Whats the difference between a crossover, preamp, epiccenter, and equalizer?

[marquisbrah 10+ year member]

Lately some of my buddies have been talking about getting some of these but i dont really know their reasons to do so. They say for more bass and what not. but in reality, what do these actually do? Are they all useful? Is it reccomendable to get one or all of them?

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[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

with what setup?

 

[marquisbrah 10+ year member]

with what setup?

Uhh sorry i forgot to mention that.... 2 old school l7 15s with a kx 1200.1 amp. Cerwin vegas on the front and polk audio on the back. These were the ones the car came with (vegas and polk)

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

Compnents or coaxials?

 

[marquisbrah 10+ year member]

Compnents or coaxials?

Coaxials up front i believe, not sure about the rears

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

Idk why you would have comps in the rear...

 

[marquisbrah 10+ year member]

Idk why you would have comps in the rear...

Probably not comps. Havent had a chance to take a lOok. Most likely coaxials

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

Well do you have tweets anywhere?

 

[marquisbrah 10+ year member]

Well do you have tweets anywhere?

Some POS plastic ones lol just a tiny boost on the voice

 

[vaiboy 10+ year member]

A crossover filters an audio signal by frequency. A simple way to look at it is, a crossover is what keeps tweeters playing high frequencies, mids playing mid frequencies, and subwoofers playing low frequencies. Most modern amps and some head units have built in crossovers, and component sets include passive crossovers. Crossovers are must have items but for most people the crossovers in their amps and the passive crossovers with their comps will be enough.

An equalizer adjusts the level of the signal in certain frequency ranges. The bass/mid/treble control on a head unit is a 3 band equalizer. The more bands the more you are able to tailor the sound to your liking. If you aren't competing in SQ competitions or a serious audiophile you probably don't need a 30 band 6 channel EQ, but all systems can benefit from some form of EQ.

A preamp is used to boost the signal between the head unit and amplifiers, think line-driver, most EQs include a preamp these days.

The Epicenter is a bass restoration processor, it uses harmonics to add bass where there was little to no bass in the original recording. When the Epicenter was released in the 90s my buddy's shop used to demo it with Van Halen 1984, it made a big difference, but not every recording needs bass restoration. The Epicenter is a cool toy but definitely not a must have item.

 

[marquisbrah 10+ year member]

A crossover filters an audio signal by frequency. A simple way to look at it is, a crossover is what keeps tweeters playing high frequencies, mids playing mid frequencies, and subwoofers playing low frequencies. Most modern amps and some head units have built in crossovers, and component sets include passive crossovers. Crossovers are must have items but for most people the crossovers in their amps and the passive crossovers with their comps will be enough.
An equalizer adjusts the level of the signal in certain frequency ranges. The bass/mid/treble control on a head unit is a 3 band equalizer. The more bands the more you are able to tailor the sound to your liking. If you aren't competing in SQ competitions or a serious audiophile you probably don't need a 30 band 6 channel EQ, but all systems can benefit from some form of EQ.

A preamp is used to boost the signal between the head unit and amplifiers, think line-driver, most EQs include a preamp these days.

The Epicenter is a bass restoration processor, it uses harmonics to add bass where there was little to no bass in the original recording. When the Epicenter was released in the 90s my buddy's shop used to demo it with Van Halen 1984, it made a big difference, but not every recording needs bass restoration. The Epicenter is a cool toy but definitely not a must have item.

Thanks a lot that really helped!