System Choices and Questions

BoondockSaints · 07-22-2007, 05:08 PM

Alright so Im finally buying the system, so far I have bought/ordered an Eclipse CD7100, Crystal SSCS6 6.5" Comp set, and 2 8" AA Assasins.

Now I need to make some decisions, and buy my amps as well as deadner and wiring...

First thing I guess I need to decide on is do I want to go active or passive. Im not quite sure what I would gain from doing either, but I know I can do both wtih my HU and my comp set. If anyone can fill me in on the advantages of going active that would be great.

Next is should I purchase any more speakers (midrange/midbass) or tweeters? First off does the tweeter that comes with the Crystals do its job and do it well? Sound good and stuff like that or would I be better off buying some new tweeters? Or do I need to buy a midrange speaker?

Also if I go active should I still be giving each speaker 150W? My understanding was in a passive set up each speaker recieves 150W so it would be the same in the active. I may be wrong though.

Then for the amps for my sub the first two I was considering was the Cadence ZRS8 - had at around 175 and then the Lanzar Opti1400D - had at about 200... The Lanzar will probablly provide me with more power but the Cadence will provide me with a warranty. Just curious which way yall would go here or what amp you would put here in its place.

Then my amps for the comps... if I go active I need an amp that can do 150x4 @ 4 ohms I believe I found a Cadence amp thats 180 that can do this... the TXA-6004. Im looking to spend less than 200 here so if yall have any other suggestions here I am open to them. And if I was to buy a 4 channel amp could I just use 2 channels and leave the other 2 channels open if I decided to go passive, at least temporarily? Or is this rediculousy unsafe or something?

And I think thats it for now, unless someone wants to give me a list of all the wires I will need for this so I can order those now lol... But any help is appreciated thank you!

Dennis5587 · 07-22-2007, 08:38 PM

the biggest difference between active and passive is where the crossing over takes place. active cross's over at the signal level, meaning before the amp with RCA's. passive cross's over at line level, meaning the speaker wire, after amps.

if you go active and have 2 woofers and 2 tweeters then you need 4 channels. passive would need only two.

Theres plenty of info on this, go read up a lil

durwood · 07-22-2007, 10:50 PM

IMO, if you know how or are willing to learn how to tune it, and have enough amplifier channels, then active is the way to go. Passive sets are never designed with each car they are going into in mind, so they are set for a safe more generalized setup. In an active setup, you can correct for frequency and phasing abnormalities due to the environment.

Regarding power, tweeters typically cannot handle the same power thermally that your midbass/woofers can handle. The passive crossovers sometimes have them attenuated and protected. IF you set your gains correctly, then your tweeters will be fine, but running the full 150W to them will probably shorten their lifespan.

I can't tell you what amps to buy, so if one fits your needs better than the other go with that one.

scott_fx · 07-23-2007, 01:27 AM

if you're going active; personally, i'd return the comp sets and go with some raw drivers

Dennis5587 · 07-23-2007, 08:27 AM

Also, if you go active, you have more room for expansion later on for things such as "time alignment". Which will let you slow down some speakers, so all of them hit you at the same time. This gives things a much fuller sound... and is kinda cool when you think about it.

BoondockSaints · 07-23-2007, 12:03 PM

Alright well that sounds good, im thinking active is the way to go now... this is all really helping thanks alot. And scott what do you mean by raw woofers? Like peicing together my own tweetwers and midbass?

Also whats gonna be the difference between midbass and midrange? Should I have both?

XC-C30 · 07-23-2007, 06:37 PM

I'd sugest you read up un the difference in drivers before, as scott said, picking "raw drivers" by which he means separate drivers, no filters or anything, just the speakers by themselves.

The difference between midrange and midwoofer = A midrange is designed to only have a fluid curve at the mid frequencies, where a midbass will also take some of the lower frequencies. You should be fine picking a midbass and a tweeter and just go 2-way active. However, you could also go 3-way and pick more specific speakers for a certain range. But keep in mind a 3-way setup will be much harder to setup, put the x-over points right, putting your speakers by themselves at the right angle to get your frontstage right and eliminate phase problems and such......

BoondockSaints · 07-23-2007, 07:09 PM

So if I was to do raw drivers, with a 3 way active system I would need 6 channels of power right? And about how much would the raw drivers come out to for a good system?

XC-C30 · 07-23-2007, 07:15 PM

Why do you wanna go 3-way immediatly? It's way harder to set up. If I were you I'd experiment with a 2-way setup first. You can easily be ready for $100-$200 for a 2-way setup. The cost will be finding amps that sound right and have the right filtering possibilities. Cause when you go full active, you can't stay behind with crappy amps.

scott_fx · 07-23-2007, 08:19 PM

exactly, go two way and you'll have better results (that's what i'm doing)

scott_fx · 07-23-2007, 08:22 PM

http://www.zaphaudio.com/6.5test
http://www.zaphaudio.com/tweetermishmash
www.diymobileaudio.com

i'd go with 7"-8" and a large format tweeter

BoondockSaints · 07-23-2007, 08:49 PM

I don't necessarily want to go 3-way active right now Im just looking into it. And I wanna be sure I get the right amp so I don't waste money on one that wont work later on if I do decide to go 3-way.

Also have any of yall had experience with the Crystals? Are they decent at all? I picked em up for 110 because I didn't wanna pass up on them at a low price like that. Actually came in today.

Also I see that alot of these midbass speakers say they should be sealed... in the doors are there already sealed compartments or is this soemthing that needs to be fabricated?

Also if I want to deaden my doors, whats the best way to go about this? Buy a door kit or buy 4 sheets of duramax or something?

XC-C30 · 07-23-2007, 09:07 PM

[off-topic] WTF Scott.... Did you change speakers again?

[/off-topic]

XC-C30 · 07-23-2007, 09:20 PM

@BoondockSaints: Another option if you want to be sure you can re-use your amp lateron if you want to go 3-way, is to buy a beefy amp and go pure passive or tri-mode on it

So I guess you have LOTS of reading to do to determine the differences eh

BoondockSaints · 07-23-2007, 09:21 PM

Also how much does the avergae tweeter/midbass (raw driver) take watt wise RMS? Im thinking about buying the Cadence amp that does 150x4 or 75x4 or if I can find a cheap sundance that does 125x4... also what ohms do must of them run? One last thing you were saying the amps need to be able to do filters? How do I know if they can do it and so forth?