Any special equipment needed if i'm going active?

[Sturtles]

Hi bros, seeing our bluemice going on active setup is very tempting...

 

I currently have pioneer 9650 plus a pair of front components and stock rear coaxials.

 

Can i go active based on this?

 

Is it necessary to add amps and woofers?

[Wahlao]

u need 4 channels for each of your tweeters & front components

 

2 more channels (bridged) for your sub

 

rear speakers can fire with HU directly but may have some probs with the fader function

 

u may have to add more amps

[Sturtles]

I see.. that means I'll need 8 channels of amplification?

 

Will powering a normal tweeter with an amp blow it?

 

So all cross overs between the tweeter and speakers is done by the HU right. can throw away the existing crossovers liao :)

[Stepper]

a minimum of 5 channel is needed to go active(if you dont want sub then 4 channel)

 

all amp have a gain control so it will not blow ur tweeter. just adjust the gain low.

[Bluemice]

say can we do with :

 

4ch = support 2 active front <- OK

2ch = support 2 passive rear + parallel to sub <- ??

 

As now I m complating whether to give up rear ch or not ?

 

Any opinions ?

[Bluemice]

bro,

 

can explain more on "rear speakers can fire with HU directly but may have some probs with the fader function " ?

 

As now my HU has the ability of ON/OFF the internal amp for the HU direct out

 

thanks

 

mice

[Diesel]

4ch amps can run 2 pairs of speakers independently with 1ch to 1speaker. Passive crossovers that comes with component speakers are used to limit the frequency threshold of the speakers/tweeters.

 

Most economical is to run the fronts with 2ch amps & the rears off the HU direct. Add in an active or passive sub later when desired

[Sturtles]

>>4ch amps can run 2 pairs of speakers independently with 1ch to 1speaker. Passive crossovers that comes with component speakers are used to limit the frequency threshold of the speakers/tweeters.

 

Most economical is to run the fronts with 2ch amps & the rears off the HU direct. Add in an active or passive sub later when desired

 

 

 

>>

 

Thanks for the reply bro!

 

Do you mean i need 4 ch amps to run the front components with HU as active crossovers, but i can also use 2 ch amp using the passive crossovers to power the front components?

 

In the second case, there seem to be no difference from a passive setup

[Diesel]

There's many configurations available, depending on budget & preference. 4ch amps are more flexible in configuring as u can bridge it into 3 or 2 channels. 2ch amps are cheaper than 4ch amps (same output per channel) & when bridged (MONO) can only pump subs or mono drivers.

 

Crossovers are merely devices that controls frequency range (Hi-pass/Lo-pass) & keeps the allowable frequencies fed to the speakers so they are "protected" against frequencies that are outside the speakers' playable range. U can make use of the HU's built-in X-overs or if the amp has it.

 

End of the day it's the sound coming out of the setup that matters, passive or active is only about personal preference

[Wahlao]

firstly u have to check your HU - how many channels (RCA outs) does it have?

 

second, u have to understand the difference between passive & active setups, & the difference between 2-way & 3-way setup

 

my 9855 have 4 channels plus separate sub out, so if I run 3-way active using HU built-in crossover all 4 channels would be used for front mids & tweeters thru a 4ch amp while the rear speakers can only be run direct from the HU (no amp)

 

the loss of fader function while running active is a limitation of my alpine HU, some other HUs with more channels may be able to support fader functions while running 3-way active. you have to check for your HU

 

note: why the fader is necessary is to control the contribution of rear fill as typically the contribution of front components vs rear fill speakers should be ard 80:20. with the fader function disabled, u cannot control this.

 

hope I did not confuse u further

Edited September 28, 2005 by Wahlao

[Bluemice]

hi,

 

> i hv a 6-ch out at 4V each, 2F, 2R, 2Sub, can do 2-way or 3-way or 5.1 Pro logic

 

second, u have to understand the difference between passive & active setups, & the difference between 2-way & 3-way setup

 

> I am aware of the diff betw these.

 

now i see the loss, as if u use 3-way( hi, mid, low), basically theres nuttin left to control the rear ch liao... can say so ?

 

but in this case, can still use the HU to power the rear speakers direct, not from the pre-out ?

 

thanks

 

mice

[Wahlao]

> i hv a 6-ch out at 4V each, 2F, 2R, 2Sub, can do 2-way or 3-way or 5.1 Pro logic

 

yup, same as mine

 

> now i see the loss, as if u use 3-way( hi, mid, low), basically theres nuttin left to control the rear ch liao... can say so ?

 

yes correct

 

> but in this case, can still use the HU to power the rear speakers direct, not from the pre-out ?

 

yes, can but the volume cannot be adjusted thru the fader function in the HU

 

of course a good ICE installer will have ways to overcome this issue, e.g. tapping from front mids, adding a variable resistor, etc.

 

an evil ICE installer will just ask u to change a HU or add a processor!

[Bluemice]

ty .

 

bro ask u a qtn. which would u go for :

 

1. front active, but no rear

2. front passive, rear passive

 

can also share share reason for choice.

 

thanks

 

mice

[Stepper]

[reply]say can we do with :

 

4ch = support 2 active front

[Wahlao]

> bro ask u a qtn. which would u go for :

 

> 1. front active, but no rear

> 2. front passive, rear passive

 

IMHO, always try option 2 first (considered as 2-way passive setup) before moving on to option 1. If u have good component speakers, the supplied crossover box should be good enuf to bring out your mid & high freqs with proper tuning. The rear fill will help to create the ambience expecially for bigger cars like MPVs.

 

However, when u realise that u want to control either the mid-bass or high freq individually but are not able to achieve what u want even after proper tuning, then u can consider option 1. Running active allows greater flexibility in the tuning to bring out either the mid-bass or the high freqs and can help to push the performance of your component speakers to the max. Of course the disadvantage is losing the rear fill (HU limitation) & omitting the crossover box (which may bring out some unique characteristics of the component speakers)

 

with either option, the key is in the tuning

 

try & listen to setups similar to yours & compare for yourself the difference running active & passive

[Bluemice]

bro, u hv PM.