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Active crossovers

There's an abundance of info and opinions on just about every topic under the sun in audio, down to the smallest minutiae.

I have problem finding opinions on active crossovers and which sound good, or not. Or which offer good bang for the bucks. Or whether tubed crossovers are better than SS.

So what's the skinny on this?

Oh, and I'd like to ad a Stupid Crossover Question of my own:
The XO will match the levels of the low/high amps, but each amp will have a different sensitivity. Would you have to match the amp levels each time you change the volume?

KP
killerpiglet
killerpiglet OP
374 posts
 
Hello, Sean, I'm not sure I understand (would not be a first!).

I thought, in a case such as the VR's, when the lows/mid are physically seperate (the speakers must be bi-wired or jumped to work) there was no crossover (between mids/woofers) to worry about.

I know there's other crossovers inside the speakers, but I don't know how practical it'd be to by-pass those (between the mid/tweeter). Or is there another croosover or filter involved right after the binding posts (ha, I hadn't thought of that!, maybe I'm begining to undestand?)

KP
ezmeralda11
303 posts
 
Search your topic "active crossovers" on www.diyaudio.com and you'll get gobs and gobs of info. "biamping" is another search that'll pull up alot of related info too.
rives
953 posts
 
KP: There is a filter prior to the driver. It is effectively the cross-over. Essentially a high pass for the highs and a low pass for the lows. As Sean points out, you should bi-pass these. However, there is a word of warning here. While the cross-over is reducing the benefit of active bi-amping, these filter networks can be part of the voicing of the speaker. Eliminating them may change the characteristic of the speaker--sometimes for the better, but depending on it's design it can be for the worse. This is an area where I would contact the speaker manufacturer and ask them how (and even if) they recommend active bi-amping. For some speakers active bi-amping just won't work very well, but I'm not familiar enough with yours to know whether or not that is the case.
drrasta
224 posts
 
Have you thought about converting them to the vr5's?

Might be a more rewarding project. Again, I'd talk to Albert or VSA about it.
killerpiglet OP
374 posts
 
Hello, Rives, I think I understand now. I have sent Albert an email asking about how to best bi-amp. From a previous email, he strongly suggested biamping but did not get into technical details.

Drrasta, yes, I have though of the Mod 5 conversion. I still would like to bi-amp them, in either form. I've checked with Albert and the crossover point between the bass and mids would not change, so the biamping would work fine before and after conversion.
Have you heard them before/after the conversion?

thanks,
KP
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