 with 2 8 woofers and 6 and half tweeter from 80hz to 70hz man watching underworld makes a big difference...thank u bro ur the best 😘

[@TechnoDad]

You're welcome Jose, thank you for sharing your experience!

[@josefermalino461]

Techno Dad I’ve been watching all ur videos and it helps me a lot..this particular video answered all my questions regarding my huge tower 3 way tower speakers: BIC ACOUSTECH PL 980 👌

[@TechnoDad]

Awesome! So good to hear!

[@christopherlewis3615]

I set mine at 100hz. I have cambridge audio aero series with the bmr drivers. Bmr are brilliant at spreading sound and is fantastic for home cinema as you can never pick out what speaker the sound is coming from. Its just like a bubble of sound everywhere and this can be the case in several listening positions due to their wide dispersion over normal tweets. I run a 9.2.2 set up and I know my towers and book shelfs go down to 50hz. But even if it says on the box 50hz. Yes it probably can. But it won't have the same impact attack and at the same dB rating of a decent subwoofer. Unless your speakers cost you thousands!! I run 2 pb2000 pros. If I lower my hz to say 50hz as my speakers are rated to. I'm robbing the frequencys my subs are able to produce "better" with more power and grunt. It winds me up when people say it must be this it must be that. Like you say everyone perceives sound differently. A 100hz sounds best for me. because my drivers are only 6 inches, the lower I set it the less attack I get because Im robbing it from 2 subwoofers that can reproduce it better. It all depends on your set up. For me personally your subwoofer is set to 120hz for a reason. Don't rob it of its capability. Because it will reproduce frequencys below 80hz better than what the average consumer speaker can. Thats just my 10 cents. Only issue I have had for ages is i have a room mode at 50hz and have to eq that out on my subs. 🤣. Setting my speakers to 50hz will just make things worse.

[@8Castiel7]

Thanks for this, having never owned a sub before I had it set on the 80hz I saw recommended everywhere but when watching movies it was just overpowering and boomy, lowered it to 70hz and things sounded better. I'll continue adjusting things as I go to see what works best.

[@TechnoDad]

Hi Castiel! That’s the thing about audio, everyone likes hearing things differently, and everyone’s room is different. The best thing to do is experiment with different settings and find the ones you like the most.

[@scottlowell493]

It makes sense to let the sub handle bass. A proper sub will take the stress off small satellites and do it better.

[@MrPhirit]

If you have good towers that play low you will notice the difference at 50hz set on the towers. It is night and day

[@Audioholics]

Hi Techo Dad, thought you'd like to know that the bass management in most AVR's sets the subwoofer LPF based on the crossover setting of the main channels HPF setting even if the mains are set to large. The 120Hz LFE LPF setting is independent of this setting. The sub out gets a summed response of bass from the LFE channel with the other bass managed channels. In 2CH Mode if you have your mains set small at 80Hz the bass integrates to the sub at 80Hz as well independent of the LFE LPF setting. I usually recommend always leaving the LFE setting to 120Hz to not truncate any bass that the director intended in the multi-ch movie mix. The HPF of a THX bass management scheme is actually 12dB/oct while the LPF is 24dB/oct. I believe you said the HPF was 24db/oct. The reason for this is THX originally speced sealed satellite speakers which have a natural rolloff of 12dB/oct so when combined with the sub channel, you should get a perfect blend, in theory. Theory vs reality is much different however. 80Hz is still a good global Xover setting for the bass managed sub output especially if you want to take advantage of the modal averaging benefits of multi-sub across multiple seats. If you set the crossover lower to feed the main channels more bass, you lose this benefit. Alternatively you can run your mains large and set the crossover to 80Hz for the main channels but then you have to deal with the potential of too much bass in the transition region between the mains and the subs. EQ can help this. Overall 80Hz is still the best and most system compatible crossover setting for 95% of installs IMO. That said, I don't follow my own advice in my primary theater system as I deploy more advanced bass management since I also route LFE to my mains but in my other systems I use 80Hz. Hope this helps.

