Active Subwoofer Crossover recommendation?

DrTebi

DrTebi

Active Member
Hello there,

'has been a while since I posted here. My newest project will be based on two amps:
Musical Fidelity X-150
Musical Fidelity X-P200

My thinking is to directly connect a pair of speakers with mid-woofer and tweeter to the X-150, then connect the Pre-Out of the X-150 to a low-pass filter (aka subwoofer crossover), and then to the X-P200, which will power two 18" subwoofers.

The part I am missing for this is the active crossover. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions or experiences with the kits that are offered on the 'net. Here is one that could fit the bill:
www.ebay.com

Low Pass 6/12/18/24 db Stereo Active Filter module MSS-4LP | eBay

High Quality Stereo Low Pass Filter. Gain Level 0db (1:1 Ratio). You can choose the filter type 6db / 12db / 18db / 24db. Excellent Performance. Low Noise ICs. High quality and reliability PCB FR4 1.6MM.
www.ebay.com
I'd get it with a 24db slope and cross at 80hz.

Any other suggestions? Am I thinking right here?

I see the X-150 would still output the full spectrum (e.g. all subwoofer frequencies) to the main speakers, but I don't think that's an issue?
 
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Never used any of those, but for $30 you're not risking much. And the seller has 100% feedback.

DrTebi said:
I see the X-150 would still output the full spectrum (e.g. all subwoofer frequencies) to the main speakers, but I don't think that's an issue?
Click to expand...
Probably not. You didn't list the speakers you'd be using with the amp. Without a high pass filter to the satellites, you run the risk of overdriving them to distortion in the bass. This is usually more of an issue with mini speakers. But since the X-150 has no preamp input, the only way around that would be a passive high pass filter on the speaker outputs.
 
I haven't listed the satellite speakers yet because I'm not sure yet :)
I have a few to choose from. So it would be a DIY speaker, which would need a 2-way passive crossover. I suppose I could build the passive crossover in a way that it would cut off the lowest frequencies; but most likely my woofers will be 16" Altec speakers combined with BC Horn speakers... I don't think the Altecs mind the bass ;)
 
Yeah, I think you'll be good. Sounds like an interesting project. I look forward to seeing (and hearing about) the results.
 
Are there any that are adjustable? I have an old DBX sub amp and it would be nice to be adjusted without opening it to change parts.
 
Hmmm... I think you are mistaken. At least about the one I linked to, that one comes in all kinds of combinations. That's one thing I like about it... and that it is stereo, no down-mix to mono:
www.ebay.com

Low Pass 6/12/18/24 db Stereo Active Filter module MSS-4LP | eBay

High Quality Stereo Low Pass Filter. Gain Level 0db (1:1 Ratio). You can choose the filter type 6db / 12db / 18db / 24db. Excellent Performance. Low Noise ICs. High quality and reliability PCB FR4 1.6MM.
www.ebay.com

Keep in mind that you will still need a power supply for this, with the correct voltage also :)
 
OK, gottcha!

If possible, I try to figure out my crossover frequencies with a digital crossover first. On Linux you can do this with LSP Plugins. Just requires a soundcard with at least two different outputs...
 
DrTebi said:
OK, gottcha!

If possible, I try to figure out my crossover frequencies with a digital crossover first. On Linux you can do this with LSP Plugins. Just requires a soundcard with at least two different outputs...
Click to expand...
Hello. Seeing you are a Linux user, could you suggest me a basic DAW or API to run some of those plugins? I usually fix recording studio gear, and I always have problems testing the devices on my Linux computers. I just need basic features.

Regarding speaker crossover and other audio measurements, I usually run ARTA and Visual Analyzer (no affiliation) under Wine.
 
swechsler said:
The seller does offer several subwoofer LP filters with adjustable frequency, but they all seem fixed at 12dB slope.
Click to expand...
Cool, will check that out. 12db will work i think. The stock setup is a crc setup so i don't think its steeper than 12.
 
elnaldo said:
Hello. Seeing you are a Linux user, could you suggest me a basic DAW or API to run some of those plugins? I usually fix recording studio gear, and I always have problems testing the devices on my Linux computers. I just need basic features.

Regarding speaker crossover and other audio measurements, I usually run ARTA and Visual Analyzer (no affiliation) under Wine.
Click to expand...
For audio measurements, REW (Room Equalizer Wizard) is my go-to tool:

REW room acoustics and audio device measurement and analysis software

REW is free software for room acoustic measurement, loudspeaker measurement and audio device measurement
www.roomeqwizard.com www.roomeqwizard.com
It can also calculate equalizer settings for your speakers after measuring, which you can then load into the LSP parametric EQ plugin.

The LSP plugins are my other go-to tools:

Linux Studio Plugins Project

lsp-plug.in lsp-plug.in
Most of the time I run these by themselves. But you need to run jack to use them without a host program. Then you can use e.g. QJackCtl (https://qjackctl.sourceforge.io/) to make the connections.

For audio editing, I use Ardour (https://ardour.org/). It may be a bit over-the-top for what I do (occasional vinyl recording), but once you understand the basics, it's a joy to use. There is of course also Audacity, but for me it never worked right.

Is this complicated? Well, yes, a little. But once it's all configured, it's fantastic. Works great. Costs nothing (maybe an occasional donation if you can afford it). I have written a script to start everything for me, so it's really just two commands and I can listen to music.
 
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