Bass management--high/low pass filtering

Dear Sir;

I use a subwoofer with a hi pass filter on 12 pairs of speakers.  I own 1 way, 2 way, and 3 way speakers.  1 way and 2 way the high pass filter is set at 80hz. with 6 or 12db slope.  On small 1 or 2 ways I use 12db high pass slope for 5 inch and under drivers.  3 ways are set at 60 to 80hz with 6 db slope.  The low pass filter is permanently set at 24 db per octave and the crossover frequency is 70hz.

In my experience, 1 or 2 way speakers benefit the most. Sending the bottom two octaves, 20-40 and 40 to 80hz. to the sub makes things much easier for the little driver.  You should hear my Markaudio Alpair 10p's play Blue Man Group.  The reproduction quality is startling!

Hope this helps

Macguy  

Is it worth it to send the signal through another box of electronic junk just to eliminate frequencies below 80Hz? I'm not sure myself, so I am asking in earnest, not sarcastically. My main drivers (8") are running full range with no crossover at all (Ref 3A NEFES II)

I'm not sure about my above question, and was hoping for some responses. Personally I think it's about a 50/50, but others more knowledgeable may have a better informed opinion.

@koestner Is it worth it to send the signal through another box of electronic junk just to eliminate frequencies below 80Hz?

Depends on how the high pass filter is achieved, and also depends on the system and user, so the solution will vary accordingly.  

I’m bi-amping with tubes on the midbass/tweeter and a solid state amp to the woofers below 63hz,  and yes, I was concerned about junk in the signal path from my sub’s high pass filter.  

 My solution for eliminating the bottom octave(s) from the midbass was to use a quality silver mica cap to the amp’s input as a high pass filter (similar what GR research suggests. ...you need to know your amps impedance to calculate it.).

I'm ok with using a cheap active crossover for the low pass to the solid state amp below 63hz because it's in a much less critical frequency range than the high pass would have been.  This worked great for my situation, but may not for others.

I do have a Marchand XM66 that splits a 24db/oct. high and low at any selected frequency, but I'm only using it for the low pass while the mains get full range signal.