How much power do passives burn up

[Thieroff 10+ year member]

I know that in a passive setup some of the energy from your amplifier gets burned up as heat, and that there are many variables in thiis question, i.e. crossover complexity

But, in the average car audio passive crossover network how much power is lost?

For reference they are the SatNet480 crossovers

I'm looking to run my edi6500s active and am wondering if its truly worth my time

Thanks in advance

CT

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[req 5,000+ posts]

very little.

because what should concern you more is the fact that the speaker is itself an inductor, at different frequencies, the magnetic field created by the inductor will raise the impedance of the driver greatly reducing the output power from your amplifier. this is called impedance rise, and many factors including enclosure volume and even the amount of air pressure on the cone will change the resistance of the coil. its truly a crazy concept.

an active crossover is a better fit for any car because IN CAR ACOUSTICS for your particular car will mess with what should be the best crossover point. active crossovers usually give you more options as far as slope, phase, and the points themselves.

so basically try not to think of passives as "taking up power" from the amp. because its most certainly an inaudible difference. think of them more as a hindrence of flexibility.

 

[Thieroff 10+ year member]

Thanks man, I appreciate the post

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

yuh. take it easy.