Russ Andrews - Crossover Upgrade

[ringo_the_hifi]

Hello all.

I was just wondering if anyone here has done the Russ Andrews Crossover upgrade?

http://www.russandrews.com/product-C...r-Kit-1224.htm

I have some BR5's and would like to make them in to Active so I'm guessing this is a good way of doing it by by-passing the existing crossover?

I'm a total nooby here so any help and/or advice would be great.

Many Thanks!

[tinitus]

Nice site, but man those prices

Anyway, if going active you dont need any caps
I have no idea why you link to those caps, when you say you want active xo
Those caps are for passive xo experiments
You will need to disconnect the passive xo completely
Even if you could bypass it, there would still be actice paralel components

Whats a BR5 speaker?
What exactly do you mean by active?
Just to make sure we talk the same language

[ringo_the_hifi]

Hello Tinitus.

Thanks for your reply... I was under the impression that an active xo is a line feed directly from each amplifier, but I also assumed that you need some kind of contol (but not a full blown passive xo card) - of which I thought these caps were just that.

Maybe I'm confused here!.. lol - I would like to go fully active in my set-up.. so, does this mean a pure line feed to each speaker without any resistance?

BR5's are Monitor Audio, 3-way floorstanders btw...

Cheers!

[tinitus]

Below is simplified layout

There are several ways to do it
Simple pro filter need not be expencive
Amps need not be very big either

Hypex makes new 2way plate amps with digital filter
There will also be a seperate digital filter unit, which probably works as preamp too
Actually I think the plate amps can be remote controlled too
If so it may only need a source like a CD connected
But that may not be as easy as it sounds

I have a friend who tried a very expencive dbqx, or whatever its called
He never managed to make it work properly
Properly due to lack of knowledge about speaker/crossover design

Im in doubt how to judge your situation as you seem to have slightly limited knowledge about how a speaker works
If not done properly it may not be any improvement, or even make it worse

I would suggest to try it with a "simple" bigger 2way design with new drivers

[Puffin]

ringo. Peace & Love. What are your speakers. What are you hooping to achieve by going active? As tinitus shows you will need a separate amp for each drive unit, presumably just bass & treble.

[ringo_the_hifi]

Thanks Tinitus. - Peace and Love, Peace and Love Puffin!

My current set up is a total monoblock affair. I have 4 Musical Fidelity monoblock amps two of each driving the bass and treble indipendently.

I am looking to get a more controlled sound, my speakers are Monitor Audio BR5's of which have their limitations, granted... But they also have a crossover and of which I think the sound could be getting comprimised by, (let alone the internal wiring)

So, I'm looking in to an active crossover. But I do have limited knowledge in this subject, that is for sure.

I recieved a Russ Andrews catalogue and (I thought) they said that bypassing the speakers crossover with simply one or two caps (depending on 2 or 3-way config) could improve the sound. Now, this to me sounded ace...! - A worthy experiment to a person like me who likes to be curious. - Even though I'm allergic to cats!

Thanks to Tinitus - I now agree, I must have miss-read the article, these are for upgrades to existing xo's... Glad thats sorted!

Getting back to the task in hand.. I've read some things about active xo's and heard that they are better than passive... Better stage, better definition etc..

How complicated are these xo's? And is there a general type people use? I understand the basics, that each speaker is driven directly from the active xo.. It's just knowledge about the actual active xo that I'm fuzzy on. It's construction, cost etc.

Cheers fellas!

[stickinsect]

I see that a BR5 has a 131mm bass unit and a 131 mm bass/mid ,might not be so simple to activate it.You might be better off upgrading the passive crossover components but this might cost more than the speakers are worth.

[tinitus]

Originally posted by ringo_the_hifi
Thanks Tinitus. - Peace and Love, Peace and Love Puffin!

My current set up is a total monoblock affair. I have 4 Musical Fidelity monoblock amps two of each driving the bass and treble indipendently.

Originally posted by stickinsect
I see that a BR5 has a 131mm bass unit and a 131 mm bass/mid ,might not be so simple to activate it.

So you use what is called biamp
Which means that you have double speaker terminal
At least that is useful

Two similar 5", one bass and other mid, could indicate that its realle a 2.5 way
That means that both wooers play the same bass, but only upper one plays mids
If its a 2.5way, you only need 2way active, and you already have your amps for that

Well, I just looked and they clearly says 2.5way
So, active 2way is the option
Either leave the passive inductor between the two woofers
Or a pure 2way active without the inductor, and both woofers in paralel
Then theres BSC to deal with
It means either attenuation of above300hz estimated
Or it means amplififying whats below 300hz
Your present 2.5way configuration is more like amplifying below 300hz, due to exstra woofer
With a pure 2way with woofers in paralel, you would need attenuation of above 300hz, preferably through digital EQ

Whether there will be any significant advantage is hard to say
And your crossover will need to be looked at closer
You will probably need to solder and such

A design like this could be very good as passive
And not the obvious choise for active
Mind you, biamping like you do is not always the better choise either

[Puffin]

ringo. Have a look at these articles.

http://sound.westhost.com/projects-3.htm