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*~Gone Active~*


TNRabbit

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Greg, interesting observation. I have been leaning toward the steeper slopes in order to minimize the range at which two drivers are operating. I will say that for sound quality the guys were right, the Ashly is in a league way above the Behringer. I still keep my Behringer as a backup or in case I later need another crossover for some reason. But, the Ashly is superior in noise floor and all around sound quality.

I was able to pick one up at near wholesale, so that certainly helps.

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I can remember in tests I did long ago, that passive crossovers I was using from ALK sounded much better than the Behringer set at any slope and or EQ. The unit sounded lousy compared to the expensive passives I was using at the time with all Auricaps in them. At that time I abandoned active systems.



If the Behringer sounds best at 6 db slopes...........what were you comparing it to?

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If the Behringer sounds best at 6 db slopes...........what were you comparing it to?

Itself.

There are many times when I prefer the sound of 6db slopes to the other options available with the Behringer.

I'm still unsure about which sounds better on my system, active or passive. The Behringer really sounded nice the last time I had it on my system. Surprisingly nice. I was using three identical T-amps. I've had issues in the past with using different amplifiers and having the gains match up properly and/or the sound of the amplifiers changing as the volume levels changed, and having that skew the balance of the system.

Comparing the Behringer to ALK Universal networks is tough, because I'm tweaking the Behringer to provide what I think is a better combination of slopes and crossover points for my system. So if I think the Behringer is sounding better than the ALK Universals, is it because of it being active, or because of the different filters?

Greg

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  • 3 weeks later...

I agree the active setup sounded very good on your system at least for the coupla hours I heard it. And comparisons are difficult because of all the variables and the shortness of audio memory. Maybe it was the T-amps directly connected to the drivers swamping all other differences, who knows??? I just know I have to do alot more experimenting/testing/listening to determine what I can hear and what I cannot and of course what I like and don't like.

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  • 1 month later...

I found symmetrical leading aircraft wing edges available in balsa wood for SUPER cheap ($2 each) & ordered several in both 1/2" & 3/4" sizes to build my waveform guides. \:D/ I'll shape to fit & paint them black to match the ribbons:

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I'll post pics when I get them done!

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I'd be interested but I'm more interested in what it will do. When I bi-amped my AL-III's and added two Rane ME-30 EQs (along with Rane XO), I notched the two resonant frequencies (around 2,000 and 5,800Hz if I recall) using the EQ. Even before this, I never noticed anything - although I was a bit timid to bring them to highest gain. Have you noticed a significant difference? My speakers are situated in a very large, 20ft ceiling space - does that make a difference?

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There are many times when I prefer the sound of 6db slopes to the other options available with the Behringer.

I have found that to be the case when you don't have good acoustic summation at the xover frequency (aka phase cancellation and bad time alignment). Going steeper adds more phase rotation and makes the problem more apparent. It's kind of like the Bose 901 approach...

Wildly different polars and distortion responses between drivers can lean towards shallower slopes sounding better too.

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Someone asked for it, so here goes:

Before/After Review:

I guess I'd have to say the main difference is CLARITY. Cymbals are crystal-clear; the "edge" of instruments shows through--saxaphone, trumpet, etc. Stringed instruments& awesome voices sound so good on great recordings it could just make your cry. The closest I can call it is a "graininess" that was there before & now isn't. Before, if I played at moderately loud levels, it would sound better after about 30 minutes, but never as good as now. My guess is the caps & in-line passive crossover components were aged & in need of replacement. If I had all new passive crossovers, PERHAPS the difference between passive & active wouldn't be as great. Too late to tell for certain now~


On top of that, a lot more headroom is available from the amplifiers; I give a conservative estimate that roughly 40% of available power was wasted on the passive crossover components.

I can't think of a single thing that's suffered (other than simplicity) from the upgrade. I highly recommend it! Just don't skimp on active crossover components, & get the most for your dollar there.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Congratulations with improving your sound TNRabbit! Interesting project;

Rudy81, i might be wrong, but you used to have EV DC-ONE before Ashly Protea?

How would these two compare feature/quality wise?

I am thinking of trying active crossovers and can get DC-ONE and Protea 3.24CL for similar price.

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Congratulations with improving your sound TNRabbit! Interesting project;

Rudy81, i might be wrong, but you used to have EV DC-ONE before Ashly Protea?

How would these two compare feature/quality wise?

I am thinking of trying active crossovers and can get DC-ONE and Protea 3.24CL for similar price.

The first active crossover I tried was the DC-ONE. I loved the pc interface it has. I'm sure it would be a fine crossover, however I had an issue with noise floor and my high efficiency horns. I found that using my DC-ONE caused unacceptable 'hiss' level. Please note that since I was new to the whole active issue, I likely had improperly set something. I really can't beleive the EV DC-ONE to be that noisy.

In any case, I sold it and used a DCX-2496 for a while. It worked just fine and I still have it, but I wanted a better quality crossover. So, I got the Ashly Protea 4.8 SP. Drop me a PM with what you are looking to pay for the 3.24. I might be able to help.

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  • 4 months later...

I spent a few hours this week replacing the circuit breakers on my AL-IIIs with fuse holders (not convinced they were working properly as they NEVER blew) in order to ensure a future for my ribbons/woofers.....

I also replaced the wood screws holding the woofers in with nice stainless steel hex-head bolts & blind nuts to save the MDF from certain destruction (had to tighten them occasionally as they tended to loosen from the vibration). Actually I'm glad I took them apart because 1 of the surrounds with was coming loose around the outside edge of the Infinities. Apparently, they changed the outer surround mounts at some point in production & glued them down with double sided tape. So, I re-glued them with silicone caulk. I was getting some strange bass sounds...that may have been why.

Now that I'm fully active, I might reconsider using JL Audio woofers insread of the Infinity ones. For thise who don't know, I had decided on the Infinity woofers as they were at least 4 dB more efficient than anything else I found, but it's immaterial since I'm able to dial in the crossover to match....

Pics:

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http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/TNRabbit/Audio/DSC02967.jpg

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http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/TNRabbit/Audio/DSC02992.jpg

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http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/TNRabbit/Audio/DSC03017.jpg

Heat sinks are important when working with insulated wire & plastic connector parts~

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