# Am I Crazy - Active Speaker System



## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

I've been trying to get up the guts (and money!) to build a home theater system. I want to start with just the front channels now and worry about the surrounds and subwoofer later. I'd like to go active and have been bouncing some ideas around in my head. This is what I've come up with so far.

Dayton RS180-4 7" Reference Woofer 4 Ohm X 6 259.14
SEAS Prestige 27TDFC Textile Dome Tweeter X 3 121.20
Dayton RS52AN-8 2" Dome Midrange X 3 122.34
Speaker Cabinet MD38T Black Ash X 3 602.85

Emotiva XPA-3 Three Channel Amplifier X 1 599.00
Emotiva UMC-1 Audio-Video Processor X 1 699.00
Marantz ZS5300 6 Channel Amp X 1 641.00
Behringer CX3400 Super-X Pro Crossover 3-Way/4-Way X 2 259.98
Or
Behringer DCX2496 Ultradrive Pro Digital Crossover X 2 599.98

Most of the interconnects will have to be XLR to RCA and vice versa except between the CX3400 or DCX2496 and the XPA-3 where I'll be able to use XLR to XLR. How much of a problem can this be especially with short cable runs?

Which crossover would you recommend, the CX3400 or the DCX2496?

I'm thinking off-center midrange and tweeter locations with the tweeters at the top, midrange in the middle and the two woofers mounted below as close together as I can cram them all together.

Would separate chambers be required for the midrange and tweeter?

With a sealed cabinet I figure I'll get a Qb of approximately .8 and Fb of approximately 58Hz. With room gain I think I'll be able to live with this until such time as I can afford a subwoofer.

I'm thinking of an IB subwoofer and was wondering if one built into my basement could play as high as 58 Hz?

How should I damp and stuff the enclosures?

Would stuffing the cabinet lower the Qb?

I was thinking crossover points of approximately 800 and 5000Hz 24dB/octave (or 48dB/octave with the DCX2496).

How hard would it be to equalize this beast?

Price $3304.51 with CX3400 plus S&H and interconnects.

Price $3644.48 with DCX2496 plus S&H and interconnects.

As is probably painfully obvious I'm a newbie so don't hurt me too much.

I'm really interested in the advantages of active crossovers and hope you take my post seriously. I agree the price seems ridiculous but it includes the processor, crossovers, amps and 3 speakers.


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

What size is your HT room going to be? Sounds like overkill, but if you have a huge room... Maybe not.


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## kouack (Jan 17, 2007)

Generic said:


> What size is your HT room going to be? Sounds like overkill, but if you have a huge room... Maybe not.


There is no such thing as overkill


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

Well, I think overkill is possible.

Why do you want or need active crossovers? If that much cash is available to spend, why not just get pro speakers, or try to buy the speakers that go in a full size theater? Or a klipsch THX setup http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/thx-ultra2-overview/

I don't setup PA systems, but I thought the whole point of doing pre-amped active crossovers is to integrate the equipment in different venues and to not burn up passive crossover components with too many watts.

If the room isn't too big, regular HT equipment will work.


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## dougc (Dec 19, 2009)

Of course DIY is more rewarding...


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

I agree, DIY is more rewarding, but without a plan, it doesn't work right. 

I'm not sure what happened to the calculator I had before, but I found this real quick.

http://www.sonidoprofesional.com/doctor/calculadores_en.htm

First thing is to find out how efficient the speakers need to be and or how much power is needed for the HT room. If a top of the line AVR will do, then no point in spending money on all that other stuff.

Spending money isn't the reward, the end result is, and spending too much doesn't really help.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Active is certainly the better way to go here.

Your midrange is designed for 500hz to 5khz operation and you'll want to use L-R 4 filters

However I'd suggest the DCX for it's eq ability. 

That midrange is the one I'll be using in my reference active 3-way system. The most cost prohibitive component of active systems is the amping.


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## 1Michael (Nov 2, 2006)

The reason we go active is because it provides the highest quality sound system. Period. The reason most people don't go active is the cost.


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

"Well, I think overkill is possible.

Why do you want or need active crossovers? If that much cash is available to spend, why not just get pro speakers, or try to buy the speakers that go in a full size theater? Or a klipsch THX setup.

I don't setup PA systems, but I thought the whole point of doing pre-amped active crossovers is to integrate the equipment in different venues and to not burn up passive crossover components with too many watts.

