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Active frequency crossover


BassBalls
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I noticed that at high volume some of my speakers are starting to distort. I have an ampeg classic 210 and an ampeg classic 15. The 15 is fine but the two 10s and the horn are crackling and distorting. I obviously dont want this to happen. I think that my signal is being send equally to all of my speakers, instead of the lows coming from the 15, the mids from the 10s and the highs from the horn.

My question is... would an active frequency crossover solve my problem? Does anyone have experience with them? Do they work? Which ones are particularly good?

Any help will be appreciated. :)

Cheers

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[quote name='BassBalls' post='77371' date='Oct 21 2007, 11:51 AM']My question is... would an active frequency crossover solve my problem? Does anyone have experience with them? Do they work? Which ones are particularly good?

Any help will be appreciated. :)

Cheers[/quote]
Yes and no. You're talking about bi-amping. First off you need a second amp channel, so if you're not already running a stereo power amp you'd need to add another power section somehow. Second, while bi-amping works very well with cabinets specifically designed to work over narrow bandwidths, the results with full range cabs is usually less than spectacular. With full range cabs a passive crossover works better, and a 6dB/1st order slope is adequate. You also don't need a second amp. Finding a passive crossover is the problem, you probably would have to build your own.

Edited by Bill Fitzmaurice
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No, basically Bill is suggesting you have a passive high-pass filter on the 2x10 (to remove the lower frequencies that are probably causing your distortion) and perhaps a matching low-pass passive for the 15".
As he notes, you're unlikely to find one ready-made, and will have to DIY....

The alternative (better) option he suggested first is that you go active - which requires another power amp (or complete head) *plus* an active crossover unit.

It might be easier replacing the 210 or the head - (whichever is most responsible for the crack-up) with something else...

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[quote name='BassBalls' post='77749' date='Oct 22 2007, 10:38 AM']Im not sure i totally understand what your saying. :wacko: So basically, i need to have a separate lead coming out of my speaker outputs on my head, put these both into an active frequency crossover "box," then have two outputs going into the separate cabs?[/quote]
That is what you would do with a passive crossover. An active crossover takes the output of a pre-amp, splits it to high and low outputs, each feeding a separate power amp to drive the cabs individually.

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