A speaker is comprised of a driver which moves the cone back and forth to create sound waves. The smaller the speaker the higher the frequencies it’s able to replicate and vice-versa. 

Without a crossover your system would waste a significant amount of energy trying to play frequencies it isn’t designed for, your subwoofer will be trying to play notes intended for your tweeters and vice-versa. This results in poor overall sound quality and can also be potentially hazardous to your system. 

There are three types of crossovers that can be installed: Passive, In-Line, or Active.

Passive Crossovers

Passive Crossovers are non adjustable, preset, unpowered units. They use capacitors and inductor coils (that store energy from the amplifier) to passively send frequencies to their desired drivers.

 For example, in component speakers, the crossover will passively send the high frequencies to the tweeters and the mid and lower frequencies to the mid bass drivers. 

A good example of a passive crossover is the crossovers that come with a component speaker system. Passive crossovers are wired in-line between the speakers in your system and the amplifier (or source). 

The passive crossovers that come with your component system come tuned and ready to be installed. One drawback of these crossovers is because they are located after the amplifier and can waste power filtering a signal that has already been amplified.

In-Line crossover

Another form of a passive crossover is the in-line crossover. An in-line crossover can come in a few different forms. They look similar to a AA battery with an RCA connection on either side for your amplifier’s RCA inputs. Other in-line crossovers will protect your speakers from unwanted frequencies when used after the amplifier by separating the frequencies before they reach the driver.

The biggest tradeoff with a passive crossover is ease of installation while sacrificing some flexibility in your system with the loss of sound customization.

Active Crossovers

Active Crossovers use the input side of the amplifier rather than the output like a passive crossover does. It is a common conception in the audio world that active crossovers are more accurate and flexible than passive crossovers. 

Active crossovers are adjustable and have variable filters such as low-pass, high-pass, and gain. They also have deeper crossover slopes. This allows for a more customized and desirable sound for the user. Another advantage to active crossovers is their ability to allow bi-amping – allowing for two amplifiers to power multiple drivers.

Unlike passive crossovers, an active crossover requires a direct power source. Active crossovers are installed between your receiver and amplifier. As a result of this, active crossovers filter your frequencies before they reach your amplifier – which means no wasted energy from filtering amplified signals. 

Active crossovers also usually feature a variety of adjustments, including gain controls, low pass and high pass filters while select active crossovers feature built-in equalizers to give you the ultimate control over your system.

Low-Pass Filter- This allows the low frequencies to pass or be allowed to play. This feature is used mainly for subwoofers. The low frequency spectrum will contain any frequency of about 100 Hz or lower.

High-Pass Filter- This allows the high frequencies to pass or be allowed to play. Mainly used for Mid-bass drivers and tweeters. The high pass will usually be for frequencies of 100 HZ and up.

Subsonic Filter- This filter prevents any frequencies that are not audible to be blocked. This filter is usually set around 20 Hz. It is essentially a safe guard to keep you from damaging your subwoofer.

Phase- This feature ensures that the sound from your subwoofer reaches you at the same time as your speakers. For example, if you are hearing an echo, your should set your phase to 0. This feature is adjustable from 0-180 degrees.

Bass EQ- Also known as a bass boost, this feature is designed to boost select frequencies, usually around 40 or 45 Hz.

Gain or Level- This function is used to match the voltage that is coming from your headunit in order to prevent clipping.

Rolloff or Slope- This concept is the most difficult to comprehend. This describes the rate in which the audio level will increase or decrease per octave as the frequency rises or falls. Most commonly, amplifiers will have a 12dB octave slope. Basically what this means is that once you have changed the frequency of the signal by a factor of 2 or 1 octave, the signal will change by 12 dB.

The only disadvantage to an active crossover is installation. Since an active crossover has to have a power, ground and turn-on connection it has the potential to complicate your install more than a passive crossover. If you’re interested in making your system really sing, an active crossover is a must-add piece.

The post What are Crossovers? appeared first on Sonic Electronix Learning Center and Blog.