If the room isn't too big, regular HT equipment will work."

Wow, $12,999.91 is way out of my range and better be spectacular for that price.

"Active is certainly the better way to go here.

Your midrange is designed for 500hz to 5khz operation and you'll want to use L-R 4 filters

However I'd suggest the DCX for it's eq ability.

That midrange is the one I'll be using in my reference active 3-way system. The most cost prohibitive component of active systems is the amping."

Thank you for your constructive remark. I've decided the DCX2496 is definitely the way to go. What do you think about the rest of the components I've listed. $3644.48 with the DCX2496 plus S&H and interconnects is a lot of money but as I said before the price also includes the processor, crossovers, amps and 3 speakers. I'm worried about the need to adapt balanced to unbalanced and vice versa and was wondering if adapter cables would cause any problems. The runs will be short as all the components will be close together. Also I don't know if the RS52 or 27TDFC are closed back and don't require separate chambers or if I'll have to construct chambers around them. Any advice on damping and stuffing the cabinet and it's effect on Qb would also be appreciated. I believe active crossovers are the future of audio. Allowing the amps complete control of the drivers is one of the major advantages to this approach. I want to assemble a system that sounds good now and well into the future and will be expandable and flexible as time goes on.


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

I realize I'll have to buy measuring equipment to set this up. I have several PC's available and was wondering what the most cost effective hardware and software is available. Is there any freeware that will do the trick? I've also wondered if there is any standard in effect for the polarity markings on the drivers or would one have to measure the response for phase anomalies. Of course this might be a moot point as the electronics may invert the phase at some point in the chain.


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## 1Michael (Nov 2, 2006)

I am going to recommend you go with a proven design.
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?t=211558&AID=1482282&PID=2777698


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

Wow, you've got some nice equipment in these plans. I'm going the 'budget' active route with the following, it could save you money and minimize connection issues, perhaps...

Keep in mind that I'm trying 2 ch LR for the time being, adding the C later when I have a different living space.

I'm using my preamp LRC rca outs to samson s-converts (two for the three channels, I hope to use one unit both for the sub and center, the other for L, R). From the s-convert (converts rca to xlr) I'm going into my samson S 3-way (takes the place of your dcx) which requires xlr input and outputs xlr to my amps. I'm using a several samson pro-amps (used, powerful, relatively cheap) that are 1/4" balanced inputs (typical balanced xlr to 1/4" connections) for the lows and (for now) combined mid/highs in the way of bookshelves (takes the place of your mid & high drivers).

I bought all amps used off ebay (all work), although they are probably 7/10 in cosmetics. I think about $80/amp average, with five total amps, for $400 in amps. Available power to each ch is as follows: 250-275w/low ch x3, 120-250w/mid ch x3, 75w/high ch x3

If you could find a couple multi ch pro-amps that would be ideal for xlr connections, I don't know if any are available :dontknow:

Now, just gotta get my 12" bass bins completed :whistling:


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

Just searched and found:

4 ch ART

8 ch Yamaha 

4 ch Yamaha 

4 ch QSC :gulp:


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Chromedome2000 said:


> I realize I'll have to buy measuring equipment to set this up. I have several PC's available and was wondering what the most cost effective hardware and software is available. Is there any freeware that will do the trick? I've also wondered if there is any standard in effect for the polarity markings on the drivers or would one have to measure the response for phase anomalies. Of course this might be a moot point as the electronics may invert the phase at some point in the chain.


The REW forum has a lot of good resources. 

Don't over think the polarity stuff. You have ears and can figure out which way sounds better. :T

When all else fails use your ears.:T 

Have you figured out your other 2 drivers yet.

For the bottom I suggest the Exodus Anarchy. For the top you will want to look for very good off-axis response. The HiFi RTI has this characteristic. I got a lot of them in a bulk purchase so if you're interested send me a PM. It takes about 3 of them to find a good one so my friends and I bought them in bulk. The retail cost is about twice as much as I got them for.


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

lsiberian said:


> The REW forum has a lot of good resources.
> 
> Don't over think the polarity stuff. You have ears and can figure out which way sounds better. :T
> 
> ...


Here's my original post, what do you think?

