Are Subwoofers, In General, A Waste of Money?

[kexodusc]

Okay, we're talking about relieving speakers from lower frequencies, but this obviously requires high-pass filtering. What is the best/cost effective way to do this in a normal 2 channel configuration? I'm guessing adding this filter results in phase in-coherencies, or maybe not. Thanks for the input

Different ways to accomplish this.
Active EQing is getting more and more popular in the DIY community.
Some people wire capacitors in series with the speakers to filter the lower frequencies. I've done this with mixed results. Phase issues aren't necessarily going to happen, but you'll want to experiment. I found best results selecting a target frequency below the -3 dB point of my towers. When it works, it really works! I prefer a steep filter here at least 2nd order, maybe 4th depending on the speaker.
And of course if you use an a/v receiver for 2-channel stereo you may have the option of using bass management settngs.

My Rotel integrated doesn't offer me that luxury but my receiver does. Unfortunately lugging two 90 lb subs up and down the stairs has a detrimental effect on my desire to listen to music.

[audio amateur]

Different ways to accomplish this.
Active EQing is getting more and more popular in the DIY community.
Some people wire capacitors in series with the speakers to filter the lower frequencies. I've done this with mixed results. Phase issues aren't necessarily going to happen, but you'll want to experiment. I found best results selecting a target frequency below the -3 dB point of my towers. When it works, it really works! I prefer a steep filter here at least 2nd order, maybe 4th depending on the speaker.
And of course if you use an a/v receiver for 2-channel stereo you may have the option of using bass management settngs.

My Rotel integrated doesn't offer me that luxury but my receiver does. Unfortunately lugging two 90 lb subs up and down the stairs has a detrimental effect on my desire to listen to music.

Thanks, but how do you go about active filtering?
Also, what about using filters included on some active subs? i.e. line level in/out or speaker level in/out. Any good?

[kexodusc]

Thanks, but how do you go about active filtering?
Also, what about using filters included on some active subs? i.e. line level in/out or speaker level in/out. Any good?

Active filtering takes place before the amplification state. There's no crossover to deal with in the speaker, the amps are wired directly to the driver. Sonically, this provides a lot of interesting possibilities. You don't do it with speakers that have crossovers in the (ie, commercial offerings) so it's really a DIY thing unless you buy a system with an active crossover.

I think if I was using subs in a 2 channel stereo system, I would use the pre outs to connect to the sub. I wouldn't run the speakers off the subwoofer's filter if that's what you mean. Some preamps have a high pass filter of sorts, but I'm not terribly familiar with them.

I don't know of many subs amps that could accept a full range signal from a pre-amp, apply a filter, and then route the filtered signal to the pre-amp. If such a beast exists I would question if it's as good quality as the rest of your system, and if you wouldn't be better off just wiring a capacitor in series with your speaker.

My towers benefit with the filter in series. I just use quick disconnects to make it easy to plug in, unplug. I could run them full range and just use my subs to augment the bass, but that seems to result in some weird phase issues. Plus it allowas me to take advantage of parametric eq'ing in my room over a wider range. Flatter response at my position.

[GMichael]

Would a BFD be helpful to cut the higher bass to his sub? I missed where he says how his sub is hooked up.