Active compatable amps

[West]

Why can some amplifiers be used for active set ups and some amps not be used?

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[VisceralSound 10+ year member]

If I'm correct amps able to be "Active" have LPF, FULL, and HPF where LPF is your subwoofer, FULL is your mids and HPF is your highs/tweets, some amps iirc have just FULL/HPF? (also sometimes called Bandpass)

 

[West]

If I'm correct amps able to be "Active" have LPF, FULL, and HPF where LPF is your subwoofer, FULL is your mids and HPF is your highs/tweets, some amps iirc have just FULL/HPF? (also sometimes called Bandpass)

Thanks, that was kind of what I was thinking... A guy told me that his amp was unable to do active so I was curious.

Is filtering the only criteria? Could an amp with no filters (full pass) be able to do active if you had a head unit that was able to filter the signal?

 

[VisceralSound 10+ year member]

Thanks, that was kind of what I was thinking... A guy told me that his amp was unable to do active so I was curious.
Is filtering the only criteria? Could an amp with no filters (full pass) be able to do active if you had a head unit that was able to filter the signal?

I believe this is okay, which is what I will look into being I own an Eclipse 5030 with Time Alignment.

 

[West]

I believe this is okay, which is what I will look into being I own an Eclipse 5030 with Time Alignment.

Thanks, that cleared it up!

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

If your HU is active capable, then any amp will work. TA does NOT equal active. You need HPF/LPF for the mids to create a bandpass, HPF for the tweets and LPF for the subs. With varying xover points/slopes. No idea if your deck has that or not...

 

[West]

If your HU is active capable, then any amp will work. TA does NOT equal active. You need HPF/LPF for the mids to create a bandpass, HPF for the tweets and LPF for the subs. With varying xover points/slopes. No idea if your deck has that or not...

Thanks!

The p99rs is active capable, actually its designed for 4 way active. Its preformance with passive xovers is somewhat lacking...

I actually prefer my old eclipse (cd7200mkii) for running passive.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

If I'm correct amps able to be "Active" have LPF, FULL, and HPF where LPF is your subwoofer, FULL is your mids and HPF is your highs/tweets, some amps iirc have just FULL/HPF? (also sometimes called Bandpass)

That wasn't even close. FULL = pass thru, NO filter from the amp is applied to the signal

 

---------- Post added at 03:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:04 AM ----------

 

Yep the Pio will do it for sure. Been running 880's active for several years now...

 

[West]

That wasn't even close. FULL = pass thru, NO filter from the amp is applied to the signal

Nvm, its late/early

Question was answered earlier.

Thanks again guys!

 

[sam_b03 10+ year member]

The p99rs is active capable, actually its designed for 4 way active. Its preformance with passive xovers is somewhat lacking... I actually prefer my old eclipse (cd7200mkii) for running passive.

I have a 7200mkii that I have yet to install. I got it for a future project. I am wanting to go active with it. 2 way with a sub. It was my understanding that is was fully capable of doing this. What makes it good at passive Xover? just curious.

 

[zako 10+ year member]

In my humble opinion, going active is almost useless without more advanced DSP capabilities such as time alignment, an advanced equalizer, etc. Without this, all you gain from "going active" is the ability to level match the tweeter and woofer with more precision than what your particular crossover box allows. The crossovers for some high end speakers have tweeter attenuation and sometimes bi-amp capability and phase management, and other features "relieving" the amplifier from the need of having active front stage capability. Also, the so called "active capable" amplifier crossovers do not always have the frequency range for all speakers. For example, HAT Unity, Imagine, and Clarus typically like the crossover frequency between woofer and tweeter to be in 5-6KHz range. A lot of supposedly "active capable" amplifier crossovers can't do this.

 

[NFrazier 10+ year member]

^^^

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

Why can some amplifiers be used for active set ups and some amps not be used?

the limits are in the added processors on the amps(or lack thereof). Personally, I like my HU to serve as a source function, my amplifier to serve it's function and specialized external processing for time alignment, x-over, equalization, etc in between to the two..

IMO, Ideally as 2 way example:

tweets:

DLS CA 22 (dlsca22) 200W, 2-Channel Class AB Classic Series Car

mids:

DLS CA 23 (dlsca23) 400W, 2-Channel Class AB Classic Series Car

x-over/eq:

http://www.audiocontrol.com/t34/5251/52108/Car-Audio-Electronic-Crossovers/DQXS-Digital-Crossover--Equalizer.html

Some multi ch amps have very capable processing built in, But if $ and space were not a limiting factor, you could custom tailor the system with multiple amps for more precise control and flexibility.

with the above processing, another CA-23 ( or a 4ch) for midbass/midrange and/or a sub amp could be added for a full 3 way/4 way system

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

this one is even more fun..

Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.3 Programmable 8-channel digital signal processor at Crutchfield.com

 

[West]

I have a 7200mkii that I have yet to install. I got it for a future project. I am wanting to go active with it. 2 way with a sub. It was my understanding that is was fully capable of doing this. What makes it good at passive Xover? just curious.

Yes it is fully capable of running 2 way with a sub. The hi/mid/low levels were very balanced and it sounded great with out a lot of tweeking.