Active XO; custom vs. out-of-the-box

fortyquid · 6th May 2004, 03:02 PM

IS there any reason not to use a manufactured electronic XO such as this
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=265-128

as opposed to a custom-designed one, if the slopes and crossover points are the same? Assuming there are some difficulties, do you think it would be a step up from passive?
Thanks for the input

*groan*
Sorry for the extremely bad pun

-fortyquid

chris ma · 6th May 2004, 04:04 PM

Hello eight fivers,

The same reasoning for speakers, pre-amps, power amps, radios, projectors, coffee tables, cables, interconnects, airplanes, cars, chairs..babies instead of adoptions.... etc.. etc......

To be or not to be DIY

Chris

tiroth · 6th May 2004, 04:16 PM

If you ignore the flexibility of setting slopes, xover points, etc..then it just comes down to component/build quality. In my opinion, though, you can't ignore that.

The commercial unit that has the best mix of features, quality, and price/performance is probably the DCX2496. Most of the cheaper options will require significant compromises to be made.

fortyquid · 6th May 2004, 04:44 PM

*chuckle* Way, way, way out of sight. Gimme five years to pay off the college loans.....

OK, so I've never done this before- can I just follow the schematics on WinISDPro and wire them in line between my CD player and my amps? *vauguely* I hear things about impeadence matching.....

Well, here's what I'm looking at. I have decided that there is no point in trying to design a passive XO because ultimately the OX point cannot be consistant throughout the dynamic range of the driver even with the most complex impedence compensators. I am on an extremely limited budget, but thought that if I could design an efficient enough system I could run it on some of those little multimedia amps from ApexJr.com which are cheap enough to allow me to multi-amp the system. http://www.apexjr.com/JBL12.htm
So I figure I'll just wire the appropriate caps and resistors and whatnot between the CD player and the amps and Hey Presto! Much better sound than can be gotten from any passively XOed system. Does this sound right? Is there anything else I need to know? Like about source impedence for instance (I don't even know what it is, I've just heard people talk about it....;-)

tiroth · 6th May 2004, 04:54 PM

The passive "active XO" you describe should work well, as the amps are probably of fairly high input impedance and your CD player probably has a low impedance opamp-based output stage.

You'll have much more flexibility, though, if you use a true active crossover and buffer the inputs and outputs. This can be done very cheaply, as cheap as the unit you posted. Have a look at the "Designing with Opamps" article and the biamping and active XO projects on Rod Elliot's website, www.sound.au.com.

Bill Fitzpatrick · 6th May 2004, 05:22 PM

The unit from Parts Express will probably be fine but if it's for the home you'll need a 12v or 13.6v power supply to run it.

rbmcginnis · 7th May 2004, 04:59 AM

i am building a pair of electrostatics and have the same dilemma. I am considering a

http://www.behringer.com/CX2310/index.cfm?lang=ENG

because it is fully adjustable and uses AC.

It runs for about $90. Its big brother is about $130.

Let me know what you think.

fortyquid · 9th May 2004, 06:22 PM

Is it suicidal to try to take this tweeter to 1500Hz with a 2nd order active XO?
http://www.apexjr.com/SDTGraph.htm

6th May 2004, 03:02 PM	#1
fortyquid diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Southern Virginia	Active XO; custom vs. out-of-the-box IS there any reason not to use a manufactured electronic XO such as this http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=265-128 as opposed to a custom-designed one, if the slopes and crossover points are the same? Assuming there are some difficulties, do you think it would be a step up from passive? Thanks for the input groan Sorry for the extremely bad pun -fortyquid

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6th May 2004, 04:04 PM	#2
chris ma diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Pickering, Canada	Hello eight fivers, The same reasoning for speakers, pre-amps, power amps, radios, projectors, coffee tables, cables, interconnects, airplanes, cars, chairs..babies instead of adoptions.... etc.. etc...... To be or not to be DIY Chris

6th May 2004, 04:16 PM	#3
tiroth diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA	If you ignore the flexibility of setting slopes, xover points, etc..then it just comes down to component/build quality. In my opinion, though, you can't ignore that. The commercial unit that has the best mix of features, quality, and price/performance is probably the DCX2496. Most of the cheaper options will require significant compromises to be made.

6th May 2004, 04:44 PM	#4
fortyquid diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Southern Virginia	chuckle Way, way, way out of sight. Gimme five years to pay off the college loans..... OK, so I've never done this before- can I just follow the schematics on WinISDPro and wire them in line between my CD player and my amps? vauguely I hear things about impeadence matching..... Well, here's what I'm looking at. I have decided that there is no point in trying to design a passive XO because ultimately the OX point cannot be consistant throughout the dynamic range of the driver even with the most complex impedence compensators. I am on an extremely limited budget, but thought that if I could design an efficient enough system I could run it on some of those little multimedia amps from ApexJr.com which are cheap enough to allow me to multi-amp the system. http://www.apexjr.com/JBL12.htm So I figure I'll just wire the appropriate caps and resistors and whatnot between the CD player and the amps and Hey Presto! Much better sound than can be gotten from any passively XOed system. Does this sound right? Is there anything else I need to know? Like about source impedence for instance (I don't even know what it is, I've just heard people talk about it....;-)

6th May 2004, 04:54 PM	#5
tiroth diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA	The passive "active XO" you describe should work well, as the amps are probably of fairly high input impedance and your CD player probably has a low impedance opamp-based output stage. You'll have much more flexibility, though, if you use a true active crossover and buffer the inputs and outputs. This can be done very cheaply, as cheap as the unit you posted. Have a look at the "Designing with Opamps" article and the biamping and active XO projects on Rod Elliot's website, www.sound.au.com.

6th May 2004, 05:22 PM	#6
Bill Fitzpatrick diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Eugene, OR	The unit from Parts Express will probably be fine but if it's for the home you'll need a 12v or 13.6v power supply to run it.

7th May 2004, 04:59 AM	#7
rbmcginnis diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: mich	i am building a pair of electrostatics and have the same dilemma. I am considering a http://www.behringer.com/CX2310/index.cfm?lang=ENG because it is fully adjustable and uses AC. It runs for about $90. Its big brother is about $130. Let me know what you think.

9th May 2004, 06:22 PM	#8
fortyquid diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Southern Virginia	Is it suicidal to try to take this tweeter to 1500Hz with a 2nd order active XO? http://www.apexjr.com/SDTGraph.htm