[@TechnoDad]

Wise words from the bass-a-holic himself. Thanks Gene! I was wanting to get your insight on multi-sub placement. I’ve got a lot of people wanting me to make a video about it and I figure you’re one of the experts in that area.

[@Audioholics]

@@TechnoDad sure man, we do have several videos on that topic but I'd be happy to be a guest sometime on your show if you like.

[@TechnoDad]

That sounds like a great idea! I’ll shoot you an email.

[@derrickmcpherson44]

Audioholics hello I would like to know should I set my dB meter to 70 or 80db to get 75 or 85 and if it is 75 should I set my crossover to 70 am not sure if it have 75 same with 85 it just say 70, 80 and 120 I think

[@michaelbreeland8823]

I'm running 2 subwoofers rated at 29-120Hz and 5 ELAC Unifi UB52's rated at 46-35,000Hz and I have tried crossovers from 40-100Hz and I found that they sound the best at 100Hz. I think that handing off the bass at 100Hz to the twin subwoofers fills the room better and it just blew me away at the clarity of the sound. You give great advice to try different settings to see what works best for your system because if I had stuck with 80Hz crossover I would be missing out on the full capability of my system. I'm running the speakers on a Yamaha RX-A4A (which I highly recommend).

[@bobbyb7465]

Im strongly considering the RX-A4A. What are your biggest dislikes from it so far?

[@michaelbreeland8823]

@bobbyb7465 It has a steep learning curve. I like to fiddle so it doesn't bother me. The manual is 400 pages! If you have the patience, it's worth it, though.

[@SathishKumar-tk4qx]

Hi 👋 Dear, I watched your video, But I need a better tone, midrange more for my listening stereo music. I have Parasound Pre P6 , Power A21 + , speakers RP 8000 F. I very comfortable with this setup now, but I need more tribe, midrange, can you advise which separate pair of cross over can I buy it which brand should I get one ☝️ How it can be connected in my pre amp and power amp. I need more low frequencies. Please advise waiting for your reply thanks 🙏.

[@rafaelperez9652]

Always learn something new from TD's channel because he knows what he's talking about! I like that. Great!! 👍

[@TechnoDad]

Thanks Rafael!

[@stephenfrancisvoros382]

I found this with my sound system too, centre is accusound 200w rms 8ohm 25hz 40hz 90db sensitivity and fronts are polk audio signature s60, 300w 8ohm 26hz 40hz 90db sensitivity, my Yamaha RX-A 3070 ypao wants to set them large, but it's way to much base, mostly from the polks, so I changed the centre to small and like you played with crossover points, finding it sounding best at 60hz crossover, male female voices sound better, the polks I set small too, finding crossover was best 40hz, so they are digging deep still but no to much for the whole system, I watched John Wick yesterday and it sounds spot on, other speakers are set small 80hz crossover, the whole system rolls off perfectly and smoothly into my 2x emotiva basx s12 subs, I've just finished the build of my upgraded system, being 7.2.4, it's awesome!

[@mikeortiz2139]

I've seen a fair amount of your videos and after this one, I have a greater appreciation for you T.D. Keep on, keeping on.

[@TechnoDad]

Thank you so much, Mike!

[@XNeo27564]

I was really impressed when you said 'john wick is here' your point was made clearly sir.

[@skip741x3]

Very solid advice brother... Ive seen all the recommended 80/120 recommendations and tested myself..all I can say is its not only subjective but will vary from system to system as well... 80 and 120 may sound great on one system and not right on another..also music listening vs hometheater setup may require straying from those parameters..Truly, you need to do what you have done: try the settings and then vary things within the parameters set by ur speakers capabilities and try a varity of listening, then see what complements the sound and what degrades the sound... one rule fits all does not really work, its a starting point, you dial in from there.

