Dude, I used it without a crossover (cut-off), and I can tell you, it sounded like total crap. They are NOT designed to automatically cancel out the frequencies, if you read the directions that come with them, how to hook them up, like MINE DID, it said specifically to use a cut of off 150Hz or lower. I wish I had audio of it, because it really REALLY sounded bad without the cut-off switch ON, and dialed in at 125Hz. You try it, and you will see what I mean; it's awful.
See mine here:
http://cloud.prohosting.com/davenger/avgallery.html
go down to "My Sub-Box"
The 4th order bandpass is basically a speaker or speakers, placed in a
sealed box with an identically tuned port (or ports) on the other side of the sealed section(s). Its transient response is second only to the sealed enclosure systems, making it a good choice for subwoofer applications. Without a low pass filter, there will be some out-of-band noise present. Use a low-pass built into an amp, as running one in series with the speaker(s) effects in-band response of the system.
The way mine was, it had 2 12" speakers at 45 deg angles facing each other, and a Plexiglas front, the SEALED portion. On each side, there were 3 3" ports, that I didn't have to tune, it worked great with the speakers I put in. The specific name of mine was "Folded Horn bandpass enclosure," but a 4th order type.
2nd order are SEALED boxes.
http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxes.asp