How to Set a Subwoofer's Crossover Frequency

Setting your subwoofer's crossover properly is important if you want good car sound.

Crossover frequencies can be confusing to the novice car audio enthusiast. There are high-pass and low-pass crossovers, and knowing how to set them properly can be intimidating. To understand a crossover, simply remember that it acts as a filter to take away audio frequencies you don't want to send to a speaker. It's important that you don't send high frequencies to the subwoofer--this impedes the performance of the sub in boosting your low frequencies.

Things You'll Need

• Test CD

Instructions

1. Insert a test CD into your CD player. This can be any CD that replicates the type of music you'll listen to most often.

2. Start playing the CD at a normal volume level.

3. Set the crossover knob for your subwoofer at the midpoint of its scale, and listen to the sound reproduction in your car. If the soundstage is being pulled to the back, and the bass seems centered behind you, the frequency on the crossover setting is too high. If you're only hearing solid bass on the very lowest frequencies, the setting is too low.

4. Adjust the crossover frequency up or down by adjusting the dial until you hear solid bass in your music that is omni-directional--that is, not located in any specific spot, but a part of the overall musical sound.

References

• "Car Stero Cookbook;" Mark Rumerich; 2005