EQ and cross-over help
Jun 23, 2014 13:44:08 GMT -7
Post by jpwmeyer on Jun 23, 2014 13:44:08 GMT -7
Hello,
I have recently completed construction and installation of 2 in-floor IB subwoofer manifolds located adjacent the L/R speakers in a 7.2 setup. Each of the manifolds includes dual-opposed 18” Fi Car Audio IB318s. The IB subs are driven by a Behringer EP4000 amplifier and are equalized via a Velodyne SMS-1. The front 3 speakers in my HT system include 2 Magnepan 1.7s and a CC5, and they are driven by external Emotiva amplifiers (XPA-2 and XPA-1); the rear four in-wall B&W speakers are driven by my receiver, which is an Integra DTR 50.3.
The CC5 has a very high bottom-end (150 Hz), which is problematic in simply crossing-over (using the Integra) as I would prefer the IB subs only receive frequencies less than about 50 Hz, which crosses well with the 1.7s. Magnepan’s Wendell Diller recommended that I set the CC5 to “small” and the 1.7’s to “large” on the Integra (which will route the sub-150 Hz material to the 1.7s) then split the signal from the L/R pre-outs to send the full L/R bandwidth to the Emotiva amp and Magnepan 1.7s, and to the Velodyne SMS-1 for the IBs. For most audio material this works and sounds great, but for bass-heavy material, there is noticeable low-frequency distortion from the 1.7s, and I would prefer to incorporate an external cross-over into the system to lighten the load on the Emotiva/1.7s. Moreover, I would like to replace the Velodyne SMS-1 with a more flexible equalizer. I should mention that my theater room is huge – on the order of 10,000 ft3 – but the distance from the L/R speakers is reasonable at about 12-14 ft.
Prior to installation of the IB subs and the CC5 I utilized the Integra’s Audyssey MultiEQ XT room correction with success, but it is problematic with my current Magnepan setup (in fact, Magnepan discourages the use of Audyssey with this setup) and have been considering utilizing an external piece of equipment (or multiple pieces of equipment) to split/cross-over the Magnepan/IB signals, and to equalize the bass and front speakers (I could likely live without equalizing the center channel speaker).
I have considered several of Behringer’s offerings, and understand that equipment gets pretty pricey once you step-up from there (e.g. Bryston gear is often recommended). While I would be willing to spend more should the sonic benefits be commensurate with the price, I would appreciate any recommendations by forum members on potential cross-over and equalization equipment to improve the performance of my system. I plan to use Room EQ Wizard with any future setup.
Thanks,
John
I have recently completed construction and installation of 2 in-floor IB subwoofer manifolds located adjacent the L/R speakers in a 7.2 setup. Each of the manifolds includes dual-opposed 18” Fi Car Audio IB318s. The IB subs are driven by a Behringer EP4000 amplifier and are equalized via a Velodyne SMS-1. The front 3 speakers in my HT system include 2 Magnepan 1.7s and a CC5, and they are driven by external Emotiva amplifiers (XPA-2 and XPA-1); the rear four in-wall B&W speakers are driven by my receiver, which is an Integra DTR 50.3.
The CC5 has a very high bottom-end (150 Hz), which is problematic in simply crossing-over (using the Integra) as I would prefer the IB subs only receive frequencies less than about 50 Hz, which crosses well with the 1.7s. Magnepan’s Wendell Diller recommended that I set the CC5 to “small” and the 1.7’s to “large” on the Integra (which will route the sub-150 Hz material to the 1.7s) then split the signal from the L/R pre-outs to send the full L/R bandwidth to the Emotiva amp and Magnepan 1.7s, and to the Velodyne SMS-1 for the IBs. For most audio material this works and sounds great, but for bass-heavy material, there is noticeable low-frequency distortion from the 1.7s, and I would prefer to incorporate an external cross-over into the system to lighten the load on the Emotiva/1.7s. Moreover, I would like to replace the Velodyne SMS-1 with a more flexible equalizer. I should mention that my theater room is huge – on the order of 10,000 ft3 – but the distance from the L/R speakers is reasonable at about 12-14 ft.
Prior to installation of the IB subs and the CC5 I utilized the Integra’s Audyssey MultiEQ XT room correction with success, but it is problematic with my current Magnepan setup (in fact, Magnepan discourages the use of Audyssey with this setup) and have been considering utilizing an external piece of equipment (or multiple pieces of equipment) to split/cross-over the Magnepan/IB signals, and to equalize the bass and front speakers (I could likely live without equalizing the center channel speaker).
I have considered several of Behringer’s offerings, and understand that equipment gets pretty pricey once you step-up from there (e.g. Bryston gear is often recommended). While I would be willing to spend more should the sonic benefits be commensurate with the price, I would appreciate any recommendations by forum members on potential cross-over and equalization equipment to improve the performance of my system. I plan to use Room EQ Wizard with any future setup.
Thanks,
John
