Active crossovers.

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pre65
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#1 Active crossovers.

Post by pre65 »

Can I ask those who know ( :) ) about active crossovers ?

As a basic principle, would something like a Behringer Super X Pro CX3400 Crossover (3 way stereo) be suitable ? At the moment I only need a 2 way stereo, but a 3 way stereo would give me a tweeter option if required in the future.

http://www.behringer.com/assets/CX3400_P0100_S_EN.pdf

And as regards connection, would the Behringer go between the pre amp and 2/3 power amps ?
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Ali Tait
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#2

Post by Ali Tait »

A DCX 2496 is a good choice Phil, they come up secondhand on ebay. Have a look here too-

http://www.minidsp.com/
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rowuk
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#3 Active xovers

Post by rowuk »

I find the DSP crossovers OK to test stuff, but when I know what I want, I find a passive crossover built into the amp MUCH better sounding. It is so easy to calculate cap or inductor size and there is no DSP trashing the sound. Here is a very interesting take on a 6 channel setup:

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/Sho ... =4973#4973
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Ali Tait
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#4

Post by Ali Tait »

Nope, instead you have caps and inductors trashing the sound. :P
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#5 Behringer

Post by peperoni »

Hi Phil

I have a brand new boxed DCX2496 here that you could have for a good price.

Nick
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pre65
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#6

Post by pre65 »

Hi Nick, I was thinking more of getting a used item on Ebay for £20 -30 just to assess how things might work out. There are a few local to me on offer at the moment.

I'd not insult you by making a really low offer. :wink:
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#7

Post by chris661 »

I much prefer active crossovers.
Speaker-level crossovers take a lot of work to get them to work predictably: the driver's varying impedance much be compensated for.

Phil, you'll need to make up a bunch of XLR adapters. You can get job lots of connectors on eBay for cheaps :)
I'm not sure if the CX3400 can be configured for 2-way stereo. Its worth checking to make sure.

Chris
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#8

Post by SimonC »

chris661 wrote: I'm not sure if the CX3400 can be configured for 2-way stereo. Its worth checking to make sure.

Chris
From memory they will do 2 way stereo or 3 way mono.

Phil, how much of a rush are you in?
I've got one I'm not using at the moment you could have on loan for a few months/years if that helps. If you want it just drop me a PM with your address and I'll stuff it in the post. As Chris says, you will get very good at soldering XLR connectors...

Simon C
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#9

Post by Ali Tait »

Plenty of cheap adaptors on ebay.
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pre65
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#10

Post by pre65 »

SimonC wrote:
chris661 wrote: I'm not sure if the CX3400 can be configured for 2-way stereo. Its worth checking to make sure.

Chris
From memory they will do 2 way stereo or 3 way mono.

Phil, how much of a rush are you in?
I've got one I'm not using at the moment you could have on loan for a few months/years if that helps. If you want it just drop me a PM with your address and I'll stuff it in the post. As Chris says, you will get very good at soldering XLR connectors...

Simon C
That's very good of you Simon.
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#11

Post by rowuk »

Ali Tait wrote:Nope, instead you have caps and inductors trashing the sound. :P
Caps are in the amp anyway, so why not use them for two things at the same time? In addition, a cap or inductor does not lower resolution of the original signal. The care and feeding at line level is much easier and predictable than any other method.
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#12

Post by Ali Tait »

Haven't tried it, so can't comment. Can't say my active speakers using a miniDSP sound notably inferior to any others I've heard though. :D
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rowuk
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#13 dsp vs passive?

Post by rowuk »

Ali Tait wrote:Haven't tried it, so can't comment. Can't say my active speakers using a miniDSP sound notably inferior to any others I've heard though. :D
Can we even compare different speakers in different locations with different amps and different source and different level of sleep and attitude?

I have extensively compared both with the same speakers, room, amps, source and within minutes/hours. Passive properly done wins every time. The basic challenges with DSP are loss of resolution by filtering, multiple AD/DA conversion and electrical compensation for solvable mechanical, topological issues. Romy has often posted digital can delay but not filter, analog can filter but not delay. For sure an extreme take, but with plenty of proof when we are addressing sound. Just think about all of the efforts needed to get proper CD or digital media playback, why should DSP crossovers be any different?

DSP can sound better than a lesser analog implementation, but that says it all.
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