Coosing an active x-over

[chucku 10+ year member]

Im cluless. Ive never done active before. A few years back I had a half din kenwood x-over that would do sub mid and tweet. I didnt have comps or multi amps back then. Now I do, I wish I wouldnt have traded my truck with it in the dash. I cant find anything like it. I would love to go active and be able to controll it from under my hu. Are there any companys that offer this today? If not ,whats a decent active to go with TIA, Chuck

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[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

No need to look for an external unit.

Today there are a quite a few headunits from most of the mainstream manufacturers that offer built in active crossovers.

 

[///M5 10+ year member]

Which then puts the controls at your fingertips instead of your trunk. To me, that is HUGE.

 

[chucku 10+ year member]

Yeah my alpine 9856 doesnt do that, at least I dont think it does. I bought it because of the I-pod compatability. I really dont want to have to buy a new hu, at least just yet. Which hu would you recommend, that has good I-pod controll and the processing features I need? I just figured out that my JL 300/4 has a x10 switch on the front channel, so I can go active with this to my front comps, right? I read the JL manual and it doesnt really say anything about it.

 

[///M5 10+ year member]

For a first shot, I'd highly recommend using a headunit. Those little dials on the amps aren't exactly user friendly. What drivers do you have?

 

[chucku 10+ year member]

The drivers are 2 pairs of 7 yr old, mbq reference 6.5 comps. They never had active crossovers on amps and hu, when I was first into this stuff. I guess I want options, I hate the half din space under my 7856, so I thought I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone with a unit like my old kenwood.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Honestly, you would be better off with a new headunit.

Most of the built-in active crossovers in headunits have more and better options, in addition to many extra features built into the headunit. More slopes, equalizer, time alignment, etc. Stuff that you typically won't find in half din units and that will come in very useful.

 

[chucku 10+ year member]

Which hu would be as good at i-pod navigation as the alpine with the crossover function?