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Subwoofers and Crossovers.

My system is Cary DMS-550 / Luxman L-507uxii / Spendor D7.2

 

After researching I decided to add an active crossover and two stereo subs to the system.

 

  1. I am looking at JL Audio CR-1 as the crossover.  This will take the pre-out from the Luxman and feed mains-in and setup the Luxman as separates. Is there anything else that I should look at?  I am only looking at analog solutions.
  2. After looking a REL, Rythmic, SVS, Martin Logan and JL, I am leaning towards getting two JL Dominion D110s.  Would these subs be sufficient or should I be getting JL E110s? I won’t be using the internal crossovers, so primary concern is fidelity.
  3. If I am unable to treat the room properly, I may be introducing a DSP solution just for the subwoofers.

 

I am looking for some advice from people who have walked this path before me on both the active crossover and the quality of D110s. 

I would appreciate any advice on this process of integrating subwoofers into a two channel audio system.

dimbhaka

Showing 4 responses by avanti1960

avanti1960
1,542 posts
 

The Spendor D7.2 are different animals with respect to subwoofer integration.

Their quasi transmission line bottom firing port extends bass to 25Hz.  When attempting to add 3 sets of subs to them without high pass filtering the main speakers, the sound was horrible at worst- cancellations, hard sounding bass, lack of seamless integration, affected the sound overall in a bad way.  

Adding in a high pass filter and you lose that quick, tight quality that these speakers have.  

No subs for me and the Spendor D7.2 and I am more than fine with that.  

avanti1960
1,542 posts
 

sorry to put a damper on your plans but i have the spendor d7.2 and previously the d7.  

tried to integrate 3 different set of subs, ML, JL audio and REL.  

you are on the right track trying to high pass the main speakers, the spendor's deep bass goes down to 25 hz in my room and trying to integrate theresigned  usual way never sounded right.  

the problem is that the spendors are so fast and dynamic, i always felt the subs were out of sync and holding the timing hostage.

after optimizing the placement of the spendors for bass response (try an audio note style corner loading, not too close, maybe 2 feet) and much experimentation, as well as an amplifier with sufficient bass power and control (pass labs) i decided the system was perfect without subwoofers.  

the d7.2 are very special speakers, fast and dynamic with deep bass due to the long flared port.  proceed with caution and see if they can't satisfy on their own.  

avanti1960
1,542 posts
 

such a crime to high pass the Spendors but I do hope it works out for you. difficult for any sub to keep up with them.  

avanti1960
1,542 posts
 

Yes, thank you.  I have learned a lot in my journey!   

Some speakers work well with the right subs, some do not, and ultimately if you value speed, dynamics and lightening burst timing no subs are best.  

Not everyone values that however.  

Good luck! 

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