Ok i've searched all over the net to find specs for this component set and or ways to wire it. Right now i have each channel of my 4 channel amp connected to a tweeter or midrange speaker (2 tweet/2midrange). The component set is KFC-P402, its a kenwood model and is a bit old now, it says 4 Ohms on the site, but does that mean the tweeter and mids are 4 Ohms or are they 4 Ohms in parallel or only if they are connected to the proper crossover. i know crossovers fine tune the frequency to each component but do they have anything to do with the impedances. i havent played much with components. The amp im using is a sony XM440EX. it handles 4 Ohm and 2 Ohm loads. anyone have any feedback of wiring a component set directly to an amp with the crossovers. i dont have them and my amp has filtering.. thanks a bunch. by the way ive been spying on this site forever just havent registered till now.

 

You could use the amp's crossovers if it had a high-pass and a low-pass filter around the components' crossover point, but it doesn't. You could sent the full range to the mid, but you can't send the full range to the tweeter. Basically, you're stuck with having to track down the (or a) set of crossovers.
Tweeters usually have a little higher resistance by themselves, probably ~6 ohms. There's nothing harmful about running too high a resistance (no circuit at all basically equals infinite resistance), but it's your tweeters that won't take being wired that way, unless maybe you get inline bass blockers.

Dan

 

The amp has both high pass and low pass filters and ive tuned them and they sound pretty good, i can remove the bass the from them. My problem is i dont want to blow my amp or speakers by having incorrect impedance matching. So are you saying i can wire them fine to my amp and that the only concern is the filtering? because my amp has good high pass filters and i can get them to sound pretty good, i have no specs or anything for these. What should i ask kenwood when i call which specs do i need so i know where to set my filters.

 

Heres a picture of what i have setup to make more sense. Can someone give me an idea what are good frequencies to run around at, i have it set by ear to what sounded clear and without distortion. of course tweeters are only letting the very highs through not to damage them. Do u think the impedance will be ok? im not sure the impedance of the tweeters. the mids say 4 ohms on the back. thanks guys

 

Yes, the only concern is the filtering. You won't damage the amp this way, it will never see less impedance than it's rated for (maybe more, which is fine). It's the tweeters I'm worried about. The amp has filtering but it's only adjustable from 50-200hz, which is not sufficient for the tweeters. They should be high-passed at more like 3000hz in order not to overheat them. So unless there is a capacitor in the line to block bass (usually right next to the tweeter), you cannot run them directly off the amp.
If they do have a bass blocker, I would still use the amp's active crossover at 200hz, just to give the amp more headroom.
I see no reason to high-pass the mids, unless you're running a sub (which you should with 4" components).

Dan

 

If you have, I can sell you my Arc Audio MX-1 2-way active crossover.


You can use it on conjunction with the amp's crossover to give you the flexibility of bandpass filtering. This way, you can get the mids to play from midbass freq all the way to the top midrange without having it play subbass (which u don't want).


This crossover is flexible as you can crossover as low as 50hz all the way up to 6,000hz.

Usually goes for $150 or more but I can do $55 shipped since I already have a different crossover for my needs.

 

i think ill build my own crossovers, ill just read the specs of the speakers see what i can make with just a capacitor

LudemanDan, yes im running a 12" audiobahn with 1000watt kenwood which is putting about 430rms to it, so ya its pretty loud for bass, but thanks for the info ill see if i can make some filters before i blow the tweeters..

 

Unless you already know exactly what frequency you want to attenuate, you're just going to randomly guess what freq will sound best. It's all to the ears. You won't be able to find what crossover point will be best just buy looking at the speaker's spec.

If the point you chose does not sound right, you're going to have to redo the whole crossover network again, and that is going to rack up time and money.

A passive system will waste more power than an active system and the passives will heat up in the long run. Protecting them from outside debris will be pretty hard unless you already have cases for them.

If you must build a passive network, I HIGHLY recommend not using just a capacitor for the tweeter. Use a capacitor with an inductor. Capacitor alone will only give you a 6db slope. What you want is at least 12db for the tweeter to help prevent them from receiving more lower freq than they should. That is of course, you want to slope them at 6db and have the crossover point at 8,000hz. lol.

With the active, all you have to do is turn the **** to change the freq. But hey, if you already know the specs, go for it! Good luck with your setup.