Is active possible with this setup?

[cman9012 10+ year member]

I have the kenwood kdc-mp4032 head unit

The amplifier is an infinity 7521a for the front set of speakers currently running passive are polk db5251 getting 100 watts

The back speakers are kfc-6908 hooked up to a kenwood kac-6402 getting 55 watts and yes I know this is a 4 channel but it's what i had to use so i used it

In between the amplifiers and the head unit I have a kenwood 11-band equalizer kgc-6042

I believe I will be able to go active based on the equalizer settings but need a little input from those smarter in the community. If it does work I will run the mids off of the infinity amp and the tweets and rears off of the kenwood amp. As of now no sub but will be coming in the near future hopefully.

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[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Yeah that should work fine...running the smaller amp as long as it has the proper HP filter on your tweeters....use the front chs of the EQ...then like you said the larger amp on the midbass off the rear chs of the EQ...use deck power rear chs for the rear fill on your 6908's....make sure you use the front RCA's to go into your EQ

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Eq

 

[cman9012 10+ year member]

I think I might be screwed as the kenwood amp only filters out 200hz and above is the maximum hp filter..Is there any kind of inline frequency controller after the amp?

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

i don't quite understand the first post.

I looked through the manual of that HU and it doesn't seem like it had an active x-over network. Looks like a basic 2 way to me. hp front. hp rears. lp sub.

you'll need to be able to bandpass the mids to go active.

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

Yes, it's called your passive xover //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif In order to run active, all your frequencies need to be determined by the time the signal is leaving the amp. So either at the HU, external processor, or at the amp itself. Putting something inline between the amp and the speakers is a passive crossover, which can deteriorate the signal or power going to your mids/highs (if you were after the clarity and control that active offers)..... Not to say that passive xovers ****, because obviously they serve a purpose, but for what your intentions are, you need to have the frequencies set by the time the signal leaves the amp(s). Hope that helps.

 

[cman9012 10+ year member]

i don't quite understand the first post.
I looked through the manual of that HU and it doesn't seem like it had an active x-over network. Looks like a basic 2 way to me. hp front. hp rears. lp sub.

you'll need to be able to bandpass the mids to go active.

thats what I thought but then I read a little more on the equalizer I thought I could set it using the frequency knobs on the right side I am probably wrong on this.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

you can possibly hp your fronts (highs) from your HU, and HP your rears (mids) and low pass the rears from your amp... depending on your amps x-over range.

 

[cman9012 10+ year member]

Well the infinity(mids will hook up to) has a hp filter of 32-320hz so I believe this would work but there would be no way to keep it from going to high of frequencies. Looks like I wont be able to take the cheap way out of going active thanks for everyone's input.

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

I just looked through the owner's manuals of your deck, both amps, and EQ, and it doesn't look like with what you have that you'll be able to go active. Your amps HPF tops out at 200Hz on the Kenwood and 320Hz on the Infinity, and your deck only offers a HPF/LPF setup, which will be fine for where your sub/mids cross over, but you need a 2nd point where your mids/tweeters cross over, usually ~2kHz. None of the equipment you have (except the passive xovers you're already using) offer this. If you really want to run active, You could get away with keeping everything you have except for one unit (either one amp, the deck, eq, etc). By replacing one of these with something that allows you to LPF your mids and HPF your tweeters at ~2kHz or so, you'll be fine. Some amps offer this, such as the Alpine V12s (MRV-F545... I have one). Also a lot of mid to high end decks offer this, including the Alpine 9887 and some of the Pioneers. But with what you have, you can't do it...

 

[cman9012 10+ year member]

I just looked through the owner's manuals of your deck, both amps, and EQ, and it doesn't look like with what you have that you'll be able to go active. Your amps HPF tops out at 200Hz on the Kenwood and 320Hz on the Infinity, and your deck only offers a HPF/LPF setup, which will be fine for where your sub/mids cross over, but you need a 2nd point where your mids/tweeters cross over, usually ~2kHz. None of the equipment you have (except the passive xovers you're already using) offer this. If you really want to run active, You could get away with keeping everything you have except for one unit (either one amp, the deck, eq, etc). By replacing one of these with something that allows you to LPF your mids and HPF your tweeters at ~2kHz or so, you'll be fine. Some amps offer this, such as the Alpine V12s (MRV-F545... I have one). Also a lot of mid to high end decks offer this, including the Alpine 9887 and some of the Pioneers. But with what you have, you can't do it...

yes thats the one thing I forgot about was the second point to keep it from going to high. thanks for taking the time to answer me

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

the HU I jsut posted for sale is capable going active //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[cman9012 10+ year member]

Ha I've been looking around but right now cannot buy anything due to having soccer season and not having a job. I'll keep you in mind, though it might be awhile.