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question on running a zx450/ti500.4's crossovers

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:41 am
by rscecil007
Ok, thinking of changing my system up again and not sure if I can do this, and I'm a bit confused trying to figure this out myself. Was wanting to go three way up front with my sub, but my headunit (Pioneer PRS-800) only has 3 way outputs (hi, mids, sub). the hi and sub x-overs i cannot defeat. The mids I can.

Currently have 2 way up front and my sub, all running active off my headunit and directly to my amp. My plan was to change it up something like this:

tweets - 8K and up
mids - 200k - 8k
midbass - 63k - 200k
sub 63k and down (just rough estimates, obviously tuning will dictate specifics.)

Currently running a JL HD 900/5 for the whole shebang. Was trying to figure out a way to run the system doing this:


tweets - front channels of zx450
mids rear channels of zx450
midbass - bridge the 4 channels of my JL HD
sub - sub channel off my JL.

The tweets and sub are easy, just run those rca's out of the headunit directly to the inputs on the amps, done.

I'd need y-splitters for the mid outputs to run the mids and midbass. I think I can bandpass the rear channels of the 450 to run the mids, but how can I get a second bandpass for the midbass running off my JL? My JL just has a highpass filter for those channels.

Sorry if this is confusing as hell. Was planning on buying a Pioneer PRS-99 so I could do all this directly off the headunit, but wife was recenly laid off so that's out of the question for now. Just trying to find an alternative cheaper solution for now.

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:19 am
by shawn k
Just one suggestion/possible solution. The LP out of the Pioneer goes as high as 250hz. You could potentially feed the JL via the LP out @ 200-250hz with one cable (2ch input mode). From here you now can HP the midbass and LP the sub @ your desired freq. You have just killed two birds with one stone :wink: Now you have the dedicated BP and HP out of the Pioneer to feed the ZX450. Voila!! No Y cables :mrgreen: As an added bonus, if you have the Rem. lvl knob, you still have control over the intensity/output of your sub.

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:59 am
by rscecil007
shawn k wrote:Just one suggestion/possible solution. The LP out of the Pioneer goes as high as 250hz. You could potentially feed the JL via the LP out @ 200-250hz with one cable (2ch input mode). From here you now can HP the midbass and LP the sub @ your desired freq. You have just killed two birds with one stone :wink: Now you have the dedicated BP and HP out of the Pioneer to feed the ZX450. Voila!! No Y cables :mrgreen: As an added bonus, if you have the Rem. lvl knob, you still have control over the intensity/output of your sub.
Ah! that might just work! I didn't think about that option. I know the 900/5 amp is a bit limited in x-over options (no x10 multiplier for instance for tweeters). The JL rep posted on diyma that they could only pack so many into that small amp chassis when they went 5 channels with it.

I can't see the online manual here at work, but I'll check it when I get home to see if I could run it in 3 ch mode like you are talking about.

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:27 am
by shawn k
You can completely run the 900.5 with only 2ch of input so no worries there. :wink: And yes, you can rund the 900.5 in 3ch mode. Bridged front, bridged rear and sub. Running the system in this manor does not requier a 10x mulitiplier xover like the slash series provide :thumbs:

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:46 am
by shawn k
Damn! OK..just realized we need a quick corrction. So you will still need one set of y splitters. Since you want to run the midbass bridged front and rear, you will need to split the input signal to feed both front and rear channels of the 900.5. So take the left signal Y split it and feed the front ch. with both ends of the y. Next take the Right signal Y split it and feed the rear ch with both ends of the y. This will provide you with a proper left and right signal while appropriately feeding all of the amps inputs for those channels. Finally, the input switch will need to be set to 4ch and not 2ch as I previously stated. Sorry for the confusion!! In 4ch mode the amp will sum all of the other inputs so an RCA lead is not required @ the "sub" input. Hope this helps!

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:35 am
by rscecil007
Awesome, you were right Shawn, checked the manual when I got home and it will def do this. :thumbsup:

This would at least giving me the option of going 3 way up front for now until I can get it set up the way I really want.

Now, if I can just find a good zx450... :hmm:

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:55 pm
by dvnt88
rscecil007 wrote:Awesome, you were right Shawn, checked the manual when I got home and it will def do this. :thumbsup:

This would at least giving me the option of going 3 way up front for now until I can get it set up the way I really want.

Now, if I can just find a good zx450... :hmm:

Here ya go;

http://cgi.ebay.com/PHOENIX-GOLD-ZX450- ... 27b1dc928c