[@RBS22]

I was never convinced in the frequency cut in 80hz for the front speakers, with his suggestion and thought, completely removed my doubt, I adjusted in 80rz, since they go down well until 42hz. I also dare house music, jazz ...

[@Foreverjazzfan]

Simple fix. Just increase the crossover 20 above the speakers handling ability. Unfortunately Marantz doesn’t give you an option to chose 70HZ in the AVR. You go from 80 to 60. My center goes down to 59 so 80 is the correct spot. My mains go down to 38 so I set those at 60. My height channels are all 150 and my surrounds are 100. This seems to work the best in my room.

[@TechnoDad]

Yeah, I hate that about Denon/Marantz…

[@MaxKesslerThinker]

Thanks for the educational video. Here is a quick question regarding the "cut off at the legs" argument for the tower speakers that go down to 32 Hz. Couldn't one make the same argument for the sub? In other words, if my sub goes up to 150 Hz, why cut it off at the legs by setting the crossover all the way down at 60 Hz? Why not set my crossover to 100 Hz, and let my powered sub handle more of the bass that it is specifically designed to handle, which also frees up my receiver's power to focus more on the mid and high range frequencies handled by my front main speakers? Thank in advance if you respond.

[@TechnoDad]

Hi Max! Glad you enjoyed this video. Set the sub to LFE on the back of the sub, which tells the sub to let the AVR handle the crossover. In the Bass management area of the AVR, have the LFE set to 120Hz. That's the "standard" setup. That's how I have mine setup.

[@thischannelisdeleted]

Who in the hell said to set a sub crossover at 60????

[@fzmracerx]

A good rule of thumb is to put it 10hz above what the speaker can do at the low end.

[@TechnoDad]

I can roll with that.

[@camf33]

so if my tower speakers are at 40hz - 22hz then set x-over at 50hz more or less?

[@damianhaber4890]

@@camf33 If your centre speaker can go deeper than 60 hz, then set the crossover between 60 - 70 hz.

[@robertbarton3556]

Thanks for a great video, I agree with using your ears with the equipment you have, why would you buy some nice towers that have good bass extension and then as you say chop it off at the legs with a higher crossover point, the only reason you might do this is if you are having bass problems in your room from your fronts because of positioning that you are stuck with or because of room size or furniture etc I don't have a sub (I live in a flat) but i set my crossover to the centre to 80hz which is the same as the speaker manaufacturers specs, and 100hz for my small surround speakers, again the same as the manufacturers specs, it takes away a lot of strain from the smaller speakers and they sound clearer for it, but if you can, run your fronts full range, but play around with the crossovers like you say and let your ears decide

[@007galaxie]

Excellent video. I've had my crossover set at 80Hz for ever. I just received a new RP504Cii that'll replace my old center. I'll experiment and lower that crossover for both the center and mains. I'm sure my vintage Cerwin Vega 150's will wake up :)

[@DigitalDonAV]

Great video. This is a hard subject only because of he amount of variables, I'd say 80 has always been a good reference point for most in a surround system, in years past A/V receivers had somewhat limited bass management options, today things are different at the mid to high end level. One of the factors in a lot of the systems i have setup over the years that use clients legacy towers speakers is the power output of the A/V receiver. If a client had big fairly inefficient towers, lowering the crossover point and adding bass would definitely sap the power from the receiver on surround playback effecting the overall sound of the system, not so much an issue with speakers like Klipsch that are crazy efficient, but speakers that were in the low 80db range power hogs. In my system, my towers run full range in both two channel and surround, they are efficient and have powerful outboard amps pushing them with tons of headroom, but If I had a mid level A/V receiver (Like most people do)I would probably experiment just as you suggested...as you know, manufactures specs can be a little inflated from time to time :-) Anyway not trolling at all, I am an AV pro in my day job and former DJ myself, your info is sound, it's just that there are a ton of factors involved in this people may not consider and you could make a two our video on this...bust only audio nerds like us would watch. Good job brother.

[@amb86]

This is very helpful! Thanks!

