Leviathan or SAX 100.4?

[slim142 9]

Im debating whether I should buy a Leviathan or a 100.4

I currently have Bravox CS60CF, and will have 8" midbass in the door in the future.

At first I was going to use a 100.4 for the mids/highs (Bravox CS60CF) and the 125.2 for the midbass.

But then I found out about the leviathan which does 150rms and has 6 channels. I could use 4 of them for the Bravox, and the other 2 channels share them for the 2 midbass drivers (but then it would be 75rms per midbass driver).

Disadvantages are single vs double amps (space) and extra power/ground runs of wire. And using only 2 channels for the Bravox wouldnt work because that would mean back to passive

I cant seem to find advantages of going for the leviathan over the sundowns. Is there any?

Any comments?

[jcarter1885 995]

I would personally do Leviathon if you want one amp and just run Bravox components on first two channels using the passive components that came with it. Will probably sound better than you running them active unless your willing to spend countless hours playing, tuning, testing and doing it all over again. Then use the last four channels for you mids since it seems like your going to be running 8 ohm drivers, this way you can run a mid to 2 channels bridged. Thats just me, hope that helps or gives you some direction.

You could always try to find some 4 ohm 8" midbass drivers as well that way they can get more power if you do decide to only run your midbass on your last two channels and bravox components active on first 4 channels.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

Agree with ^, get the Levianthan.

Run the Bravox passive on 2 ch and run the 8" midbass on the other 4 bridged.

What 8" are you going to use?

[slim142 9]

So going active is really that complicated? I always wanted to go active, but jay-cee, you make it sound like Ill have to spend a some weekend hours playing 100 songs to get it perfect lol

About the midbass drivers, I do not know which ones to get. I havent even started researching what are the "good" brands or the ones that im going to consider. So any recommendations would be awesome.

I would like to have single coil 4ohm midbass drivers since that way, they would get the full 150rms (or 75rms if i go bravox active with only two channels for the midbass drivers).

I also want to mention i dont mind having more than one amp, just looking for the best performance, quality and loudness.

Edited October 18, 2010 by slim142

[jcarter1885 995]

Active isnt just throwing speakers in a car and picking a crossover point for them, you can do that but you wont be maximizing performance in output and quality. You will probably never reach the quality that the passive crossovers will provide those components if you go active, especially not on the first/second/third time. You need to understand crossover slopes, frequencies and power plus speaker specs. I wouldnt risk damaging those speakers on trial and error if that was me, I would buy some cheap speakers and learn how crossover slopes/power levels/frequencies all correlate with one another.

A year and a half later I finally have active down in the simplest terms and now im moving on to understanding the technical side now, after lots of critical time with no subwoofer I learned going active by gaining experience. It can sound good and just get better with more tuning. I dont want to sway you on going active, I just want you to hear both sides of going active (the good and the bad). But considering the price you paid for those components I would go with the passive crossovers that come with that component set. This will also allow you to have one amplifier like you want and give you the option of more power for your midbass. Just do some more research on going active and sleep on it some. Here is a thread I made a while ago that may help you some:

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

As stated above, active will require more than a weekend to dial in. YOU will spend a year figuring it out, before you are happy anyways. Then again ignorance is bliss.

I an NOT trying to stop you , but be prepared.

About the amp, The Levithan is definetly more cost effective AND space saving. I believe both have simular features. IF your unsure about the midbasses in the future though, the sundown would be more cost effective.

[slim142 9]

Ok understood. Thanks for that link, it actually helped me clear out that question I had long time ago about having crossovers set on the HU + the amp.

Now, I understand slopes, frequencies. Speakers specs (like Qs, xmax and that stuff on subs for example, not that much yet)

Here is how I would set up my car if I had everything already

subwoofers LPF at 80Hz, 12db slope - subsonic at 25Hz 12db slope

8" midbass HPF at 80Hz, 18db/24db slope - LPF at 250Hz 12db slope

6.5 mids HPF at 250Hz 12db slope - LPF at 3500Hz 12db slope

1inch highs HPF at 3500Hz 12db slope

With this said, is there anything I would be doing wrong if I was to do what I Just mentioned let say tonight?

Edited October 18, 2010 by slim142

[jcarter1885 995]

Yeah your picking crossover points before you put them into the car, now yes those can be starting points but once you install all that will change. Certain songs will require some eqing will others wont, so you will almost have to scan all your music to finally get them to where you want them.