I've been trying to get up the guts (and money!) to build a home theater system. I want to start with just the front channels now and worry about the surrounds and subwoofer later. I'd like to go active and have been bouncing some ideas around in my head. This is what I've come up with so far.

Dayton RS180-4 7" Reference Woofer 4 Ohm X 6 259.14
SEAS Prestige 27TDFC Textile Dome Tweeter X 3 121.20
Dayton RS52AN-8 2" Dome Midrange X 3 122.34
Speaker Cabinet MD38T Black Ash X 3 602.85

Emotiva XPA-3 Three Channel Amplifier X 1 599.00
Emotiva UMC-1 Audio-Video Processor X 1 699.00
Marantz ZS5300 6 Channel Amp X 1 641.00
Behringer CX3400 Super-X Pro Crossover 3-Way/4-Way X 2 259.98
Or
Behringer DCX2496 Ultradrive Pro Digital Crossover X 2 599.98

Most of the interconnects will have to be XLR to RCA and vice versa except between the CX3400 or DCX2496 and the XPA-3 where I'll be able to use XLR to XLR. How much of a problem can this be especially with short cable runs?

Which crossover would you recommend, the CX3400 or the DCX2496?

I'm thinking off-center midrange and tweeter locations with the tweeters at the top, midrange in the middle and the two woofers mounted below as close together as I can cram them all together.

Would separate chambers be required for the midrange and tweeter?

With a sealed cabinet I figure I'll get a Qb of approximately .8 and Fb of approximately 58Hz. With room gain I think I'll be able to live with this until such time as I can afford a subwoofer.

I'm thinking of an IB subwoofer and was wondering if one built into my basement could play as high as 58 Hz?

How should I damp and stuff the enclosures?

Would stuffing the cabinet lower the Qb?

I was thinking crossover points of approximately 800 and 5000Hz 24dB/octave (or 48dB/octave with the DCX2496).

How hard would it be to equalize this beast?

Price $3304.51 with CX3400 plus S&H and interconnects.

Price $3644.48 with DCX2496 plus S&H and interconnects.

As is probably painfully obvious I'm a newbie so don't hurt me too much.

I'm really interested in the advantages of active crossovers and hope you take my post seriously. I agree the price seems ridiculous but it includes the processor, crossovers, amps and 3 speakers.


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## paulspencer (May 11, 2007)

Active is ideal for experimenting and developing your own design you can keep tweaking. I'm soon starting an active speaker with DCX and I'm also planning to get the Emotiva processor. My main reason for doing a DIY active speaker is that I'm aiming for a unique and boutique and exotic design. 

In general I don't think your plan is overkill, but I will point out that an active speaker doesn't require as much power so does not always need to involve spending more on amps - at least not as much as you think. Have a look at Elliot Sound Products articles on biamping. The tweeter may only need 15% of the power or less for example. Recently running my dome tweeters active powered by Behringer A500 with 230w it was clear that only a small fraction of it's power is used to reach levels where the tweeter finds it's limits. Any amp is powerful enough. Keep this in mind. 

Also, perhaps for a HT you might consider a different approach. I've never felt the conventional low efficiency speakers were a good choice for HT. More efficient speakers are much more fun. I'll be using drivers with 97 and 108db efficiency. The problem has always been how to get the treble right, as this has usually meant horns which damage SQ and add coloration. I believe Geddes has found the answer and uses waveguides with foam inside. I won't go into the reasons for it, but blind tests show that the SQ is as good as dome tweeters, yet the output is far greater. He sells kits:

http://www.gedlee.com/

Those who have heard them write glowing reviews.

I haven't yet heard them, but I suspect they are a far better choice than any conventional design. 

Do you want conventional HT or do you really want to get some serious dynamics?

Also, do you want to tweak your way to a design and enjoy the journey like me, or do you just want to get to the best sound for your money. If the latter then following a design or one of the Geddes kits is probably the way to go.


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## Shaun Onverwacht (Apr 7, 2008)

How about Ground Sound's products? See groundsound's web site for the Coolback active XO. Go to "Shop" to see prices. This is a much tidier solution, and includes the apps for designing the XO. I have a pair of the DCN23 electronic crossovers... dunno when I'll get down to using them, though...


