2way & 3way

[Lord Baccus 1]

how is it done ?

what am i suppose to do with the crossovers for ea. set of mids ? tweeters ?

is there a diagram?

[JimJ 11]

2-way: Midbass & tweeter, or HF driver

3-way: Midbass, dedicated midrange, tweet

Basically, you need an amplifier channel for each driver. So you'd need a 4-channel or two 2-channels to run a 2-way set active, or six channels of amplification to run a 3-way set active.

[///M5 2,833]

To really do a 3 way setup you need active crossovers and it would be self defeating to use off the shelf components and modify their setup instead you should really choose particular diy drivers that fit the needs of the application.

[Lord Baccus 1]

To really do a 3 way setup you need active crossovers and it would be self defeating to use off the shelf components and modify their setup instead you should really choose particular diy drivers that fit the needs of the application.

im sure i dont need it

but it would be impressive to say i had it

im just trying to do something different than iv allways done.

just once it would be nice to have someone say Dammmmmmmmm that sounds great for an SPL SUV

then i could say well these really cool guys @ SSA showed me how to set it up this way

[JimJ 11]

im sure i dont need it

How do you know?

[Lord Baccus 1]

im sure i dont need it

How do you know?

i dont' thats why i want to do it

it's virgin tarratory, no one in Dallas that iv seen has done it.

or to say not @ any of the competitions iv been to have i seen anyone runing

an Active setup...

i want to try my hand @ customing some Door panels w/ FG

making it look like it came from the factory that way

[johnecon2001 82]

Usually, adding fiberglass doesn't look stock at all.

And you do need an active processor (or a deck that will do 3-way active + subwoofer).

[Lord Baccus 1]

im sure the 9887 does 2way

i am just scared to flipp the switch and getinto it knee deep and realize iv F-ed something up.

i have enuff crossovers to run the mids & tweeters on seperate chanels.

just need to nut up and run the wire to the doors and get it over with...

[Acidburn 10]

im sure i dont need it

How do you know?

i dont' thats why i want to do it

it's virgin tarratory, no one in Dallas that iv seen has done it.

or to say not @ any of the competitions iv been to have i seen anyone runing

an Active setup...

Justin did.

[Lord Baccus 1]

im sure i dont need it

How do you know?

i dont' thats why i want to do it

it's virgin tarratory, no one in Dallas that iv seen has done it.

or to say not @ any of the competitions iv been to have i seen anyone runing

an Active setup...

Justin did.

Justin as in Doug B's friend

can he help me with my setup ?

i would like to have a lil guidance so as not to f anything up...

and help set the crossovers & slopes on the HU

[Acidburn 10]

im sure i dont need it

How do you know?

i dont' thats why i want to do it

it's virgin tarratory, no one in Dallas that iv seen has done it.

or to say not @ any of the competitions iv been to have i seen anyone runing

an Active setup...

Justin did.

Justin as in Doug B's friend

can he help me with my setup ?

i would like to have a lil guidance so as not to f anything up...

and help set the crossovers & slopes on the HU

yeah, jntar

you'd have to ask him

[Lord Baccus 1]

i use to have his # ???

i still think its a good idea.

i think someone that knows how should post a sticky

or diagram...

Edited March 24, 2008 by Lord Baccus

[johnecon2001 82]

I think if you're that worried about flipping the wrong switch, you should keep it simple for now and just do 2-way active.

[Lord Baccus 1]

is this the idea

[MKader17 332]

Thats the idea except for the crossovers are set in the HU.

They can also be set at the amp if the amplifier allows it, but it is better to set in the HU

[Acidburn 10]

is this the idea

that would be a passive set up

active crossovers are either included in the HU or between the HU and the amps

[///M5 2,833]

If you are truly asking these questions, you really, really should start with a 2 way active and play with things first. Then contemplate the 3 way, otherwise it will most likely just sound worse than a set of comps.

[Dave Brooks 0]

I like the two-way idea as well. Mainly because...

- It's the easiest to cut your teeth on from an installation standpoint.

