Going active for the first time, need some help

[alexdbest2000 10+ year member]

Going to be running:

Pioneer DEH-80prs

Mb Quart DSC4125 4 channel

Alpine mrp-m500 mono

Tantric 6.5 mids

Morel Mt-23 tweets

Sundown SA-12 sub

Ive gone through a few of the "running active" sticky threads from a few different sites but im still confused about a few things

1. Is this all the equipment i need? am i missing something?

2. You cant put the LP to full pass on the mono amp, should i just turn it all the way up and let the HU do the filtering?

3. I was planning on running the tweets on 2 of the channels, and the mids on the other 2 channels. The tweets are 6 ohm and rated for 130 watts, will this work?

4. Im a bit worried about running the tweets unprotected, should i run a cap on the positive line?

5. What crossover settings should I use?

6. Any other general tips? How well should this system sound if tuned well?

Click to read more...

 

[kylerwyler]

curious about this too. bump

 

[akillj 10+ year member]

1. The 80PRS is a great headunit. It is active capable.

2. You don't need to have it on "full pass" (not that it could anyway, it's meant specifically for subwoofers. But yes as 'open' as it can be will work just fine) You could turn up the sub-sonic a bit as a failsafe in case the crossovers on the headunit somehow fail / it can protect you during initial setup.

3. I don't see why not? Run both on full pass, But if that amp has a high pass i'd turn it up a bit on the tweeters (ON THE AMP) just to protect them in case something messes up with the headunit configuration. You don't want to accidentally send them low frequencys when setting it up because this will blow them. Assuming they don't already have high-pass crossovers built into themselves.

4. Running a cap, or a 'bass blocker' is just a passive way to block certain frequencys. In this case, it would be lows. Since sending a tweeter lows = bye bye tweet. If your 4 channel amp has a high-pass setting, i'd turn this on just to save them from accidentally receiving low frequency's turning initial setup, and in case the high-pass on the headunit is somehow disabled. Just a failsafe.

5. Whatever sounds best and whatever the manufacturers recommend for each driver. Or a mix of both. For the tweets/mids, the manufacturer should recommend a safe crossover point (I havent looked them up, so this is on you) for EXAMPLE: 12db/octave @ 4000hz. This means that below 4000hz, the signal will drop off by 12 decibels per octave. This is just an example, I have no idea what your safe frequency response is for your tweeters.

6. It should sound great. The main difference between passive and active setups is how the crossover network / slope is defined. Generally in passive setups, you're stuck with one slope, and one frequency band. In active, again, in general, you can change how steep the slope is and where it drops off on each end. Only thing to worry about is not sending too low of a frequency to a given driver. Whether it be subs/mids/highs sending too low of a frequency at too high an amplitude can cause a mass amount of issues. Sending too high of a signal is usually never a problem. (You could run into distortion though. By 'never a problem' I mean that it shouldn't hurt the woofer itself in a major way)

This is an excellent read if you want to know a lot more about how to achieve the best sound quality possible and learn a lot more about audio in general. I'd highly recommend anyone reading this check this post out: The Essentials of Sound Quality IMHO - Car Audio | DiyMobileAudio.com | Car Stereo Forum

It's a long read, so, yeah.

 

[alexdbest2000 10+ year member]

1. The 80PRS is a great headunit. It is active capable.
2. You don't need to have it on "full pass" (not that it could anyway, it's meant specifically for subwoofers. But yes as 'open' as it can be will work just fine) You could turn up the sub-sonic a bit as a failsafe in case the crossovers on the headunit somehow fail / it can protect you during initial setup.

3. I don't see why not? Run both on full pass, But if that amp has a high pass i'd turn it up a bit on the tweeters (ON THE AMP) just to protect them in case something messes up with the headunit configuration. You don't want to accidentally send them low frequencys when setting it up because this will blow them. Assuming they don't already have high-pass crossovers built into themselves.

4. Running a cap, or a 'bass blocker' is just a passive way to block certain frequencys. In this case, it would be lows. Since sending a tweeter lows = bye bye tweet. If your 4 channel amp has a high-pass setting, i'd turn this on just to save them from accidentally receiving low frequency's turning initial setup, and in case the high-pass on the headunit is somehow disabled. Just a failsafe.

5. Whatever sounds best and whatever the manufacturers recommend for each driver. Or a mix of both. For the tweets/mids, the manufacturer should recommend a safe crossover point (I havent looked them up, so this is on you) for EXAMPLE: 12db/octave @ 4000hz. This means that below 4000hz, the signal will drop off by 12 decibels per octave. This is just an example, I have no idea what your safe frequency response is for your tweeters.

6. It should sound great. The main difference between passive and active setups is how the crossover network / slope is defined. Generally in passive setups, you're stuck with one slope, and one frequency band. In active, again, in general, you can change how steep the slope is and where it drops off on each end. Only thing to worry about is not sending too low of a frequency to a given driver. Whether it be subs/mids/highs sending too low of a frequency at too high an amplitude can cause a mass amount of issues. Sending too high of a signal is usually never a problem. (You could run into distortion though. By 'never a problem' I mean that it shouldn't hurt the woofer itself in a major way)

This is an excellent read if you want to know a lot more about how to achieve the best sound quality possible and learn a lot more about audio in general. I'd highly recommend anyone reading this check this post out: The Essentials of Sound Quality IMHO - Car Audio | DiyMobileAudio.com | Car Stereo Forum

It's a long read, so, yeah.

So helpful! Thanks, im reading the thread you posted as we speak