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

paulspencer said:


> Active is ideal for experimenting and developing your own design you can keep tweaking. I'm soon starting an active speaker with DCX and I'm also planning to get the Emotiva processor. My main reason for doing a DIY active speaker is that I'm aiming for a unique and boutique and exotic design.
> 
> In general I don't think your plan is overkill, but I will point out that an active speaker doesn't require as much power so does not always need to involve spending more on amps - at least not as much as you think. Have a look at Elliot Sound Products articles on biamping. The tweeter may only need 15% of the power or less for example. Recently running my dome tweeters active powered by Behringer A500 with 230w it was clear that only a small fraction of it's power is used to reach levels where the tweeter finds it's limits. Any amp is powerful enough. Keep this in mind.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the reply. I realize the mids and tweets won't need as much power as the bass drivers which is why I included Marantz ZS5300 6 Channel Amp. I like the idea of having the 6 amps in one chassis and it's only rated at 60W per channel at 6 Ohms. Not exactly a powerhouse but I believe sufficient for the mids and more than enough for the tweets. More research into low cost amps may be a good idea. I'd like some serious dynamics and a subwoofer is definitely part of the future of this project. I've downloaded most of the info from Geddes' site and will review it, his kits however are quite expensive.


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

Shaun Onverwacht said:


> How about Ground Sound's products? See groundsound's web site for the Coolback active XO. Go to "Shop" to see prices. This is a much tidier solution, and includes the apps for designing the XO. I have a pair of the DCN23 electronic crossovers... dunno when I'll get down to using them, though...



Thanks for the link, I'll check out some of their equipment. Had never heard of them.


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## Shaun Onverwacht (Apr 7, 2008)

Chromedome2000 said:


> Thanks for the link, I'll check out some of their equipment. Had never heard of them.


Their lesser software utility can be downloaded for free. It can import FR files, so one can get a feel for its capabilities.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Emotiva amps don't have gain controls. Keep this under advisement. You will need to attenuate the DCX2496 to use it.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Chromedome2000 said:


> Here's my original post, what do you think?
> 
> Dayton RS180-4 7" Reference Woofer 4 Ohm X 6 259.14
> SEAS Prestige 27TDFC Textile Dome Tweeter X 3 121.20
> ...


800hz is too high for the RS180 it has some breakup modes as early as 1khz and makes no sense when the RS52 can extend to 500hz. We want the midrange to be as wide as possible. 

Also dual 4 ohm drivers is a no-no. 
Seas makes good tweeters.
You'll probably want dual mid ranges if you can swing it. 

As you can see it gets very expensive very fast. 

Why not build your own cabinets? If you just want a great set of speakers the Infinity Primus series have excellent measured response and are superior to many speakers. Price tells nothing. As reading any Toole article will teach you. 

I don't see the point if you're not even gonna get to saw anything.


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## paulspencer (May 11, 2007)

The Geddes kits aren't cheap, but neither are the parts they include. It has a custom made fibreglass oblate spheroid waveguide - there is nothing else equivalent on the market and making one isn't a trivial job. It uses pricey B&C drivers - think Scan Speak on steroids. You also save a lot on electroncs with the simplicity of 2 way passive speakers that don't need a lot of power. 

An amp to consider is Behringer A500 - great value. One factor to consider, especially with an active setup is how to avoid turn on thumps. Behringer equipment doesn't tend to handle this very well - many of their components are known to create turn on thumps and their power amps don't use soft start relays to avoid the problem. You don't want to fry a tweeter with a turn on transient, and you don't want to have a tedious manual routine. A lot of guys using FBD just leave it on all the time but that's a poor solution. Firstly, what if there is a power failure? You'll have no control over that. BANG! Or what if someone else uses the system and doesn't know the routine? KABOOM! And there is also the waste of energy and reducing the lifespan of components left on dramatically.


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## peterselby7 (Nov 29, 2008)

Chromedome2000 said:


> I've been trying to get up the guts (and money!) to build a home theater system. I want to start with just the front channels now and worry about the surrounds and subwoofer later. I'd like to go active and have been bouncing some ideas around in my head. This is what I've come up with so far.
> 
> Dayton RS180-4 7" Reference Woofer 4 Ohm X 6 259.14
> SEAS Prestige 27TDFC Textile Dome Tweeter X 3 121.20
> ...



That's a long list. A few things I noticed. You can shop for the amps at www.audiogon.com. Get them used and save about half their new cost. 

