Pioneer 7800 (Premier 780) vs Premier 880

[99StangGt 10+ year member]

Yes you need 4 channel or 2 amps. But it will make a difference. And you can run the mids off an amp and the tweeters off deck power because the deck power also has the same crossovers, I have done that while I was waiting for an amp. But its better with an amp. I sold my hu and now back to passive and its a big difference. waiting for new hu to get back to active.

 

[Ahaz 10+ year member]

I guess this is getting kinda offtopic, but you're really helping me understand all this stuff 99stangGT. Could you elaborate a little on your experience with active versus passive, and why you liked active more? Is it an audiophile 'I want to control every aspect of my listening experience' thing?

If a set of comps is rated at 120 W RMS, for example, should you give that same amount of power to both the tweeter and the mid? Or less to the tweeter? Is it easier to blow, being a smaller speaker?

 

[99StangGt 10+ year member]

I give mine alot more then rated. 150w to the tweets and 200 to the mids. tweeters dont need that much but thats what i have but the gains are set all the way down. Also just because an amp is rated at that doesnt mean the speakers will see that much. When you go active you control the crossover points and the slopes. the passives eat up power where the active doesnt. My midbass is alot better running active. Also with time alignment its more accurate being the tweeters arent hooked to the mids. It takes some work to get it setup but its worth it.

 

[99StangGt 10+ year member]

Here is a good read about active and passive

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146726&highlight=passive+active

 

[Ahaz 10+ year member]

Awesome, awesome read. Took care of a lot of my questions! I'm going to have to read up more on slope to understand what it really means in terms of sound output.

One more for you. On an active deck, like the 880, can you still run your passive crossover? If so, how do you set a 'general' HPF for the front speakers? Just set the HPF the same for the tweeters and the mids?

 

[99StangGt 10+ year member]

There is a switch on the side of the deck that you set it for either active or passive. In the passive mode it has the same crossover points as a standard deck. you would leave it in the mode untill going active. also running active will kill rear speakers if you run them, i dont.

 

[Speedyd718 10+ year member]

get the 880. i just installed mine that i bought from pik on the forum and it is def worth it. display is clean and the face is clean. i actually prefer the look over the old 960 that i had. the lack of color and two knobs makes it cleaner. haven't used it active yet since i haven't gotten my amp but with the stuff you see in my sig in std mode it is def nice. can't wait to get my amp now.