Pulled the trigger on the 80PRS, now what?

Finally pulled the trigger on the DEH-80PRS, http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/CD-Receivers/DEH-80PRS the wife is gonna kill me but I broke the volume knob on my other radio so she can get over it.


ANYWAYS, so it has the active 3 way crossover, I have Hertz 6.5"s and Kicker KS13 tweeters.


IF I REWIRE my system in a 'low-mid-hi' configuration for the 3 way network, should I be worried that I'm driving too much power into my tweeters or do you think they deck would be mindful of how much its driving? I'm powering my components with a JL slash 300/4. Ugh, this also means I have to run a whole 'nother set of wires for the tweeters

 

I'm confused on exactly how you plan on wiring this. It seems as though you plan to bi-amp your front speakers. meaning instead of 1 amp channel into a crossover and then into the mid and tweeter, your tweet and mid each get their own channel and you bypass the crossover. That is bi-amping. But that requires an additional amp... unless you don't have back speakers.

If your using an amp then the deck power is irrelevant, as the gains can be adjusted on your amp. So this brings me to why I'm confused how you plan on wiring. Also you mentioned a low-mid-hi setup buy only mentioned having one set of components. Each speaker gets a level, so with a tweeter and mid/low you cant design a 3-way system.

Please clarify for me.

 

Each component will get its own power. My tweeters will be on one channel, my drivers will be on the middle channel, and my sub will be on the low channel.

Read up on the link I provided and you'll understand. My physical crossovers will all be gone, and the crossovers on the amps will be off. The deck does all the work.


My concern though is if I'm overpowering the little tweeters without a second driver there to split the power. Also, FWIW I'm not concerned about my rear speakers right now. I have a spare cheap amp that I may throw back there to 'fill the void', but I'm just splitting the signal inside the amp to them so I don't care, they were blown but came back to life.

 

OK so your bi-amping your front speakers then. (Technically its not bi-amp 'cause there is only 1 amp involved but that's because you chose not to amp the back speakers... still called that though) So anyways, I understand the 3-way active crossover perfectly. So you have 2 amps.... a JL 4ch which will be wired like this :
Ch1- front left tweeter
Ch2 - front right tweeter
Ch3 - front left mid (6.5)
Ch4 - front right mid (6.5)

Then you have a sub amp which will get the "low" signal and power your sub...

Is this correct?

If so, then again your deck power is irrelevant. Your JL amp has an independent gain for ch1+2 and CH 3+4 so you can turn down the tweeter. The gain is essentially the voltage output in a basic way. So if tuned correctly, then they will be fine. However, designing a system with a built in DSP and using active crossovers is very very advanced and cannot just simply be tuned. You are going to need an RTA (Real Time Analyzer) to monitor your sound curve and tune the crossovers correctly. This is very advanced sound design.

 

You're dead on. It is an advanced system. I've never done anything like this before, however, the deck has a built in 'Auto-tune and Time Alignment' setup with a seperate mic for pickup. The reviews on it are all 5 star, and it seems that no one has had any real troubles with it, I was just curious. I don't think of the gain knob as a limitation for power output, but as a tool for adjusting the input voltage vs output voltage to correct values. I've always been a proponent of power matching your amp to your speakers. FWIW I could just use my crappy spare Rampage amp to power the tweeters :shrug:


Also, I'm not sure where you got the idea that I'm using deck power anywhere, I'm not. Regardless, I may just put the active setup on the back burner since I"ll be rewiring everything anyways, and I'll be moving my amps at the same time. The deck can be setup without the 3 way. Also, I am running a seperate JL 250/1 for my sub. If I throw my cheap amp in there for the tweeters, then I'll be running three amps... LoL

 

Its funny you brought this idea up with active crossovers... I have spent hours today trying to decide what processor to get for my truck. Right now I am leaning towards that Alpine PXE-H800. I currently have the following setup:

Pioneer AVH-P8400BH Head Unit
JL Slash 350/4 v1 for speakers
JL Slash 500/1 v1 for subs
Focal Polyglass Series 6.5" components up front using Focal x-over
Focal Polyglass 6x9 coaxial in rear
JL Stealthbox in back loaded with two JL 10w1v2s
Each amp has a separate 4g power wire with 100amp ANL fuses.
Fully enclosed Dynamat throughout

My system sounds insane, but I want more now. Been doing systems for years and years and a basic 2 way setup like this is just getting boring. Although it blows away the majority of other systems here on TW as far as clarity is concerned, its still not enough for me. I want to add a full 30 band graphic eq and parametric eq, DSP, line level adjustments to boost RCA voltage, bi-amp my fronts to make a full 3-way system, time correction, road eq and with real time processing, etc. Also might add an Audio Control Epicenter for the heck of it. I can't decide between these setups:

