Crossover setting for 805D

[felitopaz]

I'd recently acquired a set of B&W 805D and I would like recommendations on crossover settings.
My equipment consists of the following:
Antem D2v
Anthem A2
Anthem A5
Oppo 105
Power Sound Audio Subwoofer S150


Thanks.

 

[thedudeabides]

Use your ears? On a more serious note, tune the 805's first without the sub. Xover. Activate sub. Once sub is close to optimal placement (lots of info on this elsewhere), try a 10HZ "gap" between speaker and sub. Xover 10 below low end speaker response.Check mid bass quickness and definition. Adjust volume and phase accordingly. Use acoustic bass in well recorded jazz music. Patricia Barber music is one good tool. Try "Nightclub". Well recorded bass. Voice should be well defined and crystal clear. Nice saturation with no overhang. Season to taste. Once all is set, sub should disappear in soundstage and not be heard. Remember excessive bass destroys "everything". Optimal enhances and compliments the "entire" sonic presentation.

Oh yeah. Try an Auralex "SubDude". For the price, it can do amazing things. Good luck. Have fun.

 

[felitopaz]

Thank you. I think the 805 D
lowest frequency is 49hz. If I understand correctly set the subwoofer crossover at 40?

 

[DonH50]

Which generation? 805D, D1, ...?

The current 805D4 lists -3 dB at 42 Hz and specifies distortion to 90 Hz. I prefer to let the sub woofer handle the deep bass as that reduces distortion in the smaller speakers and allows me to place the subwoofer in the room for the smoothest response. I cross over at an octave above the main speakers -3 dB frequency if possible, which would be around 80 Hz. This is pretty consistent with B&W's distortion specification, which implies they measure to 90 Hz. To prevent messing up the image by being able to localize the subwoofer (hear it as an independent source, rather than "feeling" the bass), a crossover at or below 80 Hz is normal. So I would set the crossover at 80 Hz and see how it sounds, then adjust from there. Much higher, and the sub will start to intrude into the higher frequencies where it is harder to blend well, and much lower will increase the distortion in the 805D's.

FWIWFM - Don

 

[felitopaz]

Thank you.
I have the first generation. I set all speakers to small and set the fronts, center and surrounds to 70hz. I set the subwoofer to 80hz and it sounds good to me. Does this makes sense?

 

[DonH50]

Thank you.
I have the first generation. I set all speakers to small and set the fronts, center and surrounds to 70hz. I set the subwoofer to 80hz and it sounds good to me. Does this makes sense?

Probably if it sounds OK. The overlap means the subwoofer is producing sound a little above the crossover, which means more interaction with the speakers, which may help or hurt (hard to tell without measurements). I would try setting the other speakers to 80 Hz as well and see if it sounds better or worse, but chances are the Anthem's processing will handle the overlap well enough. Normally the same crossover setting is used for all the speakers (including the subwoofer) to provide better (more seamless) subwoofer integration. A typical crossover (Linkwitz-Riley) provides optimum (flattest) amplitude and phase matching when both upper and lower sides are crossed at the same frequency. Setting the subwoofer higher means more output which may sound pleasing, but also higher risk of phase interactions that cause greater amplitude ripples (peaks and valleys) in the response.

HTH Don

 

[felitopaz]

Thanks again for your reply. After making some changes I set the fronts and center to 80 Hz. Surrounds to 120hz and subwoofer to 100hz and it sounds very pleasing to my ears.
I set everything on the Anthem D2v. The Power Sound Audio subwoofer crossover is set to the 80hz 12 o’ clock position. Afterwards I adjusted everything with a sound level meter.

 

[thedudeabides]

You tried the "gap". Good idea. Glad you like it.

 

[orange55]

In my experience having all crossovers in all channels set the same brings about a more immersive sound. The whole picture just seems to hang together better.

If you are making all adjustments in the Anthem you shouldn’t need to adjust the sub crossover as the Anthem should be performing the crossover. In that case you may want to increase the sub crossover to 100hz on the sub itself to match your 100hz sub setting on the Anthem, as the LFE channel on movies can go up that high and the bass will not be redirected to the mains as the Anthem knows it is LFE. If that makes sense.

You don’t say if you are using the EQ on the anthem?

You may also want to think about timing and phase alignment of the subs to the mains. REW has a tool to work this out. Getting the timing right between the mains and the subs can make a big difference to bass punch as they all beat in time.