Karaoke Forums

OK, so I purchased a powered subwoofer and will patch it as a common sub for the two main cabs. The questions I now have are:

Where should I set the cutoff point?
Should I set the level almost to full? I just know that if this were a standard amp, I would pump the level up, so should I do the same to the powered sub amp's level?
Is it normal for the clip light to hit momentarily during big thumps, or should this cause worry?

I just want to get the max work I can out of this thing without pushing it too hard!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

My mains have a frequency of 55hz-16khz and the sub will run 30hz-200hz.

According to the manual, I should cross it between 100-120 hz

I had a pro-sound guy that told me that true sub freq. are only below 80hz, i.e., the sound above 80hz is directional while the sound below 80hz is not sound at all, but true sub-freqs that are more air than sound. He said ALL subs should always be crossed at 80hz.

Opinions?

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C Mc
KJ, FL

My Mackies, 450's and the 1501 sub; the cross over point is 120.  I don't necessarily agree that ALL subs should be at any one setting.  I think it has to do more with how the equipment is designed.  I had asked the same question to someone who had the same set up as mine.  They told me they tried it at 80 and said it sounded better at 120.  But again, that is with the Mackie.  Other brands are probably different.

Kelly

Which sub did you end up getting?

I set my subs anywhere from 75hz - 120hz, depends on the room - MOST of my sets are right around 100hz.  
I will always open the amps wide open, your mixer is the pre-amp that actually controls the volume.  If you find the sub is turned up too much, then turn it down a bit.
As long as the clip light isn't steady, & only occasionally lights, you shouldn't have any worries, but if it bothers you, turn the sub down a bit.

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Powered subs are actually hard to clip dangerously....The light you see is most likely telling you that you are several dB below clipping.

The male chest cavity resonates around 85Hz....(never test the female chest cavity )....So, if you want subs you can feel, then center things there.....Not cross there, but center there.

If you have 40 Hz low cut availible(like on your EQ) then make sure to engage it....That will grant you lots more amp headroom and clear up the bass.

One of the things I don't like about powered subs is that the amp input gain is on the back of the sub, so just let experience be your guide and gig to gig, you will learn where they sound best....For the same sized room, It will take less when set up together against a back wall, even less when clustered in a corner, but if you place your subs away from a wall and separated, then it will take more on the input knob.

Oh, I need to add that you can run your powered subs out an aux send and control them from the board...That way you crank them to max at the speaker and tweek as you need from song to song right at the board...It really works well....Just patch a line level cable out to the sub from aux send and on the mixer player strip, you tweek the aux knobby.

This is what I do with my JBL Eon G2 sub - turn it up all the way and control it through a separate zone out on my mixer.  Works very well.

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Sounds Great! Entertainment
Bartlett, Illinois

Yep, it's really easy if the powered sub has a built in low pass filter....Just send it a dry full range signal from the player strip via aux send...You can do the same with passive subs if you place crossover in line before the amp or if they have crossovers built in.