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Crossover adjusting advice needed

6K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  deejaytek 
#1 ·
Hello everyone. I have an old-school Alpine CDA-9833 unit in my G35 coupe. I love this unit even til this day. I love the built in 3-way active crossover. Let me state my equipment so that you guys can offer some suggestions to help me improve the sound in my car. I know this is a very subjective subject and that everyone has their own preference on what sounds good to them, however I'd like a general consensus.

Frontstage = Boston Acoustic Pro Series 6.5 components (Tweeter/ and 6.25" Midwoofer)

Rearstage = None

Lows = JL 10w7 powered by JL500.1 amp

My components are bi-amped directly, I am not using the pass xover that came with em. This allows much more control. They are powered by a JL450/4

Both amps are set to FULLRANGE. I am not using the crossover on my amps, but through my Headunit.

I first started out with the following settings.

My LOWS are set to 80hz and under with -6db slope
My MID-L are set to 80 and over -6db slope
My MID-H are set to 3200 and under -24db slope
My HIGHS are set to 3200 and over -24db slope

With these settings i noticed my sound was very sloppy, and not clean and distinct at all. Especially in the midbass and lower frequencies, very sloppy. So I tried some new settings and used:

LOWS set to 80hz and under with -24db slope
MID-L set to 200hz and over with -24db slope
MID-H set to 3200 and under with -24db slope
HIGHS set to 3200 and over with a -24db slope

Immediately I noticed some very clean and distinct sound coming from each driver. I really love how this sounds, the lows from my sub is very distinguishable and sounds very crisp and clean. Before I couldn't really notice my sub, but now it stands out and sounds really good.

I'd love to see what you guys think, or can offer some input on my settings. I'm still in the process of experimenting and would like to get it perfect.
 
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#2 ·
Ok so your sub probably sounds more distinguished from the rest of your system because you have isolated it from the rest of the sound.. Can you notice any of the sounds/music missing when you have the crossovers set with the lull between 80 and 200hz?

Also, how come you have a 4 way crossover setup but only a 3 way speaker setup?

LOWS is obviously going to the 10w7, HIGHS are going to the tweets, but which of the MID L and MID H are you using for the woofers?

Before you mess with slopes it should look something more like
LOWS 80hz and under
MIDS 80hz - 3200hz
HIGHS 3200hz and over

I am not familiar with your head unit though so forgive me if some of what I've said doesn't apply or something..
 
#3 ·
I am using the built in 3-way active crossover on my headunit, it's not a 4-way.

MID L - MID H settings are for my midrange/midwoofer speaker (the 6.5")

and no, i don't notice any sound really missing when I'm underlapping my lows from my mids, if anything it cleans up my soundstage a lot better. Before my mids would be very sloppy sounding and take away from my lows.
 
#4 ·
Oh right, those are the high pass and low pass for your mids, sorry my misunderstanding..

Have you tried not underlapping them but playing with other slopes and possible changing the phase of the different drivers individually to see if that helps?? Or have you got time alignment??

Sometimes having the speakers interact with phasing issues cause by improper crossover slopes or lack of time alignment can be perceived as sloppy performance and can sound better when the drivers are made to interact a lot less by underlapping their passbands.

Some people do underlap their crossovers but generally not that much, it's a pretty large gap. Pretty much your entire midbass region actually! Aren't you missing any of your midbass punch?
 
#5 ·
No problem, I have my time alignment properly adjusted for each of my drivers for my frontstage so that's all set. I am still in the process of messing with my crossover settings, I tend to prefer the steeper slopes for my setup. The wider the slope, the sloppier my system sounds. This way everything is starting to sound much more clean, distinct and define which is the way I like. I'm not a fan of blending much, especially blending my sub to my midrange speaker. This way I can actually hear my sub much better. Perhaps I can LP my lows to 100hz instead of 80hz and let my sub handle those frequencies rather than my midrange.
 
#6 ·
Try these values tho I'm runnin speakers f/r its a full bodied sound but try the settings
L-sub/200hz 6db slpope max lvl mid-L/ 200hz 6dbslope mid-H/6.3hz6db slope high/well my high settin too low for a tweeter so jus run it around 3-6K cda-9855 type x 6.5 comp Sony explod 6x9 50x4 v12 and 400 watt vpower
 
#7 ·
Well right now I'm trying to find the sweet spot to set my tweeter and midbass driver since Boston Acoustic won't provide me the specs. I'll have to figure this out on my own unless somebody knows.

For the tweeter, do you guys suggest I highpass them higher than 3.2k in order to sound better?

Also for the midbass which is a 6.5" driver, should i bandpass it between 200hz-5k and I'll lowpass my sub at 80hz

Trying to figure out whats the optimal range for each driver to play their best.
 
#8 ·
U don't wanna cross ur sub at its optimum range cross it beyond it by half an octave or so maybe an octave then start ur slope that way ur sub will play the frequencies its sposed to u said u got a 10? Shoot cross that thing aroun 140hz my type x 10 crossed at 200 and has a heck of a midrange punch
 
#9 ·
You're suggesting I lowpass my sub at 200hz? That sounds a bit high. I thought anything above 80hz and you will be able to detect where your sub is coming from. I want the sound playing from my sub to be non-directional. I think setting the crossover point for my low at 200hz would defeat that purpose.
 
#10 ·
^^ Don't do that because someone tells you to.

No one, including this guy can know what will sound good to you, in your car, with your install, with your sub. Just because his Type X can do one thing, doesn't mean it should nor should you!

You'll have to go out and try lots of different settings, it will be time consuming and might eventually become frustrating when it all starts sounding muddled, but it's the only way to get it right, especially for your ears!
 
#12 ·
I'm not gonna suggest Xover points but slopes.
LP for the sub @ 24dB
HP for the midrange @ 12dB
LP for the midrange @ 12dB
HP for the tweeter @ 18dB
You might have to change the polarity of your subwoofer in order for it to blend better with your front stage...

Try it and tell us how it sounds.
Kelvin
 
#13 ·
Along with what Kelvin said above, experiment with dropping the LP on the mid to 2k-2.5khz & the HP to 80-100hz with underlapping & shallow 12db slopes.

Something else you might consider trying is to also use the crossover on your amps to add an even steeper slope at some cross points.
 
#14 ·
Wow this was the information I've actually been looking for since I have Boston Pro Series 6.5s and the CDA-9835. :thumbsup:
 
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