I was wondering what people reccomend in relation to slopes for crossing over front stage and subs.

I am running a DSP that allows me to vary the slope from 6,12 or 18db on the front stage and 12, 18 or 24 db for the sub at the touch of a button.

I understand that blending the front stage with the sub is important but also the importance of not overworking the midbasses, or pulling the higher bass notes backwards.

Presently 1", 4" and 6" setup with the 6 midbasses rolling off at 63 or 50 htz (depending on how loud i plan on driving the system that day) The sub rolls off at 80htz (its a 15 inch)

Should you normally use the steepest roll offs possible, or try to blend more and roll the fronts off at say 12db??

If a steepslope is desierable then my amps also have crossovers and i could set them at the same point as the DSP and get 36db slope for the sub and upto 36db or the fronts.

What are peoples thoughts?, or is it a listen and decide yourself type of thing??

no particular slope or crossover point is superior or better - like u said, it depends on the actual system and your preferences. steep slopes will provide better protection for small speakers or better filtration of high bass notes from your subs, but shallow slopes will provie better midbass extension for the fronts and possibly a more seamless blend with the subs. who knows its a matter of playing around seeiing what works, but its a balance between sound quality and speaker protection that you should be aiming for.

Agree with both you guys. However, i often prefer to use a steeper slope for sub-bass (ie. 24db) and about a 12db slope for the front stage.

Test 'n' Tune!

Dom

IMO a steeper slope on the fronts allow them to play deeper.

A 18db slope at 60hz or a 6db at 120hz. The 18db slope will allow the fronts to output much more bass between 60-120hz and still go louder at the deep stuff.

yeh,i have 24db crossovers on both subs/fronts, its very hard to get a natural transition happening, and still maintain the powerhandling of the fronts, and make the subs not *doof*.

i still havent got mine right :'(

much more time tuning involved in my opinion when u use steeper slopes, its easier to plug and play with a 12db slope.

if you can switch between the slopes while your playing something it will be a good way of determoning what best suits your system,ears and the cars interior as the different slopes induce varing amounts of phase shift which you really can only get correct with your ears or maybe a RTA
the 24db should be the way to go but it will need experimenting with.
my system sounds best with 24db on the fronts and 36db on the subs

Should you have a gap between where the front stage is crossed over and where the sub is also crossed over so the can blend together(eg of no gap: 60hz high passed for front, 60hz LP to sub)? Or is it just a matter of tuning till it is right?

a lot of the time you can have a gap eg:fronts 80hz and up, subs 60hz and down and its not really a problem, its not like there being cut straight of at 60 and 80hz they still blend as they roll off.
my sub amps are 70hz lo passed and my fronts are 80hz and up and i've never had a problem with it' it dosen't effect the RTA either

[ August 25, 2003, 20:48: Message edited by: tuneman ]