best crossover

huge1day
10+ year member

Member
I just posted in the general forum, but decided after reading the sticky about active/passive crossover to post the same question here...

If I am going to put a 3 way component system in my truck plus a sub, which electronic crossover would be best to put infront of the amp to split the frenquencies? I want to run the system basically active with a 6 channel amp for the 6 speakers with an additional amp for the sub. I am looking at the dynaudio 360 system or a focal system. I have never used electronic crossovers so I am starting at square one trying to learn what to do.

Any help would be appreciated.

Bart

 
xtant p500a //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

or audiocontrol has a wide variety products, sure you could find something to fit your needs in following up with what you want

 
I just posted in the general forum, but decided after reading the sticky about active/passive crossover to post the same question here...
If I am going to put a 3 way component system in my truck plus a sub, which electronic crossover would be best to put infront of the amp to split the frenquencies? I want to run the system basically active with a 6 channel amp for the 6 speakers with an additional amp for the sub. I am looking at the dynaudio 360 system or a focal system. I have never used electronic crossovers so I am starting at square one trying to learn what to do.

Any help would be appreciated.

Bart

You don't necessarily need a 6 channel amp, you just need 6 channels of amplification (or 7, including sub). There's a few stand alone units that can do it, the RF 3Sixty.2 comes to mind, as well has the PPI DCX-730, I believe Audiocontrol has something as well but I can't recall.

Though, you could always buy amps that have built in cross-overs. If you're interested I'm selling a 4 channel Next Audio amp that does 4x80 @4ohms, and also has a fully adjustable crossover from 500-5k hz, this would definitely set you in the right direction. Let me know.

 
The RF 3Sixty.2 is very limited when doing a 3-way. The sub channel is mono, not stereo, so you'd have to be willing to lose stereo capability on your midbass. Maybe not a horrible thing, but is something that has been debated heatedly, so take it for what it's worth.

The PPI DCX-730 is a great unit, but availability at a reasonable price is limited. Also, PPI no longer supports the product, so that's a concern.

The Audiocontrol DQXS is a great unit, but lacks the time alignment capability of the RF and PPI units. For the money, that's a deal breaker for me, as the unit is quite expensive.

The Clarion DRZ9255 head unit is an all in one unit. Will give 3-way + sub (4-way) crossover capability, time alignment and individual channel eq'ing. Guess what though? It's quite expensive.

Next, buying a prepackaged component set to run active is many times a waste of money. I'm not saying the equipment is junk, I'm saying that for the money top end sets cost, you can get REALLY good raw drivers.

And another thing. A 3-way front stage can be very difficult to get right. They take a ton of work. If you're not willing to install the drivers in a way that complements them, then you're just as good going with a 2-way front stage. In other words, using stock locations for midranges (which many vehicles have) is often not a good idea. I personally have stock 5 1/4" midrange locations on my dash and still run a 2-way because those locations sound horrible.

Time alignment is fairly critical in a 3-way as the drivers are often separated by varying distances. You run into phase issues, which can be quite troublesome, especially at the crossover points. A 3-way has many advantages, as long as you don't introduce the disadvantages that make a 3-way more or less, useless.

There are many, many things to consider when going active, let alone going active 3-way right off the bat. You might be better served looking at designing a good 2-way and starting there.

 
FYI: Here is my thread about the stereo install that I just did. I am looking for ways to make the stereo "better". I wanted something in the dash so that is why I am looking at going 3 way. If you read the post you will see that I was planning on putting an extra set of tweeters and a pair of 5.25" focals in the dash. After some discussion on the boards I have come to agree that I don't want two sets of componet speakers (no matter how good they are i.e. focal utopia) playing the same frequencies.

One of the reason I wanted a 6 channel amp is that everything in my truck is hidden except the tweeters in the upper door panel and the double din kenwood dnx7100. It looks almost stock. My 2 JL amps are under each seat. Keeping with the theam, I was planning on changing the 300/4 to something else?? maybe 450/6 or a different brand. But to do it I am under the impression I need a electronic crossover infront of the amp to seperate the frequencies.

Now that you understand a little more, am I headed in the correct direction?

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245088

Bart

 
The problem with dash locations is the windshield itself. Reflections can be very nasty, and really mess with your stage. That being said, some eq here and there can tame them, but won't fix the staging. Remember that the majority of music comes from the frequencies that your midrange will produce, so where they are installed is critical.

What is it specifically that you're not liking about your current setup. I have a feeling you're going to say upper midrange response.

I would never suggest doing a 3-way with the midrange in any other position than on-axis with you, or at least in a location with little to no reflective surfaces. Glass just happens to be highly reflective. I'm not saying it can't work, or even won't work. It's more work than it's worth, and you'll never get full capability out a driver when you have to add a ton of processing to get it to sound right.

However, if you must experiment, there are some relatively cheap options that you could try. The Vifa/Peerless TG9 is wonderful little midrange, that costs very little.

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=143&products_id=1616

It has a very wide range and can almost be used without a tweeter (in your dash that wouldn't happen). It would definitely give you an idea of how a speaker is going to respond in your dash. It's a very laid back, but tonally accurate and smooth driver.

I would start there, before going all out. If you like the outcome then you have your midrange driver. It will work well with the TN-45 Focal tweeter as you can cross it over very high at that point, and take some of the brutal harshness the TN-45 has a tendency to display. It's also very capable in the lower midrange, making the RF 3Sixty.2 an option by being able to cross below 250 hz (where it's argued you can't tell between a mono and stereo signal anymore. However, you would have no time alignment capability on the midbasses.

Just some thoughts. This is not something you want to spend a ton of money on right off until you have a bit more knowledge how everything will sound in your car.

 
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