Hey guys, i am planning on doing a completely new car audio system and i have a few questions i need answered. My system will be composed of a HU which has 5 outputs ( front, rear, and subwoofer), a Soundstream Reference 404s driving 4 kicker 300w door speakers, a Soundstream Reference 500sx driving 2 250w subs, a 3 or 4 way crossover, and 2 soundstream 110w tweeters. The problem i am having now is choosing a crossover to buy and ways to power the tweeters. Should i get a 3 way crossover, or a 4 way crossover? Should the crossover be active or passive? How should i power the tweeters, through the HU (which only gives out 50w per channel), or through the same amp as the speakers? Should i use the crossover that came with the tweeters, or hook them up with the crossover i am buying? I want you guys to tell me exactly how would you set up this system, what type of crossover you would buy, how would you power the tweeters, ect.... Any suggestions would be very helpful 
Hi, the difference between active and passive X-overs is that the latter are load related, so if you put two speakers in a door and parallel connect them you have half load, so for 4 Ω speakers you'll get 2 Ω. As you see, amplifiers put out more power as the load diminuishes.
Active X-overs are put before the amplifiers, passive ones after them.
The purpose is to limit the band in which the speaker would work, according to its characteristics and the position inside the vehicle. The position is relative to the listener, particularly the ears, as the higher frequencies gets attenuated when off-axis,i.e. treble are beams, lows are omnidirectional.
So you can use one amplifier per channel for frequencies above 100 Hz and send it to the speakers in the doors and attach the tweeter with its filter to it.
The amplifier would then "see" a 2 Ω load plus a 4Ω "easy" load which is the tw. The subwoofer needs always an active filter ( electronic ) because at those low fequencies a passive version requires big coils and caps which cost more than the electronic version and are not easy settable as the active version.
You would want a speaker to play safely and without distortion where you want. Same goes with the amplifiers, a not too stressful load so they don't get too hot.
Active X-overs are put before the amplifiers, passive ones after them.
The purpose is to limit the band in which the speaker would work, according to its characteristics and the position inside the vehicle. The position is relative to the listener, particularly the ears, as the higher frequencies gets attenuated when off-axis,i.e. treble are beams, lows are omnidirectional.
So you can use one amplifier per channel for frequencies above 100 Hz and send it to the speakers in the doors and attach the tweeter with its filter to it.
The amplifier would then "see" a 2 Ω load plus a 4Ω "easy" load which is the tw. The subwoofer needs always an active filter ( electronic ) because at those low fequencies a passive version requires big coils and caps which cost more than the electronic version and are not easy settable as the active version.
You would want a speaker to play safely and without distortion where you want. Same goes with the amplifiers, a not too stressful load so they don't get too hot.
No! i said hat you have to have a complete view ( olistic ! ) of the system and understand it before doing any purchase. Usually the amplifiers have an electronic crossover just for use them for sub ( lowpass, steep slope) or for freq > 100 Hz ( high-pass), don't they ?
So that would be a 2-way crossover, as it splits the audio band into two parts. A 3 way active crossover may be used for: sub-bass-treble; or bass-midrange-treble and use the internal crossover in the amplifier for the sub. It depends upon your needs and skills.
So that would be a 2-way crossover, as it splits the audio band into two parts. A 3 way active crossover may be used for: sub-bass-treble; or bass-midrange-treble and use the internal crossover in the amplifier for the sub. It depends upon your needs and skills.
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