I would lower the subs low pass some, lower the midbass some or find an 8" that can dig a little deeper and run the components passive if it were me. But those frequencies you have can be a start, listen to each set of speakers alone (tweets all by themselves, mids, midbasses and so on). This will help you find the bad in each speaker so you can tune it accordingly.

[slim142 9]

If I had to lower the sub LPF, then I think it would be ~63Hz (thats the frequency before 80Hz in my HU)

Wouldnt be that bad to give that a try. I also read a thread over at diymobileaudio a thread were it was asked where people had their LPF. I was surprised to find out that most people like to set their LPF at ~63Hz. Not a lot of people liked to have theirs higher than that.

I thought 80Hz was low enough to be sent to the sub.

[jcarter1885 995]

It is low enough for a sub but most people pick there low pass frequency by personal preference or where they have there mids crossed at. I would go sub 63hz and midbass at 80hz for starters in your case, this will give you some room to go up or down with your mids depending on how they sound.

In my case since I usually have a low tuned enclosure the highest I go on low pass for subwoofer is 63hz, maybe 80hz but usually I end up turning it back down on some songs.

[slim142 9]

It is low enough for a sub but most people pick there low pass frequency by personal preference or where they have there mids crossed at. I would go sub 63hz and midbass at 80hz for starters in your case, this will give you some room to go up or down with your mids depending on how they sound.

In my case since I usually have a low tuned enclosure the highest I go on low pass for subwoofer is 63hz, maybe 80hz but usually I end up turning it back down on some songs.

So what happens to 64-79hz?

Thats something I wanted to ask, do you really need to have your crossovers on top of each other? sub LPF at 80hz, midbass HPF at 80hz and so on...? The reason why I ask this is because let say I set LPF to 63hz for sub and HPF at 80Hz for midbass, both filters with 12db octave, then that means 64-79Hz are getting cut.

[jcarter1885 995]

When it comes to crossovers points, some people underlap/overlap or just use the freqeuency they cut the last driver at and start the new one there. When I was talking to ///M5 I remember him telling me to underlap frequencies, since you dont want to overlap frequencies causing them to play the same frequencies. Underlap means your sub will be at 63hz, and your mids at 80 hz or whatever. Now the frequencies between those should still be played if you use a 12db slope but they will be attenuated (meaning you will hear them but not at full potential or output level). Will you notice it or miss them I doubt it, if Im wrong someone will come in and correct me.

[slim142 9]

When it comes to crossovers points, some people underlap/overlap or just use the freqeuency they cut the last driver at and start the new one there. When I was talking to ///M5 I remember him telling me to underlap frequencies, since you dont want to overlap frequencies causing them to play the same frequencies. Underlap means your sub will be at 63hz, and your mids at 80 hz or whatever. Now the frequencies between those should still be played if you use a 12db slope but they will be attenuated (meaning you will hear them but not at full potential or output level). Will you notice it or miss them I doubt it, if Im wrong someone will come in and correct me.

Yeah I dont mind underlaping, but like you said, the frequencies in between will be cut by the 12db slope (or 6/18/24 depending on what you have).

Isnt that the wrong way to do it? Since you pretty much have a small hole in between?

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

where you set you crossover point the speaker does not just stop. Your slope determines how quickly it drops off. You will most likely have a peak where the HP & LP meet even if you under lap frequencies since one driver is dropping from and one diver is dropping to. It doesn't just stop at the cutoff frequency. Thats why there is so much tuning. It looks simple on paper, but in the car is a whole different story.

[slim142 9]

where you set you crossover point the speaker does not just stop. Your slope determines how quickly it drops off. You will most likely have a peak where the HP & LP meet even if you under lap frequencies since one driver is dropping from and one diver is dropping to. It doesn't just stop at the cutoff frequency. Thats why there is so much tuning. It looks simple on paper, but in the car is a whole different story.

Yeah I know it doesnt stop, it just starts "muting" the frequencies below or above depending on the filter.

So if I understand your post, it doesnt matter if there is a small gap between the filters. For ex: with a LPF at 80hz and a HPF at 100hz there wont be much effect on the 81-99Hz since the speakers (the ones with the LPF and HPF) will still play them, just not as loud but they compensate each other. Of course, a slope higher than 12db (like an 18db or 24db) would have a much more effect and would most likely let you notice the "gap" right?