Just got and installed my DB2D as the final piece to my stereo. Thought I'd share my experience in setting it up as my final setup was different than I initially thought.
My setup
- Lyngdorf tdai-2170 pre-amp
- Lyngdorf sda-2400 power-amp
- 2x B&W 805D3
- 1x DB2D
I have two signal outputs on the the tdai: digital and analog (I don’t use the speakers terminals right now). The digital out goes to the sda (+805's) and the DB2D is on the analog. I can setup a low-pass and high pass filer on the tdai, so I put the low pass on the analog and high-pass on the digital.
At first I had the crossover around 100Hz Lr 2nd order, so the DB2D would get as many notes as possible and the handover would be wide. I figured the large cones should sound better than the ones on the 805’s and this would give them more room to focus on higher notes. However, I couldn’t get it to sound right. The stereo image was lost and at higher freqs the DB2D makes a sound that gives me a headache. I was getting a bit frustrated with my buy.
After a night’s sleep I started thinking about why I wanted the sub in first place: to help out the 805's where they couldn’t reach low enough. Maybe I should go lower.
I looked at the measurements from stereophile to figure out the point where the 805’s started needing help.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/...r-measurements. Then I took 5 Hz steps up and down to figure out my sweet spot. Disabled the 805’s to listen to only the DB2 playing on the analog track, and disabled the DB2 to only hear the 805’s. It was actually a surprise to me that the 805 don’t need as much help as I thought. They do remarkably well down to 40hz. Below that they lose definition though, so I thought that would be a good crossover. To make sure the DB2B gets the most notes without ever getting anywhere near vocal range I used a 4th order LR filter to get a quick roll-off.
My final setting is LR 4th order @40Hz for both the low and high-pass filters. Everything else I right in the middle (also in the app, I have the DB2 setup as ‘other speaker, everything in the middle). I let RoomPerfect find the calibration.
Now I really can’t tell where the sub starts to kick in, it blends seamlessly with the 805’s. The stereo image is still spot on and for tracks that have lower notes it has that ‘wall of sound’ too. The bass is completely integrated with the rest of the stereo image and it is tight and controlled. With demanding tracks at high volume it delivers without flinching, effortless. Sometime a setup will get certain parts right but mess up others, this just hits every note and I’m pretty picky when it comes to audio. I am happy and impressed.
I have it positioned just to the right of the righthand speaker, behind the couch. On spikes that I gave a good push into the floor. If I play only the sub track I can tell where it is, but if I play the 805’s too my mind puts the stereo image exactly between the speakers. This saves me from putting that big box in the middle of the room below the TV. Actually it works better for me than having it in the middle because my mind would associate sound with the box. Now I don’t see it I don’t have that.
The low cut-off does have one peculiar effect tho: quite a few songs don’t have notes that low or only a few. For those the DB2D just sits there doing nothing, maybe play a few notes here and there. This is a bit odd for a 3500 euro piece of kit, instinctively you want it to help out a lot more. This might explain the frustration of certain users in this forum.
But after having given it some thought, for me as an audiophile, this is exactly what I want it to do. Its task as a sub is to support and extend the main speakers where they end. For the 805’s this is actually a pretty small part to play, for many songs none at all. Above 40Hz, the 805’s just sound better, the DB2 should stay out of there. Mind you, this is for my 805’s, for 804’s and bigger, that’ll probably be even lower.
Hope this helps others in their buying decisions and getting the most out of their DBxD.
These are the tracks that made me think I might need a sub (and boy was I right). I used these to find the sweet spot (Tidal Masters for most):
• Avi Kaplan – Change On The Rise
• Bat For Lashes – Kids In The Dark
• The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
• Coldplay – Up&Up
• Paula Abdul – Rush
• Moderat – A New Error
• Andrea Bocelli – Fall On Me
• Jorja Smith – February 3rd