Time alignment

[jordon]

Mid bass and most likely the issue

 

[The Camry]

People who use time alignment on their subwoofer channel(s) are doing it because it affects frequency response in the range that interacts with the midbass speakers. What else affects frequency response really effectively? EQ. If you don't have a full-fledged DSP you use what you've got.

elaborate? do you mean how time alignment can effect phase which in turn effects peaks and dips in response and thus makes midbass more/less?

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

elaborate? do you mean how time alignment can effect phase which in turn effects peaks and dips in response and thus makes midbass more/less?

I've been told once we get phase right the frequency response will be right. Consider a sine wave played on the sub when a midbass channel is playing the same sine wave. Delaying one channel will result in the alignment of the peaks and troughs to change. At the listening position this can be measured on an RTA, or heard, as the frequency gets louder or quieter as it gets in phase and goes out of phase. This isn't the correct way to set time alignment, but it's one way we can hear the effects of time alignment. Time alignment should be used to make all the speakers have the same arrival time.

 

[The Camry]

I've been told once we get phase right the frequency response will be right. Consider a sine wave played on the sub when a midbass channel is playing the same sine wave. Delaying one channel will result in the alignment of the peaks and troughs to change. At the listening position this can be measured on an RTA, or heard, as the frequency gets louder or quieter as it gets in phase and goes out of phase. This isn't the correct way to set time alignment, but it's one way we can hear the effects of time alignment. Time alignment should be used to make all the speakers have the same arrival time.

But isn't phase frequency dependent? Something along the lines of you can have all frequencies entirely in phase so you kinda have to find what works best. There is no perfectly in phase component speaker set up. I've always been curious as to what frequencies to try and have in phase. As in which are most important

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

But isn't phase frequency dependent? Something along the lines of you can have all frequencies entirely in phase so you kinda have to find what works best. There is no perfectly in phase component speaker set up. I've always been curious as to what frequencies to try and have in phase. As in which are most important

Phase changes every time a speaker reverses direction. Because it changes slower at low frequencies it's most useful to try to get phase "right" at the sub/midbass crossover region. At least that makes sense to me. Using no crossover underlap or overlap, plus using Linkwitz-Riley 24 dB/octave slopes, is in theory the quickest way to getting phase right for midbass. That crossover setup is intended to sum flat.