Crossover with CBM-170 SE

[TTL2000]

Well I purchased these a couple of months ago and have been working my way through music in my house, good or bad, if it's there I'm listening.

These things sound great with some albums I didn't expect, AC/DC Let there Be Rock sounds unbelievable.

While listening I noticed the Ascend Acoustics logo on the bottom of the speaker dancing, moving in and out so I stopped the album and checked the settings.

The receiver was set to large on the front speakers. Man these things rock and sounded great, but I have a question. I changed the crossover to 80Hz, and things are good again.

I'm not an expert by any means, I just know what sounds good (to me). I have an HK1650, and these guys have been going non-stop for the better part of 2 or 3 months since I received them.

How do most people run these guys? I probably have left out info but I'm interested if there is a consensus on how the 170's should be set.

Thanks...

[Dark Ranger]

I'd say the optimal crossover depends on several things, rather than one single "correct" XO frequency.

The 170 SE bookshelves are 3 dB down at 58 Hz, but can dig a little deeper in most rooms. Some folks prefer to high-pass the loudspeaker at this point (F3). Others may want to cross higher for better sub/system integration, to avoid certain room modes, or to reduce strain on the woofer itself for high SPL playback. And some might prefer to run the speakers full-range (no crossover applied) because they don't have a sub or they prefer full-range playback.

In most rooms, I think a 60-80 Hz crossover would be work well for the 170s. I actually run my 170s full-range since it's a music-only system in my bedroom. For bass-heavy music at moderate volumes, I can see the fabric grill pulsing and the Ascend logo hopping about. This occurs because the 6.5" woofer is pushing and pulling the air in front of the loudspeaker. It's completely normal. The 170 woofer system is well-designed and quite robust. It won't hurt the speaker as long as you're not trying to peel paint off the walls with insane volume.

You mentioned applying an 80 Hz crossover and switching the speakers from "Large." Are you using a subwoofer? If not, and if this is music-only system, I don't see any harm in keeping them full-range. For movies, though, I'd recommend applying a crossover to reduce some of the deep bass going to the loudspeaker.

[TTL2000]

I'd say the optimal crossover depends on several things, rather than one single "correct" XO frequency.

The 170 SE bookshelves are 3 dB down at 58 Hz, but can dig a little deeper in most rooms. Some folks prefer to high-pass the loudspeaker at this point (F3). Others may want to cross higher for better sub/system integration, to avoid certain room modes, or to reduce strain on the woofer itself for high SPL playback. And some might prefer to run the speakers full-range (no crossover applied) because they don't have a sub or they prefer full-range playback.

In most rooms, I think a 60-80 Hz crossover would be work well for the 170s. I actually run my 170s full-range since it's a music-only system in my bedroom. For bass-heavy music at moderate volumes, I can see the fabric grill pulsing and the Ascend logo hopping about. This occurs because the 6.5" woofer is pushing and pulling the air in front of the loudspeaker. It's completely normal. The 170 woofer system is well-designed and quite robust. It won't hurt the speaker as long as you're not trying to peel paint off the walls with insane volume.

You mentioned applying an 80 Hz crossover and switching the speakers from "Large." Are you using a subwoofer? If not, and if this is music-only system, I don't see any harm in keeping them full-range. For movies, though, I'd recommend applying a crossover to reduce some of the deep bass going to the loudspeaker.

Thanks Ranger for the response. This system is capable of being used for both music and TV, but it's a secondary and the folks who watch TV don't enjoy the surround sound, if it's on it's so low it's almost not worth turning on to begin with. The only time this system gets turned up at all is for music.

I'm going to play around a bit more to see what's best but may end up leaving them as they were originally.

Thanks for the help.