Which 3-way Crossover?

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

I think I wanna go with a passive 3 way setup in my new truck.

I went to partsexpress.com and here is what I came up with:

Ive heard good things about Vifa Tweets so I chose these:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-823

These have a total mounting diamater of 4 9/16" so they seemed to be a good choice for ease of finding a place for them:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=297-415

And of course, everyone talks about these so I wanna give them a try:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=295-374

I think that one of these 3way crossovers will work, but I don't know which one has the best crossover points:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=114&CFID=7550705&CFTOKEN=78767337

If you can find anything better for the money, let me know.

If you have used any of these, let me know.

If this is just a crazy, not gonna work idea, let me know.

Of course, this is kinda a budget setup. Thats why its not all Morel and Usher.

Click to read more...

 

[billabongcr 5,000+ posts]

looks pretty good to me..but then again i know nothing about components.

once you get yours made, or decide to buy a set, let me know how they sound how much you paid for them. im looking for a good set to keep up with my ssd's

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

Yeah, I don't really know all that much about speakers to be honest. I just know what I think sounds good to me.

This whole setup cost just over 250 so I dont know if I can get better for the money.

 

[~Magick_Man~ 10+ year member]

well unfortunately i dont think any of those crossovers will work.

because the midrange wants atleast an 800hz crossover and the highest those offer is 700.

i dont really have any other suggestions at the moment though.

~Magick_Man~

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

maybe a different midrange?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

If this is just a crazy, not gonna work idea, let me know.

It's a crazy idea and not going to work.

Seriously. Mix 'n matching drivers works great if you are running active or going to custom design and build a passive xover. But you can't slap any ole speakers to a generic passive xover and expect good results. It just isn't going to happen. You would be much better off with a prebuilt 2-way comp set than a poorly mix 'n matched 3-way passive using an off-the-shelf generic xover that's not optimized for the speakes nor the installation.

Likewise, you linked to a 5ohm midrange....the passive xovers require you use a nominal 8ohm midrange and tweeter.

But either way; I wouldn't recommend using the generic passives. Either custom build the passive (time consuming/etc), go active, or just buy a prebuilt comp set even if it's a 2-way.

 

[~Magick_Man~ 10+ year member]

maybe a different midrange?

yeah, either of the daytons will play down to 500 so you might look at those.

although the RS mids are out of stock for like 3 more months //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

~Magick_Man~

 

[acold7dusta 10+ year member]

i think PE can custom make crossovers to suit your needs

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

However, the folks over at http://www.madisound.com used to custom design (and possibly build) passive xovers. If you send them the drivers, they'll even measure them and build the xover to the specs of the actual drivers you will be using (since production variances will change the actual specs of the drivers some from unit to unit). The price of the xovers, however, will likely cost as much as the drivers themselves.

Just another option. Not nearly as beneficial as going active.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Did you seriously just go to the site and randomly pick some drivers?

That's what it looks like, about completely random.

i think PE can custom make crossovers to suit your needs

No.

However, the folks over at www.madisound.com used to custom design (and possibly build) passive xovers. If you send them the drivers, they'll even measure them and build the xover to the specs of the actual drivers you will be using (since production variances will change the actual specs of the drivers some from unit to unit). The price of the xovers, however, will likely cost as much as the drivers themselves.
Just another option. Not nearly as beneficial as going active.

Yup, I priced it out and was going to do that at one point.

Then I went Active. Never looked back.

nG

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

wow, coming from anyone else i wouldn't have believed that.

Thanks man.

I knew that was a wild idea, but I am curious as to what to look for i guess. I don't wanna just be told everything. I would like to understand it too.

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

Did you seriously just go to the site and randomly pick some drivers?
That's what it looks like, about completely random.

nG

Yeah, thats pretty much it. What exactly should I look for? Any experiences with building a 3 way or is it way easier to just go active?

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Active. Active. Active.

Did I mention, Active?

nG

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

Active. Active. Active.
Did I mention, Active?

nG

sounds like youve done it before or something.

3way or 2way active?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

wow, coming from anyone else i wouldn't have believed that.
Thanks man.

I knew that was a wild idea, but I am curious as to what to look for i guess. I don't wanna just be told everything. I would like to understand it too.

Honestly I didn't even look that closely at your driver selection.....just glanced down to the section where you were wanting to pick a passive xover out of a catalog and drop a 5ohm midrange onto a circuit designed for an 8ohm driver. Textbook xovers = //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif Wrong impedance drivers for the xover = //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif

If you really want to play around with drivers; Active is the way to go. However, for a 3-way frontstage you would need 6 channels of amplification and a processor capable of 4-way operation....which is not going to be cheap.

IMNSHO I think, for you goals of good sound on a budget, you would be better off looking at prebuilt comps.