Crossovers; HU vs amp
Thread Starter
Night Owl for life
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 24,725
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From: Bugs Bunny should'a made a left turn here
Crossovers; HU vs amp
I have a Kenwood DNX headunit that has active crossovers built in.
I'm running a 2 channel amp for the mains, and a mono amp for the sub.
Is it better to have the HU do the crossover work or have it done at the amps? Does it even matter where it's done?
If I have it done at the HU, should the amps be set to full pass?
I'm running a 2 channel amp for the mains, and a mono amp for the sub.
Is it better to have the HU do the crossover work or have it done at the amps? Does it even matter where it's done?
If I have it done at the HU, should the amps be set to full pass?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 9,289
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From: Skippack PA
St Jude Donor '13
It's certainly easier to adjust at the HU but my answer would be "whichever is better for your setup." Some HU crossovers are fixed, sub on or off and you can't adjust the frequency or slope. For example I run a Zapco DC1000.4 which has on-board DSP that lets me drive myself crazy with adjustability. While my Kenwood DNX8120 certainly gives me some options it can't touch the Zapco's DSP.
So if your amp gives you better options for the xover use that, otherwise the HU is probably the way to go since you can adjust it on-the-fly.
So if your amp gives you better options for the xover use that, otherwise the HU is probably the way to go since you can adjust it on-the-fly.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2007
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From: Edgewood Washington
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Using the DSP in the Amp means fewer cables to run between your HU and Amp.
Using the HU allows you to tweak from the drivers seat, my preferred method, although some Amp DSP's can be remotely controlled.
Using the HU allows you to tweak from the drivers seat, my preferred method, although some Amp DSP's can be remotely controlled.
Thread Starter
Night Owl for life
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 24,725
Likes: 4,564
From: Bugs Bunny should'a made a left turn here
thanks for all the input.
i set my main amp to full pass and have the kenwood xover at 120hz for fronts.
i have the kenwood sub xover set to 120hz, does that sound right?
i set my main amp to full pass and have the kenwood xover at 120hz for fronts.
i have the kenwood sub xover set to 120hz, does that sound right?
Racer
Joined: May 2006
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From: Austin, Why are they tolling roads that are already paid for, Texas
Good luck
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,367
Likes: 211
From: Edgewood Washington
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13-'14-'15
If your DSP is capable, you can also use asymmetrical crossover slopes/types.
80Hz at 12 dB per octave on the sub and 80Hz at 24 dB per octave on the bass. You can still try opening the gap a little as well (90Hz on the bass) for a smoother transition.
Using a steeper high pass (aka. low cut) slope on the bass provides more headroom for that band. Placing a high pass filter on the subwoofer is also a good idea.
Using differing filter types, Butterworth, Linkwitz-Riley or Bessel for example, is common practice with many professional systems.
Crossover alignment manipulation (freq./type/slope/delay/phase) is one of the most critical aspects of speaker design/tuning. Car installations rarely allow perfect physical alignment of the drivers, so an electronic solution/compromise is the next best option.
This may seem overly complex but if you have the tools you can use them to your advantage.
80Hz at 12 dB per octave on the sub and 80Hz at 24 dB per octave on the bass. You can still try opening the gap a little as well (90Hz on the bass) for a smoother transition.
Using a steeper high pass (aka. low cut) slope on the bass provides more headroom for that band. Placing a high pass filter on the subwoofer is also a good idea.
Using differing filter types, Butterworth, Linkwitz-Riley or Bessel for example, is common practice with many professional systems.
Crossover alignment manipulation (freq./type/slope/delay/phase) is one of the most critical aspects of speaker design/tuning. Car installations rarely allow perfect physical alignment of the drivers, so an electronic solution/compromise is the next best option.
This may seem overly complex but if you have the tools you can use them to your advantage.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Bay Area CA
Many amps come with 12db crossovers, which may not be a steep enough roll off for your mid to sub transition. Most HU's that come with built in crossovers (other than the HP/LP sub only type units) have at least 18db if not 24 (or even 48db) which gives you a lot more options and flexibility. My vette has some 24db points, and a 6db tweet highpass point due to the response and speaker positions.
Old school amps usually had better built in crossovers than the newer stuff does as well. Be sure to check your amp and HU specifications closely prior to purchase so you ensure you are getting what you want.
G'luck
Fej
Old school amps usually had better built in crossovers than the newer stuff does as well. Be sure to check your amp and HU specifications closely prior to purchase so you ensure you are getting what you want.
G'luck
Fej