Something you may want to consider is going with a more conventional two way plus subwoofer. I only mention this because if you consider the subwoofer you really have a four way design here. If you would use a higher quality midrange driver like an usher 8945a or p you would not need the 2" dome tweeter. You could just crossover to the tweeter around 3k. 

This would allow the use of higher quality drivers and keep your design a bit simpler. Not only that you would have amp channels left over for the subwoofers or other channels in the system for down the road. Being your first design it might be a bit easier to finish too.

I'm not picking on your driver choices. They seem good. And the crossover points look like a good place to start also. You may just benefit from going to higher quality drivers and cabinets and making the design a bit simpler. (two way instead of 3 way MTM) 

Also, why bother with the center channel at all right now. Just focus on the mains. Do the center when you build the surrounds. Sink that extra budget into the mains. Just a thought!

I've found that 24db slopes sound better to me than 48db but you can experiment with that also later on. I would really focus on cabinet quality and driver quality. 

You will see very good results with the crossover and amps/ pre you have chosen. All good stuff!


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## Xenith (Dec 8, 2007)

Just a short post with some thoughts of mine.

Crossover: Behringer CX is not really designed for 3 way-speakers with dome-midrange an dome tweeter.
For this design (if you want to do it right) you may need to delay Mid and Teweeter in respect to your conventional cone-bass-diver. CX-.... does not offer negative Delay for the LOW Channel.

I would recommend to use:
DCX (litle bit counterintuitive PC-Software for my taste.)
ALTO Maxidrive PC (if you do not need Front-Panel Controls an can live with approximately -90dBFS of hum caused by the internal powersupply.)
Xilica (Nice Audio-Performance)
If your budget can afford.

I experimented a bit with filter slopes on my system. For the bass crossover at 125 Hz i preferred a 24db/oct Filter which reduced intermodulation in comparision to it's 12dB counterpart. In the sensitive midrange at 1450Hz i found the 12dB/oct to be more pleasant than the 24dB/oct. 48dB/oct seemed to sound a little bit strange. Be aware of the huge phase-shift such steep filters do introduce.
I personally try to use as shallow filters as possible but as steep filters as needed (e.g. because of limited x-max or IM-issues) but don't take that as a rule.

For your measurements: I found a nice short summary about PC-aided measurements. Would have been nice if i had found it earlier. - So i had to lern things the harder way. 
WEB audioxpress.com/magsdirx/ax/addenda/media/dappolito2959.pdf
WEB audioxpress.com/magsdirx/ax/addenda/media/dappolito2960.pdf

Another important thing when tweaking your speakers: A/B comparisions with a good reference-loudspeaker. If it sounds strange ther is something wrong.

Make up your mind how to volume-control your 6 channels of amplification at once for best D/A-converter sound. In my project the volume control is done digital but this limits the range of possible listening-levels to approximately 50dBA-85dBA (RMS) with acceptable resolution.

Good luck 

PS: I am here seldom, so do not expect answers within days. This post was more meant to point ount some probles that may arise from your choosen configuration. Also my english is not the best because of my german nationality - sorry for that ;-)


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

Sorry for the late reply, have been out of town for a while (need to get a laptop to stay in touch). The Emotiva UMC-1 has a volume control. Can't this be used to control the volume or will I run into problems with the gain differences between the amps?

"800hz is too high for the RS180 it has some breakup modes as early as 1khz and makes no sense when the RS52 can extend to 500hz. We want the midrange to be as wide as possible.

Also dual 4 ohm drivers is a no-no.
Seas makes good tweeters.
You'll probably want dual mid ranges if you can swing it."

With the DCX2496 I'll be able to experiment with crossover frequencies and agree that 500Hz would be better if the RS52 can handle it. Why is wiring 4 ohm speakers in series a no-no? The XPA-3 is rated at 200 watts per channel into 8 ohm, isn't this sufficient to drive the dual RS180's in series? What would be the advantages of running dual mid ranges (besides better power handling). This really is more of thought experiment right now as I haven't committed to any real design yet.

If anyone could point me to a completed active design (that would also save me some money) please provide it to me. I'm beginning to think this might be too expensive a project to begin with.


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

I've searched high and low for an active crossover with unbalanced connections and haven't been able to find one. If anyone can provide a link to one I'd be very grateful.


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## peterselby7 (Nov 29, 2008)

By what I can tell the emotiva pre pro should do the volume control just fine. I'm guessing you would use the 7.1 inputs to drive an active multi-way speaker? 

