I don't think it makes much of a difference. It's less than 1/10 of an octave either way and as you said within many components variations.
The surprising thing about the identical passive crossovers was that the ATC is 16Ohm and the Volt 8. Without adjusting components that would shift the crossover region by a full octave plus it would throw the mid response out of kilter with the other drivers responses by the same margin.
The surprising thing about the identical passive crossovers was that the ATC is 16Ohm and the Volt 8. Without adjusting components that would shift the crossover region by a full octave plus it would throw the mid response out of kilter with the other drivers responses by the same margin.
I was told exactly the same thing by WA. The ATC is 16 Ohms and 91 dB, whereas the Volt is 8 Ohms and 92 dB, the actual SPL will depend on how different amplifiers respond to the different impedances.
I have just retrofitted a (very) low-noise fan into my third stereo power amp, so will be able to try the fully-active system pretty soon, that should be interesting.
I was told that the crossovers were completely identical for all three Prestige kits. The same product is supplied.
The thing is a passive high pass at 400Hz and a 16Ohm driver requires about 12µF and 12mH while same but with an 8ohm driver needs 24µF and 6mH.
So either the components can be identical or the xover frequency and slope but not both.
I just used an online L-R2 calculator to get a rough idea. In fact it appears to me (and I could well be wrong) using the 16Ohm component values with an 8 Ohm driver results in a -6dB/oct slope from 1600Hz down while the inductor kicks in below 100Hz instead of straight -12dB/oct from 400Hz.
So either the components can be identical or the xover frequency and slope but not both.
I just used an online L-R2 calculator to get a rough idea. In fact it appears to me (and I could well be wrong) using the 16Ohm component values with an 8 Ohm driver results in a -6dB/oct slope from 1600Hz down while the inductor kicks in below 100Hz instead of straight -12dB/oct from 400Hz.
Re the cap values: I agree with Charles Darwin above - the difference is so marginal that you won't hear a difference and it won't cause any problems to the drive units.
The crossover points for passive crossovers are pretty nominal. For all we know, the points you have arrived at might have been the ones they were aiming at.
Better to have a properly built and functioning active crossover which hasn't been hacked about. Falcon (another UK kit manufacturer) used to supply their passive crossovers with push-on connector tags, saying it was better to have something which they knew worked than risk a bad solder joint. Let pragmatism be your friend …
The crossover points for passive crossovers are pretty nominal. For all we know, the points you have arrived at might have been the ones they were aiming at.
Better to have a properly built and functioning active crossover which hasn't been hacked about. Falcon (another UK kit manufacturer) used to supply their passive crossovers with push-on connector tags, saying it was better to have something which they knew worked than risk a bad solder joint. Let pragmatism be your friend …
I will be removing my passive x-overs soon and could take a look at the values and let you know. Luckily the midrange is on a separate board from the other two, so it should be easier to identify them. I was told that the designer of these speakers left WA some time ago, I'm not sure if the people there now would be able to explain the technical differences in the x-over designs. They just said more or less "they all sound better with the Gold x-over so that's what we sell" which does make me wonder why there were individual designs made by the original designer.
I don't know if anyone knows the answer to this but I seem to remember reading that going active with the WA Prestige (and possibly other speakers) could affect the bass in some way (Q?) and I seem to have lower bass output from the fully active version than I did with the passive crossovers. Can anyone tell me what's going on? And what to do about it?
May be the passive xover has baffle step compensation built in?
I'm using the same woofer (Volt 3143) in a T/L but never even tried using it passive as to my ears actively driven woofers are a lot tighter and better defined than passives.
There is a possibility that this might sound like the bass being light to those not used to that.
The only way to be sure is measuring.
I'm using the same woofer (Volt 3143) in a T/L but never even tried using it passive as to my ears actively driven woofers are a lot tighter and better defined than passives.
There is a possibility that this might sound like the bass being light to those not used to that.
The only way to be sure is measuring.
I went from fully passive to active bass and passive mid/treble and didn't notice the bass had got quieter but going fully active it seems to need turning up. It could well be that the mid and tweeter are just louder relatively and I think the bass is quieter. Any suggestions on measuring? I guess I'd need a calibrated mic for a start.
You might be forgiven for assuming that if you bought the Platinum kit with x-overs that you would also get the Platinum x-over without asking for it especially!
A passive crossover decouples the speaker driver from the direct control of the amplifier, reducing the damping factor. So the extra bass is likely to be less accurate bass as electrical damping is reduced drastically.
In my experience, an active speaker sounds as if it has less bass simply because it is better controlled, tighter and more accurate.
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