Who here is into sound systems? Subwoofer upper freq cutoff

Nitrofox125 · Post by **Nitrofox125** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:44 pm

Hi, I'm mixing some DTS 5.1 surround sound, but I don't know where to cut off the upper frequency of the subwoofer and the lower frequency of the speakers (center/tweeters). So two questions

a) What's the frequency range for a subwoofer? Say one goes to 160 Hz and one goes to 350 Hz. Is it better to make the upper limit 350 and send the 160 one some high signals, or set the limit at 160 and leave 160Hz+ up to the tweeters?

b) Does the center speaker usually have a wider frequency range than the tweeters?

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 5:26 pm

the best sounding bass frequencies are around 80-140 Hz. when my brother and i setup car systems for customers of his. usualy we set the cutoff for anywhere around 160-220Hz. we have never gotten any complaints from even the customers who know what they are doing and know how to engineer sound. for mids and tweeters...usualy the cutoff we use is about 180-300 Hz. we use this, because if requested we allow the subwoofers and mids to interact frequencies. giving a cut off range for both within the 180-220 Hz range.

thats the best i can say.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 6:47 pm

I cut off my subs at 180hz.

Vindicator · Post by **Vindicator** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 6:56 pm

Try altering the cutoff point and see what sounds good.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 7:59 pm

I usually like mine at about 210 - 220 hz

Asrale · Post by **Asrale** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:00 pm

A. Most subwoofers go up to 120 Hz. Above that is usually where the satellites pick up, and most "tweeters" start around 14-16 kHz.

B. The center speaker is for dialog, so whatever frequency range the human voice (male and female alike) falls into.

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 8:36 am

what you need to do is check the freq range of your speakers and the efficiency curve of the freq ranges. Some mids may go up to 120, for example, but may only reproduce sound efficiently up to 100. If your speakers are matched properly, you should be able to set everything up so there is very little overlap. Run your subs up to their highest point they can reproduce sound with good quality, from there your mids should take over and so on. This can be done by ear, I guess, but knowing the specs on the speakers would help you with a starting point.

My subs in my vehicle are cut off at 90hz, from there the 8" woofs take over.