Subsonic Filter Question

[ibleedblue 0]

I have a SAE-1000D pushing my front components. I had the amp set to HPF and dialed the filter in to around 125 Hz. I noticed recently that my midbass was non existent. Honestly it may have been that way for weeks and I may not have noticed. My truck is usually hauling around two kids, so no turning up the radio. Anyway, I got to troubleshooting last night trying to determine what was wrong. On a few occasions at high volumes I would start to smell burning. One day last week it was so bad I nearly pulled the truck over to look for fire! It was really, really strong and I had to turn the system off for the smell to go away. I thought it was the VC's in my comps (5+ year old CDT EF-61's) and was really kinda trying to blow them so I'd have a reason to upgrade. Now I'm not so sure. In troubleshooting last night, I noticed the amp smells pretty strong of electrical scorching. The thing I'm really questioning though is how the subsonic filter works when you use the HPF on the amp. I had the subsonic turned all the way up to 60 Hz because I didn't see the point in sending the ultra low signals to front comps. Last night in tracking down the midbass problem, I turned the subsonic filter just to see if anything would happen. HOLY CRAP did it happen!! The midbass was back with authority!!

So, my long winded question...is the subsonic filter supposed to have any effect when the amp is set to HPF mode? If not, I'm thinking the smell I'm getting might be from the amp. I played it at my max volume (about 70% of my head unit volume) on the way to work this morning. After 4 songs it was moderately warm, but certainly not enough to concern me.

[sandt38 448]

If you have the HPF set I would think it would bypass the SSF. If not, I have read that compounding filters like that can do weird things to your crossover point and slope. I usually just use a single crossover because of it.

Why do you want to get rid of the EF61s? I bought an EF61FG/TW25pro component set and the crossover and tweeters were horrible, but the EF-61 mids were actually pretty decent. If I didn't get such a spankin' deal on the ES-06 I would have been happy with the EF-61 mids in my door w/ the upgraded EX-550i crossover and DRT26A tweeter I bought to clean up the awful top end. The EF-61 is a really solid midbass for the price.

[sefugi 166]

"I have a SAE-1000D pushing my front components. I had the amp set to HPF and dialed the filter in to around 125 Hz"------- I have never used a Sae-1000, but I thought that amp was a mono-block sub amp?

[Kanaworm$ 292]

The SAE-1000D is a mono block amplifier and has no HPF just a LPF and a SSF.

Are you sure you have a SAE-1000D on your front components?

[ibleedblue 0]

The SAE-1000D is a mono block amplifier and has no HPF just a LPF and a SSF.

Are you sure you have a SAE-1000D on your front components?

Ahhhh.....sorry guys! The SAE-1000D is on my subs...IDQ10V3. The front amp is a SAX125.2. My bad! Situation described above is still true, I just typed in the wrong amp.

[ibleedblue 0]

Why do you want to get rid of the EF61s? I bought an EF61FG/TW25pro component set and the crossover and tweeters were horrible, but the EF-61 mids were actually pretty decent. If I didn't get such a spankin' deal on the ES-06 I would have been happy with the EF-61 mids in my door w/ the upgraded EX-550i crossover and DRT26A tweeter I bought to clean up the awful top end. The EF-61 is a really solid midbass for the price.

The only reason I want to get rid of them is to try something different. I've been very satisfied with the EF-61's. My only complaint with them is the tweeters are little harsh to my ears and I'd like to try something a little smoother. Totally agree about the midbass though! I was thinking about jumping in on the deal CDT is running now for the CL-62 set for $249 or either the ID CTX65CS that woofersetc has for $190, but haven't made up my mind (read...convinced the wife ).

[Impious 1,476]

I glanced at the manual and it didn't specify. It would need to have a circuit so that when the switch was set to "HPF" it would disengage the SSF. Your best bet would probably to email Jacob to see if this is the case or not. It may not have anything that disengages the SSF when the amplifier is set to HPF.

If not, I have read that compounding filters like that can do weird things to your crossover point and slope. I usually just use a single crossover because of it.

Not "weird", but predictable For example, if you stack a 2nd order Butterworth filter with a 2nd order Butteworth filter, with say a 12db/oct highpass crossover in the headunit and a 12db/oct highpass crossover in the amplifier both set to the same frequency, you now effectively created a 4th order Linkwitz-Riley Which would be -6db at the crossover point with a 24db/oct slope.

Ofcourse it gets a little involved if you are staggering different filter types, and yes it can (or will) affect the crossover point and slope. But all of that is not necessarily bad. In fact in many situations it may actually be beneficial. If the OP were to set the SSF and HPF to the same frequency, it would be -6db at the crossover point with a 36db/oct slope (assuming the SSF is 24db/oct).

It would appear at first glance that the HPF is set a little high. IMO no reason to set a highpass for a 6.5" mid at 125hz. If he wants better midbass, I would suggest decreasing that and if the 12db/oct slope seems a little too shallow to properly protect the mid, try raising the SSF to increase the slope.

That is, ofcourse, assuming the amplifier isn't damaged and that both HPF and SSF are supposed to be functional at the same time.

[cobra93 47]

I thought I remember Jacob stating the ssf is not defeatable, always active allowing you to do a bandpass configuration.

That's why I bought my 125.2, bandpass and the range of the ssf (500 hertz).

Edited July 20, 2010 by cobra93

[ibleedblue 0]

Yep...I see my error now. I hadn't even looked at the frequency sweep of the ssf on the 125.2. I just ASSuMEd it was the same as the 1000D I have on the subs. The sweep on the 125.2 goes up to 500 Hz. On the 1000D it only goes to 60 Hz. So when I jacked it all the way up, I was cutting pretty much everything under 500 Hz out. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It must have been like that since I installed the system back in April and I just now noticed.

I emailed Jacob about it and he said the ssf is not defeated in hpf mode. Thanks for the help everyone!