PC Crossover advice

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Hi,

I'm a complete noob, I asked about building an amplifier a few months ago but I don't have the time to learn everything required to safely build one with a higher budget as I'm currently a student. I've mulled over what to do over the past few months so finally I've decided I'll do a digital crossover as a starter to try and get better audio. I read somewhere that it might be better? Not too sure about that. Trying to do this without spending any money except of course some cheap/decent speaker cable for extra amplifier channels.

I've decided I'll use Jriver as the software. If there is a better way let me know I did not do too much research but it seems to me this would be simple enough. I already have store bought speakers and a 7 channel receiver and an HTPC using HDMI as a source. My speakers each have 3 drivers (2 mids and a tweeter) so I'll be using 6 channels.

I don't know how to reverse engineer the crossover so I thought of another way to find out where each driver is crossed over. I think I may be able to disable 2 drivers and run a sweep and see where the SPL goes down using a phone SPL app which also tells the frequency. I could also use a tone generator to get somewhat more accurate measurements and narrow down the results, feed them into jriver and voila. Seems simple enough for a newb.

A potential hiccup I foresee is that the speakers have a 5 way binding post I could wire the drivers directly to the posts but can I wire the 2 mids to one set of posts or it won't work? Also gonna try and upgrade the internal wiring while I'm at it.

Is my plan sound? or am I gonna destroy my drivers or something else as I've read people might do with active crossovers without proper knowledge.

Note: I'm also following this thread and trying to look up some more info. (https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/301618-equalizer-apo-rew-rephase-wow.html)

Note 2: I do not have access to purchase a UMIK I think I'll do fine to experiment without spending money anyways.
 
Close-miking each driver while covering the others may give some clues. Use an omni mic for minimum proximity effect (your phone may or may not qualify).

Be warned, however, that the crossover in a properly designed speaker tends to also provide level matching and EQ. If you want to redesign one, a half-decent measurement setup is really advisable. This can be cobbled together on a relatively small budget but not on a budget of zero. I've taken speaker measurements with a t.bone SC400 cardioid condenser, too - even that works if the mic is placed carefully, as long as you are not overly interested in the very top end...
 
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Close-miking each driver while covering the others may give some clues. Use an omni mic for minimum proximity effect (your phone may or may not qualify).

Be warned, however, that the crossover in a properly designed speaker tends to also provide level matching and EQ. If you want to redesign one, a half-decent measurement setup is really advisable. This can be cobbled together on a relatively small budget but not on a budget of zero. I've taken speaker measurements with a t.bone SC400 cardioid condenser, too - even that works if the mic is placed carefully, as long as you are not overly interested in the very top end...

Thank you for the pointers. I'll consider getting a decent setup. And about that top end, I can't hear more than 15k.

Could someone guide me on the binding post situation? Any info will be appreciated. Thank you.
 
Hi,
For an active crossover do I need a capacitor for tweeter protection with an av receiver (2010 yamaha rx-v767). Do these receivers have protection built-in to not damage the tweeter? What kind of a capacitor will I need and what value? I read up that people use various kinds of protection from fuses, relays to crowbars and whatnot so I am hoping for some information for a newb like me.

Thank you
 
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