[@makimoko]

I have a Yamaha V671 (bought used for 100$ CAD without YPAO mic lol), Elac Debut 2.0 F6.2/C6.2/OW4.2 and just received our PSA S1512. Unfortunately, the receiver only allows ONE LPF for all speakers... I tried 80 Hz, but found that the PSA, which is quite capable above 80 hz, was not used to its potential. Raised to 100 Hz and it made a palpable difference in usual action movie content. Most revealing to me is that listening to my favorites scenes (e.g. Interstellar black hole scene ), at usual AVR volume, bass is now HUGE, but perceived loudness is overall less, with incredibly more separation in channels! I believe this is because the F6.2, previously to large (due to absence of a sub) had a very muddy, bloated bass output, with room mode around 40 Hz and high frequency struggled from the power drain going to low frequency. We now have to listen to all our blu-ray again! Can't wait to upgrade AVR though.

[@mikenguyen4554]

Thanks for sharing. I have a question i hook up a mixer for karaoke to a receiver so should the mixer and receiver be set at the same cross over frequency? Usually I set my mixer at 80hz and then 70hz for the receiver to crossover to front speakers and sub but I don’t know if that is the correct connection or not. Please help. Thanks very much

[@bryandepaepe5984]

For individual people, sound and vision can be different for each. When vision is not great not everyone has the same corrective lens prescription and want different levels of tinting for outside and inside use, the same can be said for sound. Then some people are just accustomed to a certain sound from an audio source depending on their life experiences and will usually prefer highly enhanced and spatial settings where musicians know what instruments sound like in real life and will prefer a flatter realistic sound. One point most forget is that all sound recordings are engineered by a sound engineer and there will be slightly different volumes for different frequencies so make adjustments using sound sources you're familiar with and know what it should sound like.

[@viper04af]

Martin Logan motion 40 for my center, massive difference setting to 60hz, dialogue especially low dialogue was so much better the bass in our large room is much better, also. Addiing an amp to the center aloud this to happen, I tested before and wasn't much difference with channle only getting 90 w from avr but now with monothil amp feeding 300 watts setting at 60hz made a difference now. So it could be speakers might just need power to notice a difference also

[@TechnoDad]

Hi Andrew! Yeah, a lot of male voices do go pretty low and a power amp will definitely help the situation!

[@NIAtoolkit]

I output "full range" from the receiver/amp and let the built-in speaker crossovers do the work. If there's a LFE track, that goes straight to the subwoofers (also at full range).

[@monroethegreat7539]

I just ordered the Definitely technology Cs9080 Center Speaker, That Center Speaker is know for its 8" built in subwoofer, But I already have 2 Svs Subwoofers, Should I run the CS 9080 Center Speaker Small or Large to take advantage of the Subwoofer?

[@morrisnickrdg]

The other point is that Amps need much more power to drive lower frequencies than high ones - Active Subs have their own amplification. So by letting your Sub handle

[@jeffm2787]

80 on my mains and center, 60 on my rear side and back surrounds. 150 on my crappy rear heights and 80 on my front heights. 7.4.2 setup with a mix of speakers. Pioneer, Yamaha, Polk, Infinity, Boston Acoustics. Yep one of those setups they warn you about. My fronts go down to 45, center to 60, rear surrounds 40 and 60 back and sides. Front heights go down to about 45 ish. Rear heights are trash down to maybe 100. X3600H receiver. Work in progress.

[@DriftTaxi]

Yeah my fronts are dual 10, center is 4 6.5" and all my mains are full sized towers (surrounds: 3-way with 8" sub driver, and, rears are 5-way with 12" sub drivers) . I run my crossover at 40Hz and it's big sound,. I love it!

[@TechnoDad]

Nice!!

[@christopherlewis3615]

I have towers with 6 inch drivers and a centre channel with 5 inch drivers. I still always set them to 100hz. Just my flavour. Even though my towers are rated down to 40hz. I just tend to think that anything below 100hz no matter how good your speakers are... a decent subwoofer will play them frequencys better!

