I.C.E without additional amps

[Rtth84]

Is it possible to drive component speakers in active configuration using only the amp in the HU? i'm using alpine 9855 but have not changed from stock components yet. do not intend to have amp cos cant seem to find the space.

[Spinworkx]

Yes you can...but bare in mind HU only give about 20W of power at best and most component speakers will need at least 75W so you will be seriously underpowering them...furthermore, the 9855 has alot of features that you will be able to use if you don't use an amp

[Rtth84]

currently on passive mode using the stock components infront, coaxials in the rear and active sub underneath driver.

 

what will be the symptoms of under powering?

 

what you mean by many features i can use without amps?

 

thanks.

Edited December 17, 2007 by Rtth84

[Spinworkx]

Firstly, underpowering speakers will not be as punchy, powerful etc...

You will get sound yes, but not to it's fullest potential.

 

For example, you have a 200bhp car, but you only use 50bhp, wasting 150bhp.

The car will still move but there's alot more power it can give that you never use.

Same with speakers.

 

Features as in the TA settings, the X-over settings etc...all these features can only work on RCA outputs to amps.

[Rtth84]

not really leh i'm able to play around with the time alignment now, and can set the crossovers for my front/back/sub. can set the cutoff frequency and the slope too.

[Kwongwing]

I do NOT believe that you can go FULL active by using the built-in aps in the HU. Only able to access full features of an active set-up using the HU in passive mode with external amp.

 

When using the HU's internal amps:

Apart from under-powering the speakers, do note that you may also inadvertently damage the speakers.

Rationale: when speakers are under-powered, distortion is caused by virtue of the fact that the amp not being able to supply sufficient power to the speakers, causing the speakers to vibrate erratically. In the long-run, this would result in damage to the speakers.

[User12343]

if can go full active w/o ext amps, then a lot of manufacturers chup lup liaoz...

[Blue2]

Hi Bro,

Just borrowing this thread..

Can Apline HU adjust gain settings....

[Dunno]

Yes, in the cross-over section. You can do it for certain frequencies as well, in the EQ.

[Hyun]

Is it possible to drive component speakers in active configuration using only the amp in the HU?

 

the important question here is your definition of "active configuration". this term is rather commonly abused. can you describe the feature u want in this configuration, and why this is important to you?

[Blue2]

Hi Bro, thank you for your advise...

[Zerstorer]

Many headunit's EQ/crossover settings are applied to their internal amps as well, thus they are clearly capable of running speakers actively biamped.

 

My stock pioneer unit was able to do it, and likewise for my current eclipse 7100.

 

Speakers can be damaged by 2 situations, when they are driven till they hit their end-stops or when you pass a DC current to the voice coil and burn it out.

 

The first scenario happens when you are driving the speaker beyond its excursion(xmax) limits. The 2nd is when you drive the amplifier into severe clipping where it starts producing square waves.

 

Neither scenario happens easily for you will hear the distortion way before it is actually capable of serious damage.

 

Most speakers on the market can actually be driven off the headunits with not much loss in performance apart from slight loss of dynamics.

 

If budget is not a concern of course by all means go get an amp to maximize what your speaker is capable off. But. If one is severely on a budget, I think he might be better off driving decent speakers off a good headunit rather than just divesting his limited budget on a lesser headunit, speaker and cheap amp which may not impart the tonality he wants.

[Rtth84]

thanks for your detailed explanation. will any installer be willing to do that kind of setup and tuning?

 

most likely they will strongly discourage it, and tell me will damage this and that, just to sell their amps.

[Zerstorer]

Well, I'm sure they will if you insist. Just tell them that you want to upgrade step by step due to limited budget.:)

 

Just be aware that they are unlikely to put much effort in the tuning since the profit margin would be slim, you just have to do it yourself.

 

Note that you will need to lay a new set of speaker cables again if the current speakers are running passive.

 

Running in active requires knowledge of your component driver's response curves to set an appropriate crossover point and quite a bit of tweaking to get a coherent sound. The main advantage is better use of available amplifier power and perhaps better transparency since the passive crossover network is out of the way. However, if the crossover point and slopes are not properly selected, it can also sound much worse.

[Rtth84]

sounds like need alot of knowledge and experience to do active setup.

 

what about just running passive, any particular brand of component speakers work well off the amp of the HU?

[Wadskerder]

Damn Nice:

http://city-ofhobos.myminicity.com/

[Hyun]

> sounds like need alot of knowledge and experience to do active setup.

> what about just running passive, any particular brand of component speakers work well off the amp of the HU?

 

correct me if i'm wrong but i'm suspecting u're not entirely clear on the differences between the two. how do u hope an active setup will better a passive one?

[Kwongwing]

Hi!

Like what Hyun has said - you may not realize the actual difference between an active and a passive setup.

 

Before you commit to anything, I would suggest that you pop down to one of the meet-ups to audit various set-ups before making any decision.

 

Using a very "loose" definition of the terms active and passive:

- a passive set-up uses the passive cross-over unit to "divide" up the various frequencies ranges to drive the 2 or 3 speakers in a full range component speaker set-up

 

- an active set-up uses active cross-over units (i.e. electronic means) to do the same job as in a passive set-up - because the cross-over unit is electonic in nature, one has more flexibility in setting the cross-over frequencies, cut-off slopes, etc.

 

 

**Do note that in many ultimate audiophile systems - the set-ups are passive in nature!