Option 1: Alpine PXE-H800 with optional controller (actually required)

Option 2: Audio Control DQSX with DDC

Option 3: Audio Control EQS and 6XS

Anyways, in my search for options and trying to decide, I came across this video today... Later in the video it helps explain bi-amping and using active crossovers as you are doing. Might help shed some light on how far advanced this is to accomplish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtPg_v8yhFo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Also, to address your original concern, level matching your amp with stereo is not the way this should be done. With 5volt pre outs, your amp will probably have almost no gain at. I have 4v pre outs and my gains are almost at 0. Not because they are level matched, but because if I turn them up its just too loud. I can barely use 30% of my volume range on the radio right now because I distort and clip after going above about 50% volume on my radio. Anyways the point is, your going to be delivering such a hi amount of power to your speakers this way that your gain is going to have to be turned down. Your deck isn't going to just figure it out. This is why an RTA and a highly advanced installer is needed to properly tune a system like this. Its not going to be easy. Nothing like your standard system.

 

Nice setup! I feel the same way, I've had alot of stereos in my life, but nothing close to the SQ I have out of this current system. I'm still using my same ol Premier head unit from years ago, the SQ then was awesome, but by todays standards its lacking, particularly in the voltage output. I ran a Sony head unit for awhile, and surprisingly the sound quality was actually really good, but I think part of it had to due with the fact it had 4V preouts. My gains were so low. Now that I'm back on the low level outputs with my premier, I have my gains almost all the way up, and actually do on my subwoofer. The push just isn't there with it, but it still sounds decent.

Just got done watching your video. It doesn't sound too advanced for me. I think I'll manage this just fine, it was only power that I was concerned about. I think with the built in features of the head unit, I'll be just fine.

 

Durr... I just read up on my tweets again and they can happily handle 75 watts. Shouldn't be an issue.

 

Got the head unit installed tonight, so far I'm pretty damn happy with it... still have to adjust my gains on my amps a little higher, but the auto EQ and TA is pretty impressive. Put the mic on the drivers seat, close the door and wait 5 minutes while it plays pink noise and taps and adjusts the outputs. It sets more of a 'front stage' feeling instead of the surround feeling that I like, but I'm happy. Actually really surprised it provides a voltage meter on the main display too. Its wired up in 3 way network mode, the UI is quite a bit of a learning curve... network mode removes all the 'sub' controls that I'm used to and instead you adjust the L, M, and H settings individually. I'm even more impressed with how crisp the sound quality is playing through bluetooth mode. Time to load up an SD card full of music

 

I would recommend hanging the mic from the headliner with tape, just to where it is level with your ears, and in the middle of your head. Then to the auto ta/eq. FWIW, I did not like the auto ta/eq. I measure everything and adjusted from there. My truck sounds absolutely amazing!

 

I plan on it... its not quite 'even' yet... and I know its because of my placement... if I sit my head back farther then its perfect. I didn't really have too much time to mess with it tonight, I still have to work on moving my amps to the back wall probably this weekend or ... some day LOL. I'm liking the auto ta/eq for one big reason, its saving me alot of time... i can fine tune from where its at now. I think I need to move my crossovers around a little bit more, but I'm not gonna touch it until I crank up my gains tommorow. FWIW, this doesn't feel like a 5V output, did I miss something somewhere? My gains are at half right now and I still need to bring em up more.

 

Oh, and I'm really surprised... I'm not a bass hog or anything, but it really really set my sub levels super low.... I had to crank em up to 0 or +1 all the way from -7

 

This has a lot of great info. Start around page 45 or so.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...ioneers-knockout-punch-alpines-cda-117-a.html

 

thanks. I have been browsing that thread a little actually. I went through it again today at lunch and completely changed the crossover points and slopes. I've been messing with the TA manually....but I'm no good with it. Regardless...I didn't realize it had set the crossovers so high between my tweets and drivers. Dropped my tweets down to 5k with a sharp slope and my drivers to about 3.5k with a shallow slope. FYI I like that gap. I hate those frequencies. I'm much happier with these settings now. I still can't find the sweet spot on the sub tho. I may turn the 30hz cutoff back on at my amp

 

Finally got my TA aligned. Creepy!

 

Why did you have your sub at -7? I have my Hertz set at +7. I think I need to turn up the amp itself

 

The AutoEQ set it at -7. Not me. I brought everything closer to + or -1

 

Yup