- It's "upgradeable" because, lets say you do the two way and you like the way it sounds. A little while later, you've taken a deep breath or two from taking the plunge and decide you wanna tackle the three-way. You've already got a tweet and midbass, so you add a dedicated midrange driver to the mix, set new crossover points and BAM! Three way.

At it's most basic: If the head unit is controlling crossover and eq.

- run RCAs to the amp (one channel for each speaker as stated earlier).

- left front=left tweeter

- right front=right tweeter

- left rear=left midbass

- right rear=right midbass

- put the amp in full pass mode

- hook speakers up to appropriate channels

Crossover settings are totally dependent on the speakers you choose and where you locate the tweeter with respect to the midbass. If you are anything like me and my taste, you are going to pound the living crap out of them when a good song comes on, so keep the lower end of the freqs above the norm (maybe start at 100 hz and work down?), pound them good and hard... if they take it and don't cry, lower the midbass a little more until it cries uncle. Raise it a tad.

Raise the subs to match the bottom end. Probably gonna be in the 60 Hz range... I'm just guessing though.

Same concept on the mid to tweet. Raise the top end of the mid as high as it will go and lower the tweet freqs to match.

I'm totally disregarding placement recommendations and stuff like that. Just trying to urge you into taking the plunge. Once you start fiddling with 2-way and 3-way setups... it gets addicting in a hurry.

[Lord Baccus 1]

so i dont need the passive crossovers at all ?

or should they be there as a safety net ?

[Dave Brooks 0]

It you are going to go purely active, you can dump the passives altogether.

That's the beauty of active. YOU get to choose the frequency range. For better or for worse. LOL

[Lord Baccus 1]

It you are going to go purely active, you can dump the passives altogether.

That's the beauty of active. YOU get to choose the frequency range. For better or for worse. LOL

thats what im worried about...

[///M5 2,833]

Exactly why 2 way is better than 3 way for you...right now. Start out with some cheap-o drivers and try to make them sound good, SQ isn't about what you spend but how you integrate.

[Dave Brooks 0]

thats what im worried about...

Shucks, nothing to really be concerned about as long as you don't get carried away with the crossover points. More specifically, the high pass. Probably the tweeter is the one you need to be most careful with. They don't like lower frequencies and when they can't handle it, they tend to give up the ghost rather than complain.

General rule of thumb if you can't afford to wreck speakers is to take it easy as you increase volume when you are testing and keep them well within their specified frequencies at first. In other words... no tweeter burping LOL

Heck, if you know the crossover frequencies of the passives just set the head unit there as a starting point.

Speaking of tweeter burping... Funny story (for me at least). I was in a hurry for a comp last year and accidentally got the midrange and tweeter RCA's backwards on a last minute rebuild. At the time, my midrange crossover was set from 140-8k; tweeter was from 8k-up. Well you can imagine how that might sound if you crossed the RCA's...

Rolled out to the freeway and slapped in my favorite "goin' to the show" tune (Fergalicious) and thought... "hmmm, sure sounds crisp..." Cracked the volume wide open and the tweeter made it less than five seconds. All done. Thank goodness for three way. When I got to the show and figured out what was wrong, I just ran the midrange from 140 to the top.

edit - I know, I know... I'm 45 years old and I like Fergie songs. I'm a hopeless case.

Edited March 25, 2008 by Dave Brooks

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

LB, if you have the Sundown 100.4, it has been popular with people going active 2-way with their fronts. If you don't want to worry about messing with the head unit crossover settings, you can run it flat and use the crossovers built into the amplifier (removing the passive external crossovers) and run the front channels to the tweets and cross them over high, and mids of the rears and cross them over low. As to how much overlap you like between the two will be found through testing, and where the crossover points are that your ears like will be found through adjusting them. My active front stage, that might get installed this year is much cheaper then any set of passive components that could be of comparable performance. I will be running separate amplifiers to the mids and highs, but I will venture to predict once dialed in, they will out shine my original RF Fanatic Q passives.

Try it out and experiment, tuning is part of the fun.

[///M5 2,833]

He also has a 9887 which is easier to tune with than an amplifier.