[@MrBonger88]

A rule of thumb is you usually set your crossover one octave above your -3db point and tweak it from there. My speakers are 3db down at 32 hz. Using a Pass Labs XVR-1 active analog crossover, I found that around 60hz was the optimal settting. Pretty close to one octave above. I used REW to find the best crossover point

[@jeffnewell2662]

I ran adyssey last night. I have Klipsch RP-8000, RP-504c, surrounds RP-502, rears RP-600 , front heights RP -500sa, Rear Heights SVS premier primes. Here’s what it set the speakers to: front L.R. 40Hz Center 40hz . Srounds 90hz, Surr back , front 40hz, front height and back heights 80hz

[@dougbulldog9947]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge., I enjoy your show and have learned plenty. I hear you when you say it is subjective and I understand why I should probably set all my speakers to small and the receiver crossover point to 80HZ but... when I use YPAO mic to setup my Yamaha RX V473 receiver YPAO changes all the speakers (except the center channel) from small back to large and crossover back from 80 to 120 or sometimes right up to 160HZ The Yammy receiver is connected to Onkyo SKF-4800 floor-standing front speakers, Onkyo SKC-4800 center speaker, Infinity reference 5.5'' bookshelf rear speakers on stands and Sony SA-WM40 subwoofer. I mainly listen to rock and country music and stream the occasional movie or tv series. I struggle to get my head around frequency numbers ans I know is subjective, but without hearing it do you think I should probably still change all the speakers back to small and crossover to 80??? Thanks again, keep up the good work.

[@cboyamg]

Depends on your setup. I have my center and rear at 80hz hp Fronts at 35hz hp Subs 40hz and 15hz bandpass All 48db per oactive

[@RapttorX]

that's an interesting spelling for "octave"

[@_klent]

@@RapttorX lol

[@markwilson0077]

I've adjusted a myriad of settings while learning the tweaks, hacks and nuances of tuning the AVR for home theatre and 2 channel listening. Its been a long and fun process..one I'm still enjoying. What I've found is that 1. When using only the AVR to power the entire 5.2 or 7.2 system..it makes every bit of sense to utilise an 80Hz Crossover point for most speakers (generally). However, having added a separate 2 channel power amplifier to power my Main L & R speakers (with 150WPC), I run the L & R towers full range (Large) + Subs. I find that giving the main L & R speakers plenty of power and running them full range, allows for a truly immersive and powerful listening experience for both Movies and music..but always with subs for the LFE.

[@chriswelljack4910]

Its gonna sound muddy if yur towers cant go down to 20hz fronts plus sub gonna sound muddy

[@markwilson0077]

@@chriswelljack4910 Interesting statement..please clarify. Are you saying that 1.Any loudspeaker that doesn't go down to 20Hz will sound Muddy? OR 2. Any combination of loudspeaker (that doesn't go down to 20Hz) and subwoofer will sound Muddy? Seems far reaching to agree to either..considering towers were made to be played full range..and Subwoofers are self powered and made to handle LFE. Do explain..

[@chriswelljack4910]

Most fronts cant keep up with playing deep bass like a good sub can and trying to let them play bass on same level is gonna struggle its called double bass and its not recommend at most cases not even the audio makers recommend it

[@chriswelljack4910]

@@markwilson0077 subs are not just for lfe if thats yur type of subs u just into theater systems

[@markwilson0077]

@@chriswelljack4910 No, not at all. I use my subs to play all my music..can't get true extension without subs.

[@thewedge4745]

Just watched and great review . Got a question . I have the Q Acoustics 3050i floorstanding speakers and the Q Acoustics 3090ci centre speaker with two svs sb1000 subs and 4 svs prime Elevation speakers two for Heights and the other two for rears all set at 80hz would you suggest setting the fronts to 50hz and the centre to 70hz and what would suggestion be for the Heights and rears . Many Thanks . Wedge .

