Looking at components and efficiencies there is a big difference between a tweeter and woofer. I am currently planning a 3 way system with a passive crossover. And wondering if I should get an 8 ohm tweeter and 4 ohm woofer so that efficiencies go opposite of the resistance? Will more power get to the woofer this way?
Then what about the mid? I can go 4 ohm or 8 ohm and I would assume it will be coupled with the tweeter. So should I get a 4 ohm tweeter and 4 ohm mid to make an 8 ohm curcuit on top so my low end is 4 ohms? Then I guess parallel them to get 6 ohms to the amp?
This is driving me a bit bonkers and I definitely could be overthinking this. This does not take the crossover into account, so how is this stuff modeled ahead of time as a complete circuit so I know what amp to get.
Then what about the mid? I can go 4 ohm or 8 ohm and I would assume it will be coupled with the tweeter. So should I get a 4 ohm tweeter and 4 ohm mid to make an 8 ohm curcuit on top so my low end is 4 ohms? Then I guess parallel them to get 6 ohms to the amp?
This is driving me a bit bonkers and I definitely could be overthinking this. This does not take the crossover into account, so how is this stuff modeled ahead of time as a complete circuit so I know what amp to get.
Do you have any resources? I have been looking around and Google sucks these days for this kind of thing, there are too many generic answers AND car audio pops up all over the place.
OK, to address your last question, there are a couple of good free (or at least, donorware) programs for modelling crossovers.
XSim is one, and I think is probably a little easier to get your head around as a beginner, but VituixCAD is a bit more comprehensive.
For the time being, either will let you play with the effects of different driver impedances on overall system sensitivity, impedance and frequency response.
You can download frequency response and impedance files from Dayton's website to give you some sample drivers to play with, but beware that these are not measured in realistic cabinets, so don't try to work up a complete design from scratch with them.
At the very least, you'd need to add in the effects of bafflestep & edge diffraction first; VituixCAD has a module built in to allow this, I don't recall if XSim does or not.
Secondly, re the mid, the passive crossover separates the frequencies going to each driver, so with a properly designed one, the amp only "sees" the impedance of whichever driver is operating at any given frequency, so if both mid & tweet were 4Ω then that is what the amp sees, not series or parallel combination of the 2.
XSim is one, and I think is probably a little easier to get your head around as a beginner, but VituixCAD is a bit more comprehensive.
For the time being, either will let you play with the effects of different driver impedances on overall system sensitivity, impedance and frequency response.
You can download frequency response and impedance files from Dayton's website to give you some sample drivers to play with, but beware that these are not measured in realistic cabinets, so don't try to work up a complete design from scratch with them.
At the very least, you'd need to add in the effects of bafflestep & edge diffraction first; VituixCAD has a module built in to allow this, I don't recall if XSim does or not.
Secondly, re the mid, the passive crossover separates the frequencies going to each driver, so with a properly designed one, the amp only "sees" the impedance of whichever driver is operating at any given frequency, so if both mid & tweet were 4Ω then that is what the amp sees, not series or parallel combination of the 2.
If you are a beginner, it is easier to design a 2-way speaker than a 3-way.
Best to choose bass/mid and tweeter of the same nominal impedance.
The tweeter will usually be more sensitive than the woofer, but is easily attenuated by a series resistor placed before the high pass filter components.
Assuming 8 ohm drivers, the crossover ensures that the amplifier sees a load of 8 ohm at both mid/bass and high frequencies - the system impedance does not become 4 ohms in the way that simply connecting two drivers in parallel without a crossover would.
Best to choose bass/mid and tweeter of the same nominal impedance.
The tweeter will usually be more sensitive than the woofer, but is easily attenuated by a series resistor placed before the high pass filter components.
Assuming 8 ohm drivers, the crossover ensures that the amplifier sees a load of 8 ohm at both mid/bass and high frequencies - the system impedance does not become 4 ohms in the way that simply connecting two drivers in parallel without a crossover would.