Any easy inexpensive way to high pass mains?

[ksneote]

I'm downsizing my system a bit, as I'm moving to a small apartment. I have a pair of Bagby's Quarks, and will be building Carmody's Voxel sub (with a plate amp). Also planning to purchase the SMSL Q5 Pro as an amp. My main concern is playing the system with no high pass filter on the quarks. I do listen to music with deeper bass, and will be using the set up for watching TV/movies too. I can't imagine that the little 3" woofers in the Quarks will be happy attempting to play a 40hz tone.

Any suggestions on a high pass? The miniDSP is too pricey for me. I've seen the FMODs, but have heard dubious things about them. Most 2.1 amplifiers have a fixed crossover that's usually too high (150hz). Not sure how to proceed here.

[jhollander]

The new DSP plate amp would work. Could do a big electrolytic cap for cheap

[ksneote]

Saw the plate amp, but the price of that would equal my main speakers, subwoofer, and subplate amp all in one! Was hoping to find a less expensive option, if possible.

I thought about a large capacitor. The value of it would depend on the impedance of the driver at the frequency I want to start rolling off, correct? I thought that it may be an issue, as I would probably choose 80hz or so, which is also about the tuned port frequency. Wasn't sure if that would work.

I also just realized that the pictures in Jeff's original thread are not visible anymore, so the impedance plot.

[Chris Roemer]

Passively, you should be able to get a not horrible looking txfer fn by going 3rd order.
Try an 80uF (npe) series cap, then a (low DCR, like < 1ohm) 8mH shunt coil (to gnd), lastly a 200uF (npe) series cap.

For the Quark woofers in their vented boxes, this should be pretty flat to down to nearly 170Hz, then -3dB near 150Hz, -6dB around 120Hz, and -12dB around 90Hz or so.
-36dB down @ 40Hz.

[ligs]

Here is an article describing adding a subwoofer to LS3/5A with only a simple LC network. I don't know enough about transfer function but it fits "inexpensive" nontheless

[tomzarbo]

You could also do it electronically as well.

I won't link to another site per the rules, but if you search for this at Amazon: SSL SX310 2/3-way Pre-Amp Electronic Crossover with Remote Subwoofer Control

it looks like it will do what you want. Probably costs a bit more than the passive solution, though... and it needs a 12v brick to power it.

This one would do it for $9: https://www.parts-express.com/factor...-plug--129-219

Just another option to think about. I'd probably go with Chris's suggestion as it will never "Go Bad"... as in no power supply or electric components to deal with. Who knows what you're going to get with some of these unknown brand electronic doo-dads from other countries.

I agree with you... there does seem to be a lack of small size 2.1 amplifiers with real-world high/low-pass crossover capabilities built-in.

A 30 watt per channel stereo section with an adjustable high-pass like you need.... along with an adjustable subwoofer low pass crossover line-output for a sub plate amp or amp board would be great. Wonder why there are so few?

TomZ

[hcruz]

Instead of the SMSL I would get this if you don't mind losing the the USB part of the DAC.
https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-5...2GDAMF1NCGMRB4

It would give you an appropriate high pass for the woofers, Bluetooth, additional analog connectivity and room for surrounds later on.

Edit: And you also get a remote

[brkitup]

You could also do it electronically as well.

I won't link to another site per the rules, but if you search for this at Amazon: SSL SX310 2/3-way Pre-Amp Electronic Crossover with Remote Subwoofer Control

it looks like it will do what you want. Probably costs a bit more than the passive solution, though... and it needs a 12v brick to power it.

This one would do it for $9: https://www.parts-express.com/factor...-plug--129-219

Just another option to think about. I'd probably go with Chris's suggestion as it will never "Go Bad"... as in no power supply or electric components to deal with. Who knows what you're going to get with some of these unknown brand electronic doo-dads from other countries.

I agree with you... there does seem to be a lack of small size 2.1 amplifiers with real-world high/low-pass crossover capabilities built-in.

A 30 watt per channel stereo section with an adjustable high-pass like you need.... along with an adjustable subwoofer low pass crossover line-output for a sub plate amp or amp board would be great. Wonder why there are so few?

TomZ

I was wondering the same. Is there really not a market for 2.1 channel receivers? I don't like the fact I'm forced to go for a home theater receiver if I want these capabilities. My Harman/Kardon receiver has decent crossover adjustments, but I'd still love a high quality, simple, 2.1 channel integrated amp with a basic high-pass crossover. I know Outlaw makes one, but it's slightly pricey.

[philthien]

Instead of the SMSL I would get this if you don't mind losing the the USB part of the DAC.
https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-5...2GDAMF1NCGMRB4

It would give you an appropriate high pass for the woofers, Bluetooth, additional analog connectivity and room for surrounds later on.

Edit: And you also get a remote

Edit: I get it, he is using separate amplification for the sub.

Alright, the Pioneer may be a better choice.

Can you control the high-pass frequency?

[GTPlus]

You could use one of these too. http://www.parts-express.com/Search....itesearch=true

[hcruz]

...Can you control the high-pass frequency?

According to the manual yes you can but it doesn't mention much detail about it. Default seems to be 100hz.

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Home/VSX-530-K_OperatingInstructions060115.pdf

[Psycoacoustics]

It seems that once home theater receivers took off the subwoofer manufactures began eliminating the high pass outputs. Probably to save money, but also because the receiver can do the same job.

That doesn't help people like you and me. I like my Vintage gear!

I use a small Velodyne CHT 8 that high passes @ 80 hz. It works well for me.

When I thought I was going to build a new sub I searched and searched for something to do the same thing to no avail! I was able to find a used CHT series amp on eBay. I can't remember what I paid, but it was cheaper than PE's new dsp plate amp.

With that said, I think PE's new amp would be just what you need and quite frankly, seems to be very reasonable priced! With your description of what your looking for,,,,,, I'd save my penny's and buy that.

Good Luck, Mark

[ngjockey]

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/high-pass-filter.html

[ksneote]

Sorry for the late response everyone, I was in the middle of moving.

Thanks for all the suggestions, they were very helpful. Unfortunately, most of them were either expensive, or large/bulky (I'm moving to a pretty small apartment). It seems like my best option is either to get the Velodyne 8" sub as Psycoacoustics suggested, or finding a sub plate amp from a commercial manufacturer to put into the Voxel. I'm probably going to lean towards buying a used small format sub that has a built in high pass.

On that note, does anyone have any suggestions for small, commercial subs that have a built in high pass? Aside from the aformentioned Velodyne.

[DanP]

The Fmods work fine, you just have to know the input impedance of your amplifier to predict the cutoff frequency properly. Taking it a step further, you can design and make your own for less than $1 per channel. I don't have the link but someone had posted something here that showed how to calculate values for a passive line level filter, which is what Fmods are. Cheap, easy, small... perfect.

Dan