best way to drive comps

[boardroomjimmy]

I'm using a jl 300/4 to drive my pioneer 720's in the doors. Should I give each driver it's own channel or bridge the amp for 150x2? The jl has got built in x-overs and seperate gains which would aid in tuning when running all 4 channels, but would I be loosing volume? I would assume the 150 per side would be divided by the x-overs so the mid would recieve the bulk of the power, so by using the amp as a 4channel, the mids would recieve less overall power right? Would it make an audible difference?

[TheKomoman]

Originally Posted by boardroomjimmy

I'm using a jl 300/4 to drive my pioneer 720's in the doors. Should I give each driver it's own channel or bridge the amp for 150x2? The jl has got built in x-overs and seperate gains which would aid in tuning when running all 4 channels, but would I be loosing volume? I would assume the 150 per side would be divided by the x-overs so the mid would recieve the bulk of the power, so by using the amp as a 4channel, the mids would recieve less overall power right? Would it make an audible difference?

If all you're running is the 2 channels then bridge the output of the 300/4 into the crossovers that come with the 720's, you'll be getting 150x2. Component speakers can be fairly power hungry so you may as well use the power your amp has available.

Passive crossovers do more than just separate frequencies and unless you really know what you're doing it's likely the system will sound worse and that you'll damage the drivers by bypassing the crossover.

[boardroomjimmy]

The 720s have the ability on the x-overs to run bi-amped (seperate inputs) so I was planning on using the x-overs in that manner. Setting the hi pass on the amp for the tweeters and tweaking the output would allow me to further tune the pair. I do have an alpine pdx 2x150 that I could also power them with, I'm just not real impressed with the s.q. I didn't realize it was a class d until I'd bought it. To me the jl is warmer and may play louder, it definitely has a different sound. Would it matter if I placed the X-overs back with the amps instead of in the doors? That would allow for some expirementing. Thanks for the input.

[TheKomoman]

Originally Posted by boardroomjimmy

The 720s have the ability on the x-overs to run bi-amped (seperate inputs) so I was planning on using the x-overs in that manner. Setting the hi pass on the amp for the tweeters and tweaking the output would allow me to further tune the pair. I do have an alpine pdx 2x150 that I could also power them with, I'm just not real impressed with the s.q. I didn't realize it was a class d until I'd bought it. To me the jl is warmer and may play louder, it definitely has a different sound. Would it matter if I placed the X-overs back with the amps instead of in the doors? That would allow for some expirementing. Thanks for the input.

Placing the crossovers by the amps for just those sorts of adjustments is very common, and I think would be a good idea for your situation. You may get better sound quality using the bi-amp setup like that, but you may also find 75 into those midbasses a bit weak. It's enough to drive them, but may not be enough to drive them HARD, depending on how you listen. So since you have the option of placement like that, I'd say to do exactly what you proposed, listen to it both ways and let your ears decide.

I agree with you on the PDX sound. I replaced the 4.150 I was using in my vert with an Xtant x604 for exactly that reason.

[CraigE]

"Passive crossovers do more than just separate frequencies and unless you really know what you're doing it's likely the system will sound worse and that you'll damage the drivers by bypassing the crossover."


What else do passive x-overs do ?
In what way will it sound worse ?
I have an Audison LRx4.1k driving Dynaudio Esotec System 342 comps.
Ch A is driving the mids and tweets thru the passive x-over and ch B is driving the midbass actively with the lo pass set at 900 htz.
It sounds good, the only concern I have is that the mid bass is rated down to 40 htz and is getting lower (htz) signal than 40.
I talked with the Audison Tech and he said this is the correct way to configure the amp because it is not bridgable. I am looking into installing
another x-over to correct this and would welcome any suggestions.

[scott_fx]

depending on the x-over it could also have filters built into them such as notch filters or zobel filters. I wouldn't doubt that your dyn's have a zobel built into them.