[@carbonm2]

Thanks homie. I did 40hz for my L,R and 60 all the way around in my 7.1.4 Seems much better, more directional cues being heard, for a better envelope of sound.

[@TechnoDad]

Nice Royce! Glad you like the changes. I think 80 Hz is a great starting point but you can get more out of your system if you take the time to dial it in.

[@wishusknight3009]

Royce, the thing to keep in mind, is that the high pass is also as much used for protection as it is for sound characteristics. 60 for atmos and surround rears seems really low and may cause the AVR and speakers to work harder than is necessary. If the speakers contain larger drivers and you offload some channels of the AVR to outboard power amps, then it probably is fine. Or if you find you never push the volume higher than its probably ok as well. In the case of my system my subs are disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of the system, so the satellites are unable to add anything to their performance. However with a more balanced setup sometimes they can.

[@jimmythek750]

Thank you! I just got a new sub and was recommended to set it to LFE. Too boomy and one note-ey. So set it to 120hz. Much better with more definition in the bass and not intruding on the upper mid bass.. Plus I got a "Y" splitter and fed the signal into both RCA inputs. Much more dynamic.

[@TechnoDad]

You're welcome Jimmy!

[@skip741x3]

I know what you mean about them being boomy and one note when on LFE mode, thats because the subs crossover is disabled so you have no filtering at all..that 120hz setting Can be done either at the sub or in the receivers end under LFE low pass..you use one or the other, not both.. many audio techs recommend using that LFE in on the sub and setting the 120hz in ur receiver.. either way, same effect

[@brydon10]

Setting your crossover to about 10hz above where your speakers roll off (check the specs) is usually a good place to start. Thanks for the video.

[@TechnoDad]

Yup, agreed!

[@brydon10]

I've got a video request. Can you demonstrate whether amps sound different or not? Like, a receiver vs "high quality" amplifier? I guess you could get them playing at the same decibel point using pink noise, and then record some music or something and see if there is any sound difference? Because some people say a good amp will sound better, but I've heard that in reality all amps sound the same unless they are driven into clipping. Thanks man, love your videos.

[@techsamurai11]

It's exactly what I found - set the crossover to 10hz over the speaker's rating which is actually what SVS recommends. If the speaker is 57hz (as in the example here) set the crossover to 70. My center channel was rated at 70 for my center so 80 was ideal - 60 sounded worse. If the front left and right are rated for 40hz set it at 50hz. It seems that no matter how many awards a sub wins, it can't really do the work of a regular speaker in filling up the higher frequencies and 60hz to 120hz is a lot of sound you'll hear in voices, guitars, instruments, effects.

[@duohere3981]

Agreed 100%

[@ChickenSoupMusic]

Short answer - maybe... Depends on how boss your main speakers are. I personally set my subs at 33 hz because that's where they sit seamlessly with my speakers. Quite a bit of consumer / prosumer setups are tuned @ 80 hz however. That's for stereo mode on my setup.. LFE in 5.1 mode is @ 80 hz for movies.

[@TechnoDad]

nice!

[@khobia2]

Thanks Channa great video. I looked at several and thought your recommendations rounded off everything I had looked at and read. I have a Pioneer SP-52KFS system. I’m thinking about about upgrading to either elac, svs, or klipsch but that’s beside the point. So on the spec sheet the towers bottom out at 40 Hz center and surrounds 55 Hz, atmos-enabled at 180 Hz. So I raised everything up by 10 hz 50 hz and 70 hz respectively. Subwoofers set 120 hz and atmos-enabled speakers (180 hz) I left at the auto-calibration level of 150 hz. I’ll listen to these settings for a week or so and see if I like ‘em.

[@VINNY5674]

I let the subs handle my bass free's up more power for the receiver to produce mids and highs. Now if you have high end or large driver speakers with powerful amps by all means set the Crossover differently. I once had 3 towers containing 15 inch drivers with Monoblock amps powering each one was no need for a subwoofer at all for the speakers 🔊 get it!

