I've spent the last week tuning my system in an effort to find the ideal crossover points and equalizer settings. I have my front stage (Jl XR components) at around 80-85 Hz and my subwoofer is crossed over at about the same. I listen primarily to rock/alternative rock, which I've found can be difficult to achieve a good balance with.
Does anyone utilize overlapping crossover points in their system? What are the pros/cons of this setup? For example, have the components crossed over at about 80 Hz and the sub lowpass around 100-120 Hz? The objective would be to achieve better midbass response. I plan to eventually add a set of woofers in kick panels but for now will play with what I have.
The sub is a Brahma 15" in a sealed enclosure; it is hooked up to a Jl 1000/1. Thanks.
The acoustic environment in each car with each varying system is different. Sometimes you will get the best response with some overlap. The tweaking you have been doing is telling of that. With most of the rock music, there is very little actual subsonic frequency response in the recording. You feel like the subs are largely going to waste. But that is just the nature of the type of music. Ideally, your midbass/mid woofers would be the ones that will pick up that lower midbass response and give you all the kick you want to feel.
In your case, because of the installation or the type of woofers, whatever it is...the front midbass isn't up to your expectations, adding frequency response to the sub is a bandaid solution. But there again, every car is different. If you're not hearing excessive boominess in the 80 to 100 Hz range, then it would be fine to tune the subs up to that frequency range, as long as the stereo reproduction is not being blurred. The snap of the drums should be felt and heard in stereo from the front soundstage, and there should be a feeling of spatial reality in many of the better recordings. If bringing the sub up is blurring that spatial reality, you should work on improving the front bass by adding more damping, better woofers, better positioning or whatever it takes.
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I second that; a clear and concise explanation. I'll mess around with the sub in that frequency range and see how it sounds.