Hi,
So I'm researching limiting current to tweeters, but all the circuits I see for making L-pads just address dB attenuation, not current.
What I'm trying to do is I got a G&K 700RB/210 combo amp without the amp. The amp is listed as "380+50W biamping with 225W going to the internal woofer". Opening up the cabinet there are two 10" 200W 16ohm speakers in parallel, and a 30W RMS horn driver. These are both wired to a speakon connector (+/-1 = 2x10, +/-2 = tweeter). I want to make a "crossover box" where I can plug in on one side a signal from a regular 300-400W bass amp (1/4" jack) and the other connects to the speakon and is a 2-way crossover. My concern however is the big difference in wattage ratings since the 2x10" can handle 400W but the tweeter can only handle 30W.
I understand it might be more prudent to put in a larger current rated high frequency driver, but generally it seems tweeters overall are lower wattage rated than general speakers, so the question would still be the same - how do I make sure I don't blow out the tweeter...
Thanks!
So I'm researching limiting current to tweeters, but all the circuits I see for making L-pads just address dB attenuation, not current.
What I'm trying to do is I got a G&K 700RB/210 combo amp without the amp. The amp is listed as "380+50W biamping with 225W going to the internal woofer". Opening up the cabinet there are two 10" 200W 16ohm speakers in parallel, and a 30W RMS horn driver. These are both wired to a speakon connector (+/-1 = 2x10, +/-2 = tweeter). I want to make a "crossover box" where I can plug in on one side a signal from a regular 300-400W bass amp (1/4" jack) and the other connects to the speakon and is a 2-way crossover. My concern however is the big difference in wattage ratings since the 2x10" can handle 400W but the tweeter can only handle 30W.
I understand it might be more prudent to put in a larger current rated high frequency driver, but generally it seems tweeters overall are lower wattage rated than general speakers, so the question would still be the same - how do I make sure I don't blow out the tweeter...
Thanks!
Hi,
Fortunately the crossover passes most of the power to the woofers and only a small part to the tweeter. An ordinary fast blowing fuse is the best tweeter protection IMO. More convenient but possibly sound deteriorating is a polyswitch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resettable_fuse). It depends on how often you plan to pump up the volume significantly... 🙂
Fortunately the crossover passes most of the power to the woofers and only a small part to the tweeter. An ordinary fast blowing fuse is the best tweeter protection IMO. More convenient but possibly sound deteriorating is a polyswitch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resettable_fuse). It depends on how often you plan to pump up the volume significantly... 🙂
Thanks for the reply. I was thinking that as well, but since there's such a disparity between the wattage rating of the tweeter and the speakers I didn't want to find out the hard way that that assumption was wrong. I've also read elsewhere about using a polyswitch to protect the circuit but on one site they did a real-world test that showed they react too slow to be very useful so I'm seeing what other options there are.
Joe,
This disparity is quite typical, and as pointed out, dealt with by good crossover design. The tweeter is protected by the high pass filter and that they are usually padded down quite a bit to match the mid/woofer level.
Having a 30W tweeter with a 60-200W woofer is not unusual. Pay attention to manufacturer's recommended minimum crossover points and slopes.
Best,
E
This disparity is quite typical, and as pointed out, dealt with by good crossover design. The tweeter is protected by the high pass filter and that they are usually padded down quite a bit to match the mid/woofer level.
Having a 30W tweeter with a 60-200W woofer is not unusual. Pay attention to manufacturer's recommended minimum crossover points and slopes.
Best,
E
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