[@TechnoDad]

Yeah, I get it. I forgot to mention that I have a power amp for my ear level speakers.

[@gauthamv77]

Great explanations I’m considering buying the mono price monolith 3 Channel LCR in wall speakers. I can’t decide between the ones that have 4 woofers versus 2 woofers. I’m setting up a home theater - 3800 cubic feet. I have two RSL sub woofers. Do I need the extra woofers in the LCRs

[@djlytic4603]

Its hard to quantify a "fuller sound" because sometimes we like something emphasized or "hyped" even though its technically less accurate In the end though, it depends on your goals for the system response: do you want accuracy or personalized tonality? Youll need measurement tools for accuracy. You just need a little time and know how to use your own ear for personal enjoyment

[@gereral1_jackofalltrades]

I set mine to 100hz as out of my 7 speakers this is my highest. This makes it perfect do my sub sounds perfect but blends so you can't point to where bass is coming from. I have Klipsch towers but for anyone knows when u pass more bass to sub the amp produces cleaner highs and mids at hi levels. Let current draw on sub amp power lows and leave receiver amps to push more current to 7 speakers. I run 80w x7 Denon and at -5db below reference it's loud and clean! In a 30 foot length by 20 feet wide room you do not need more than 1 15inch 500w sub and 4 .3 hi current amp. Or for guys who have no idea 80w for 7 channels. All my speaks are Klipsch reference include the sub. Sub is forward firing on laminate flooring. My sides and rears are ceiling. At all corners. Front are 35 deg angle each side and center is under HDR 65 inch TV.

[@darthmaul13]

Thanks for the video. After 20 years I had to replace my receiver. I got at Onkyo & have Bose speaker set up. My previous receiver didn’t have this cross over stuff. Should I set ALL speakers at 80hz crossover? Or the LFE at 80 & the F S C at 100?? Please help.

[@desmondgillam112]

i agree with you views on crossovers there's a disc delos de 3179 which has a 20,000 to 15 hz test to see where your main speakers rolloff hope this helps good video

[@dlee985]

What crossover would you recommend for Def Tech Pro Cinema 600 series speakers? They say 120hz is the recommend crossover, but I'm wondering what would happen if i set it at 80hz or 100hz? I'm rolling with dual PB-2000's for my subs. Thanks!

[@eternalbeing3339]

I have the leviton aeh50-bl jbl system 3.5" satellite speakers with 150Hz - 20Hz response. What would be the best crossover setting?

[@smklvr69]

Your satellite speakers are rated at 150Hz-20Khz, your subwoofer is rated at 150Hz down to 35Hz. So if you're able to set the crossover in your receiver, set your main speakers to small and then set their crossover to 150 or 160Hz, that way anything under 150Hz, your subwoofer will naturally pick up and blend all the way down to 35Hz or close enough as the ratings and RMS on those arent that great, but it should still work. Being that your satellite speakers (mains, not subwoofer) bottom out at 150hz, you do not want to set them to 80Hz crossover and then crank the volume as you risk blowing the speakers.

[@eternalbeing3339]

@@smklvr69 thank you! I really appreciate it.

[@karlsheldon60]

Thank you for the information. What I got out of this video we need towho what are our speakers frequency can handle also. Larger or tower speakers. I have Bose 601 series 1 speakers for my front. They are very big and very old. Would I consider those tower or large speakers?

[@peterrobertbowers7639]

I’m using 2 speakers, only ( Wharfedale 9.1) with my pioneer VSX 933 home cinema receiver ( No subwoofer) i have a choice of cross overs. Either 50, 80, 150, or 200; But not really sure. i think, I Need to do some experimenting on this particular topic; as i do listen to an awful lot of music on CD and on KZbin. What you say… does make sense. Sunday 12th March 2023. U.K. 🇬🇧 Southampton.

