Electronic cross-over on pre-amp out, to split signal to subwoofer and bookshelf speakers


I have a 50 W amp for 86 dB bookshelf speakers.

I really want to keep both amp and speakers.

My idea is to have an electronic crossover on preamp out, split the signal say at 80 Hz - Send the lower electronic cross over out to a subwoofer.  Send the high crossover out to my existing 50 W power amps.

This would extend speaker frequency range to subwoofer capability - say 25 Hz, reduce the power amp load and allow to play the bookshelf speakers a bit louder,/ have more headroom.

I am sure others have already done.  What cross over did you use?  Was it successful?

dcaudio

While what you propose is technically possible, if I were you, I would not go forward.  It will probably not sound as good as before.  Using a 80Hz crossover point will still send a substantial bass signal an octave lower (40Hz) to the bookshelf loudspeaker.  It's not going to gain you much headroom.  Use a steeper crossover and you run the risk of creating phase issues.  Crossover at a higher frequency and you might degrade upper bass/lower midrange power region.  Every practical loudspeaker design has a set of built-in compromises.  I'm suggesting that those picked by Vimberg are a better set of compromises than you could improvise.

If you were just looking to add more deep bass to you system, then go with something like what REL offers that lets your existing loudspeaker run full range.

 I built my own. I ordered the circuit board from Elliott sound products and tracked down all the parts from different suppliers. I love it and would not go back

You could use a miniDSP 2x4HD, or even a DDRC-24 if your system could benefit from DIRAC. Enjoy!

I have a HPF from Marchand Electronics for that purpose. It's a 24db slope at 80hz. It's completely transparent and accomplishes what you want. My preamp has 3 outputs so I have a separate one for my sub.