1. Equalizers

An equalizer, like the NVX XEQ7, is a device that allows you to fine tune your car’s sound to your liking. These adjustments that an equalizer allows you to make are for specific ranges of sound known as ‘frequency bands’. An equalizer will smooth out the frequency response of your system and help you eliminate unwanted distortion. If you want to have precise control over your sound, you’re going to need to add an equalizer. Adding an equalizer to your sound system will allow you to tune your sound to match your preferences, as well as to the acoustics of your specific car. Read more about equalizers here.

2. Bass Restoration Processors + Expanders

Bass restoration processors, or bass expanders, improve the low frequency reproduction in a car audio system with at least one subwoofer. Bass expander products, such as the famous AudioControl Epicenter, will help your car’s subwoofers produce more accurate bass. These devices restore the earth-shaking power and heart-pounding bass your subwoofers crave. If you are looking for a system that hits lower and harder, a bass restoration processor is the sound processor for you.

3. Crossovers

Electronic crossovers, such as the AudioControl 2XS divide your car’s music into high, low and midrange frequency ranges. These crossovers are perfect for those who want to run an active sound quality system. With an electronic crossover, you can eliminate the passive crossovers and have more control over the frequencies that go to each of the speakers in your system. Some of these crossovers are combinations of both stereo crossovers and stereo equalizers or line drivers.

4. Line Drivers

Line drivers will enhance your audio signal output coming from any factory or aftermarket head unit receiver. They help increase the volume output without over-driving your source or amplifier. The use of a line driver, such as the AudioControl OverDrive, in your car audio system will allow your amplifier’s gain to be set lower, and reducing the system’s low-level noise.

5. Factory Radio Sound Processors

For those who want to keep their factory radio, yet would also like to achieve the best sound possible in their vehicle, factory radio sound processors are just the thing for you. These sound processors, like JBL’s MS-8 Digital Sound Processor, are professional sound processors which improve the acoustics of your factory audio system. With factory radio sound processors, your factory system will sound better than you ever thought possible. In addition, most of these sound processors also have built-in equalizers, line drivers, and crossovers to  improve every measure of audio performance including frequency response, bass performance, dynamics, clarity, detail and stereo imaging.

Now that you know what each type of digital sound processor’s function and benefits are, you can better make a decision of which one is best for your sound system. If, however, you still need help choosing which sound processor will work for you, you can always call our knowledgeable experts at 1-877-289-7664!

The post What Type of Digital Sound Processor (DSP) Do I Need? appeared first on Sonic Electronix Learning Center and Blog.

Sound processors reshape the output of your factory stereo’s preset equalization curves to ensure you get optimal performance out of your aftermarket amplifiers and speakers. A factory sound processor will undermine bass production because it is designed to curb bass production in order to prevent the factory speakers from blowing. In addition, a sound processor will give you the full control you need to produce a high quality sound in the noisy vehicle environment. You will love the hands-on control that an equalizer gives you over your subwoofer output.  You will find most equalizers have a separate subwoofer preamp output with a low-pass filter. Some EQs will even activate the high-pass filters on the front and rear channels while you use the subwoofer preamp output.

A parametric sound equalizer helps you tune your system to the perfect balance. These audio equalizers will also help eliminate infrasonic distortions for a crisper and clearer audio output. The signal relayed from the sound processor to the amp will not have the limitations imposed by factory stereo processors. The result is a more efficient amplifier and a better sound. It is easy to install your aftermarket sound processor, just connect it to the head unit, amps, and subs using speaker wires.

Whether it’s parametric equalizers or Digital Sound Processors, you will enjoy multiple equalization bands with numerous presets and programmable EQ curves. The equalization bands enable you to adjust the sound frequency range, and the presets and programmable curves save your settings so that you will enjoy great sound all the time. You can specify curves for rock, rap, and any other style of music. This can make a world of difference as each style of music uses different tones and rhythms.

Make the upgrade and add an EQ to your system. Doing so will make your tunes sound as though you were live in the studio with the artist.

The post Why Add a Car Equalizer? appeared first on Sonic Electronix Learning Center and Blog.