[@wishusknight3009]

I actually keep my center and surround channel crossover points up about 110 and redirect to give a bit more protection. And my mains and sub at 80. But I run a much larger set of subs than most people will ever imagine.. (2x18"s) My surrounds and center are probably large enough to handle the recommended 80, but the amp is not being offloaded on those channels.

[@junidare]

60hz for me. I find the music that I play sounds better and the movies. It's funny you post the video and yesterday that's exactly what I was doing. I listen to house music and salsa. Great vid 👍

[@TechnoDad]

Nice! I love House music, that's what I DJ the most. If you want to hear some mixes, check out my mixcloud. I have a few that I posted when working for a House Music station based in Miami: www.mixcloud.com/channad/

[@RBS22]

It's very good! House música and salsa... I also dare

[@RBS22]

@@TechnoDad Very good 😎👍

[@TechnoDad]

Thanks Ricardo!

[@rain5920]

Roger I use 972hz crossover for my subwoofer and I use 1841hz crossover for my tweeters

[@taica7598]

I have a question, on my 5.1 AV receiver I set front, center and surround to small, front crossover set on 80 Hz and center and surround set on 120 Hz (here I am not sure if I made the right choice). How to set my surround and center speaker crossover if in speaker specification say that: center and surround frequency range 150 Hz-20.000 Hz? 80 - 120 Hz isn't too low if the frequency range of the speakers is between 150-20,000 Hz?

[@cedo2297]

Channa, thank you very much i purchased the rf7 iii and rc64 due to you and youthman. Can you give me an up to date crossover starting point from your experience yhat i can set my front stage at. I would appreciate that. Thanks again. Also small or large for the rf7 iii and rc-64 iii

[@lgmnowkondo938]

satellites may very well require a higher setting than 80 Hz. And I totally agree that big speakers should be used with lower crossover as more bass sources tends to even out the bass response in the room.

[@ShortHandedNow]

I tend to set the X-Over to the factory rated spec for the speaker and tune from there... Pretty much the same conclusion you made you need to just test them all out.

[@TechnoDad]

Yup yup!

[@nmdpeaceout]

Hey, great vid, im just a little confused after this. When you set the crossover to say 50hz, does that mean the subwoofer only does below 50hz?. Or is the bass from 50-80hz shared between both subwoofer and speakers?. Thank you

[@mikka1986]

There are not much subwoofer capable to do LPF of 80hz @ 24db/oct without distortion, but I do find out most system sound good with crossover point of around 80hz, which is something like 60hz LPF and 90hz HPF. It is all depend on the speaker capability, preferred that to use all the woofer undistorted low end capability then fill the remaining with subwoofer. Even with some guideline, it still take forever to get it to sound right, or probably never.

[@mrsandroks]

Hey man, can you make a video elaborating about having two subwoofers / dual / stereo subwoofer? Thanks

[@johnbarberio4425]

Great video; question, when having large towers as front speakers like the Rf-7's or other, does it also make sense to put the speakers at large instead of tweaking the crossover? Again I haven't tried any if this yet, but I wanted your input on this. Tks for reading

[@28_babyshark]

On SVS PB-2000pro sub, on the SVS app can I set 120 Hz on the app or do I have to change it in the Yamaha RX-6VA receiver ? Or set it to 120hz on the app and receiver? Kef Q550 and SVS PB-2000pro with Yamaha RX-6VA receiver 2.1 set up

[@haines96]

My Yamaha RX-V673 receiver has only one crossover number you can set, so I guess I cannot achieve the overlap, correct? If so, I assume I would use the lower crossover point. Does that make the subwoofer have too little range?

[@CorvetteCoonass]

I tend to set my crossovers around 10 Hz higher than the lowest frequency, mainly because the speaker tends to roll off rather quickly once they get to 10 Hz above the lowest frequency. Not always true, but in my experience, most of the time.

[@carsinourdna9388]

Well said! Those who are not agreeing with him, only one advice learn music then talk. Great video! 👍🏼