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External crossover good next move?

Hello Audiogoners, budget-minded post

I have an NAD C320BEE amp with a basic Velodyne subwoofer (CT-80) inserted between pre and amp sections (per Bob Reynolds suggestion--thank you). Source is a Lite DAC-AH, fed by an NAD CD player.

The problem is the cable runs to and from the subwoofer need to be quite long (at least 6 feet). I have a DH Labs cable from the DAC to pre, but cables running to the sub and back, I am ashamed to say, are $29 Monster cable. So I wonder how much I am losing in the Monster cable. Also I wonder about the quality of the crossover in my sub: this is an 80-watt HT-oriented sub I got for $300 new in 2001.

I am considering an external crossover, like Paradigm x-30 or Outlaw ICBM. Could I expect a real improvement through this upgrade? Does anyone have a sense of quality of the crossover in a sub like mine, versus those products?

I like the sub-monitor arrangement, and am not quite ready to buy a new amp, although I would not be surprised to hear that is best route. Any ideas appreciated
abarnett
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abarnett OP
18 posts
 
Thanks for your response. The Outlaw ICBM is advertised as having a "2nd-order Butterworth" high-pass and low-pass. I don't understand the terms and need to do some reading.

Part of the reason I like the external crossover idea is so I can have short cables between pre and power amp sections. I get the impression this is important if I end up with a passive preamp (e.g., Creek integrateds)

I'm guessing a passive high-pass filter, like this ACI product, leaves something to be desired?

http://audioc.com/accessories1/misc/hipass.htm

Otherwise, couldn't this could be combined with a Y-splitter?
robr45's avatar
robr45
319 posts
 
Can you tell us about your speakers and how they are crossover over/hooked up?

-Rob
robr45's avatar
robr45
319 posts
 
Also- why do you need to cross over in the first place?
abarnett OP
18 posts
 
I have the AR.com kit speakers (Ed Frias design). It has a 6.5" Peerless woofer. I don't know about the speakers' crossover. I see someone on an audio chat site saying he thinks the crossover for the speaker is at 2300 Hz.

The sub has line in/line out jacks. I have the subwoofer between the pre and power sections of the NAD for the biamping effect. The NAD is 50 wpc, and I notice an overall improvement using the sub (with the NAD not amplifying bass). Also, as I understand it, the monitors do a better job if they aren't receiving bass. I set the crossover on the sub at about 80 Hz.--Thanks
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