I have a B&K ref 30 and a McCormack MAP-1 that I use in a similar way. Works just fine. You use the multi-channel inputs to drive the different "ways" of each speaker. One of my rigs is a stereo 3 way which means I use 6 of the input and output channels of my pre pro's that I mentioned. Yours Should work set up in this way. Just remember you will need separate amp channels too.

Wiring 4 ohm speakers in series is NOT a no-no. It's when you wire 4ohm speakers in parallel that it becomes a possible problem for many amplifiers. (but even then some amps can handle a two ohm load) Two 4 ohm speakers in parallel will produce a 2 ohm load for the amp driving it. Not all amps can push a two ohm load.

Two 4 ohms in series will produce an 8 ohm load so that is no problem. You will gain roughly 3 db sensitivity by using two drivers but lose roughly 3 db sensitivity because of the increase from 4ohm load to an 8 ohm load.

In short two drivers should be almost exactly as sensitive as one driver although a bit easier to drive because of the 8ohm load. (if two 4ohm drivers are wired in series)

You should be able to use the behringer crossover with any 3 way speaker setup. The crossover points shouldn't be a problem. The crossover points are more an issue with the speaker drivers you choose to work with. 

One of the posters above mentioned a ragged response around 1000Hz and so you should cross that driver a bit lower. He said that driver had an Fs of around 500Hz. He would be right in this scenario. You could choose a point of say 600Hz or 650Hz and probably get decent results. 

Although, If I were building this speaker I would like to see a bit better overlap than that. I think you should try to pick drivers that play 'clean' in the entire midrange. Something with a flat, low distortion response from 100 Hz all the way up to 3500Hz. This will keep you away from using substandard drivers in the sensitive hearing range of 200Hz to 3000Hz. It will also keep your crossover points out of that region. And your speakers will sound a lot better because of it.

You mentioned some designs that work well with proven drivers. Here's a few links:

Here's a page about the first DIY speakers I built several years ago. 

And here is a page of speaker drivers that work very well with one another based on measurements and some of my early prototype building. 

Another good reference is Zaph audio. You have to really take the time to read these resources to understand why drivers will work well with one another. But if you take your time -the understanding will come.

Hope it helps you!
Pete


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## peterselby7 (Nov 29, 2008)

Chromedome2000 said:


> I've searched high and low for an active crossover with unbalanced connections and haven't been able to find one. If anyone can provide a link to one I'd be very grateful.


Just use balanced to unbalanced adapters on a Behringer unit. Can get them for about 5 bucks a piece at radio shack. Just an idea.


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## Chromedome2000 (Jul 16, 2006)

I've done some research into the critical hearing range of humans. Most sources say 500 to 5KHz which is why I've included the RS52 dome midrange to handle those frequencies. If someone has a better choice of drivers I'm interested in hearing from you. I don't have any woodworking skills or tools so that's why I chose the Madisound MD38T cabinet in the design. It has the largest internal volume of any pre-built cabinet I can find online. If anyone can provide links to someone who can make custom cabinets I'd be interested in knowing who they are. Anyway I can lower the cost of this design would also be appreciated.


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## peterselby7 (Nov 29, 2008)

Chromedome2000 said:


> I've done some research into the critical hearing range of humans. Most sources say 500 to 5KHz which is why I've included the RS52 dome midrange to handle those frequencies. If someone has a better choice of drivers I'm interested in hearing from you. I don't have any woodworking skills or tools so that's why I chose the Madisound MD38T cabinet in the design. It has the largest internal volume of any pre-built cabinet I can find online. If anyone can provide links to someone who can make custom cabinets I'd be interested in knowing who they are. Anyway I can lower the cost of this design would also be appreciated.


Well, yes there are varying theories about hearing sensitivity many of which say between 1000 and 3000 or 1000 and 4000. 

My point was that by simplifying the design to a 2-way plus subwoofer you could save some money by having one driver play from the 100Hz up to the tweeter. Instead of having two drivers in that region. 

I can see your thought process with two different mids and I'm sure it will work but if you wanted to save a bit of money -that would be a good place to do it. 

My point was; it may be better to increase the quality of the one mid range driver and have it handle that entire range.

That's all I was trying to say. But your idea is valid too -give it a shot!


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