2005 Eclipse 8-volt unit crossovers

[Hoot 10+ year member]

The crossovers in the DSP of the 2003 and 2004 8-volt Eclipses were all the same (each unit had Pro and Normal mode and each unit had identical frequency point and slope options). The 2005 model 8-volts (the 8445 and the 8455), however, are different from each other with respect to the crossover, or so I hear.

Can anyone tell me the precise differences with respect to HP, LP, BP and slopes between the CD8445 and the CD8455? Thanks...

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[dfcas]

I spent HOURS sorting it out at my audio shop,and I think I can clear it up for you.I must leave now,but I'll post it later on today.

dan

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Excellent. Many thanks, Dan.

 

[dfcas]

heres what I learned.I'm gonna start lower than you asked,and add on the features.

5435 I'm including this one because the display is so much better than the 8 volt ones. The crossover offers 80,100,and pass(off).Slopes are preset at 12.This is a "global" crossover,meaning it is a low pass for the sub,high pass for the front/rear.1 choice only and it does both high and low pass.

8445 It has the same "global" 80/100/pass,but slopes can be chosen.0,6,12,18,24 are offered.I could tell no difference between the "ADVANCED" mode and the "NORMAL" mode.

8455 PRO mode off offers the same 80/100/pass and slopes as the 8445.

PRO mode ON: You choose speaker mode.If you choose 4speakers+sub(Non fade): Front 63,80,100,125, and on up.you can also choose the same 0-24db slope.Then Rear same as front.Then W(woofer) 63 up to 200,0-24db slope.

If you choose 3 way speaker mode:front is tweeter any freq,0-24 slope,rear is mid woofer you can choose high pass freq,and slope,low pass freq and slope.

W is sub.you can choose the same 63-200 and 0-24 slpe.

CAUTION if you are in 3 way PRO mode and turn the PRO mode off,your tweeter will get full range and fry. You are supposed to set the volume to 0 before you do this.

You may ask why would I do this?Certain settings,like fade,balance,non fade volume,CSII(whatever that is) and other stuff are not available on PRO.Likewise,bass,mid,and treble are not availible with PRO off.

I'm gonna rant now.They took the rubber off the NOBs and they are slick.The display is small and dismal.This really bothers me becuase I'm old and don't see well.The display for Sirius has lines of info that requires a magnifying glass.The RCA's are not gold plated.It has the stupid video stuff in the display,and too much crap on it that is buried in the sound control,and a lot of stuff is not available in 1 mode or the other.I find it not very user friendly.

The Sirius sounds great,the head unit sounds great,and offers the cross over flexibility that I needed.I wanted to use small,nigh quality amps under my seats,and those don't have crossover control.

I have an ECD-416 from 1997 that sounds al least as good as this 8455,but it has no crossovers and no AUX input.It sold for $800 8 years ago,so I think things are going downhill.I can't fit my Adcom amps in my Element,and it breaks my heart.They are the best amps I've ever heard.I'm gonna seek out some old high quality amps that will fit and try them.Maybe ADS,PPI,Proton,Nakamichi.

If you need more specific crossover freq info,I can look it up.At this point I'm trying to get the non-fade volume to work as it seems to have no effect.The instruction book is like a novel.

I'm not 100 percent sure on the 8445,but we could get no other crossover stuff in it and could find nothing else in the owners manual.

Hope this helps,dan

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Thanks, Dan. That is great information. Unfortunately, it is not what I wanted to hear regarding the crossover for the 8445, as it sounds pretty vanilla. It sounds like a step down from the 8443/8053/8454, actually. In fact, the crossover appears to be one of the few primary differences between the two new 8-volts.

If anyone has 8445 crossover specifics beyond what Dan has noted, it would be great to hear about them. Again, thanks, Dan.

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

If you choose 3 way speaker mode:front is tweeter any freq,0-24 slope,rear is mid woofer you can choose high pass freq,and slope,low pass freq and slope.W is sub.you can choose the same 63-200 and 0-24 slpe.

CAUTION if you are in 3 way PRO mode and turn the PRO mode off,your tweeter will get full range and fry. You are supposed to set the volume to 0 before you do this.

You may ask why would I do this?Certain settings,like fade,balance,non fade volume,CSII(whatever that is) and other stuff are not available on PRO.Likewise,bass,mid,and treble are not availible with PRO off.

Btw, these cryptic sort of sound control menu features ARE truly baffling, and I agree are not particularly user-friendly. Sure, you get used to it but that doesn't make it acceptable. And, to be able to control the sub output in only normal mode is truly poor - does this nonsensical setup still exist with the 2005 units?

 

[dfcas]

This is a 2005.It is 1 week old.I have not yet been able to get the non fade sub volume to work in any mode....

I wanted to buy the 8445,thinking it had less junk,but it was too basic/limited in crossover mode.I don't know if you could use the parametric EQ to any advantage,and it just seems too complex to deal with.

My hopes originally were to use the head units' internal power for the fronts,and an amp for the sub.However,the internal amp is abysmal sounding.Not just weak,but nasty.

Note that I'm an old geezer and my wants/needs are probably waay different than most on this board.

dan

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Dan, I run two old school class A Picasso Soundstreams - these audiophile amps have no crossovers either and thus I am relying on the Eclipse to do the crossover work. And yet it appears that the 8445 won't go down to 63hz like my current 8443 will (using the rear outs on my fronts). This suCCCs. It is truly peculiar why Eclipse would all-of-the sudden use a different DSP in each of their two 8-volt units - it would seem more cost-effective to just use the same one in both. The 8455 sounds like it really is a step up; the 8445 sounds like a major step down from the previous 8-volt crossovers (dumb).

 

[dfcas]

I'll be going back to the audio shop in a few days and I'll check the 8445 he has on display to see if I can find more crossover freq's in it.I assumed that part would be the same,and I was very surprised that it was different.

Sound quality,Sirius,and crossover control were paramount to me,and the 8455 only cost $60 more (to me). I hope that they(or someone else) come up with a simple,cleaner layout,purist head unit next year.

The Sirius really sounds good,as do CD's.My Element came with XM radio and it,along with CD,was really nasty sounding.

Just got an A/D/S/ amp off ebay..woohoo..

I may be able to scan some of the owners manual if you want to see anything in particular. The parametric EQ stuff is 4 pages long...You can also see how to download movies into the display(silly,huh?)

Email direct at dfcas at yahoo dot com if you want any scans.

dan

 

[dfcas]

The 8445 does have all freq's from 63-200 and slopes. It does not have seperate front/rear/sub crossovers,tho.

dan

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

No separate crossovers for each set of RCAs, huh? Bummer. Well, I suppose that means that if, with the 8445, you use the high pass on your satellites, you MUST use the low pass on your sub? Is this correct?

It would be nice/workable (for me) if I could use the 8445's crossover on the fronts, but be able to PASS (go full-range) on the sub--stay independent with the crossovers so as to be able to tweak the slopes and the points.

If this isn't possible, the 55 seems like my only acceptable option.

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Any 8445 owners out there?

 

[unrealii 10+ year member]

Are you sure the deck was on the right mode? I know when my 8454 on the simple mode, it has only a sub cross over. I highly doubt eclipse would make an 8-series deck without cross overs for high/mid/low.

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Well, unrealii, your "high doubt" appears to be wrong. Unlike the 2003 and 2004 models, the whole DSPs in each of the 8-volts are now entirely different from each other and the crossover is definitely different as well. The question is - what about it is different and is the 45 as limiting as it appears it might be (one crossover point splitting high and low pass).

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Any 8445 owners out there?

??