Can signal clarity be sacrificed or distorted in any way if it is run through too many crossovers? I have a high pass x-over on my head unit selectable at 50Hz, 80Hz, and 125Hz. I then have my JL 300/4 which has a variable x-over and lastly my Infinity Kappas which have a frequency fixed external x-over. I would think to use only the Infinity x-over and let it do its job, but when I do that I can pretty easily make the speaker distort at higher volume levels due to over-excursion. So I use the x-over on the JL amp at around 95Hz which solves the problem. I just wonder if I am losing any signal clarity due to filtering the signal twice. Anyone know?

Also, the Kappas sound great but I have a dilema. If I set my EQ to make the speakers sound crisp and full at low to medium listening levels, the tweeters become WAY to harsh when I turn the volume up high. Likewise, the EQ curve I can make to make them sound great at high volume makes the speakers sound dull and unprecise at low to medium volumes. I know there is no magic answer, but can anyone give me some advice that I maybe have not yet considered ?

My system is as follows:
Pioneer AVXP7000CD w/AVMP8000R
Lighting Audio Twisted Pair RCA interconnects (their highest)
JL Audio 300/4
Infinity Kappa 60.5cs (front) 63.3i (rear)
12 AWG speaker wire throughout (useless, I know)
*A bunch of other **** but it doesn't apply to my Q.

Can anyone help me out with my questions???
Thanks!


[Modified by ck279, 6:08 PM 5/26/2002]


[Modified by ck279, 6:17 AM 5/27/2002]

 

I would jsut turn off the high pass filter on your HU and let the amp cut the low end frequencies off before going to the xovers. It would just be redundant to have it cut the freq at the same place twice (i.e. having your deck HPF set to 80 hz and your amp set to 80 hz which would mean you are filtering out freqs below 80 hz in two places which serves no purpose). But to answer your question, it shouldn't affect clarity I would think.

Try to point the tweeters away from you. That will help the harsh tweets some.

 

I agree with the HU idea, no need to use it's processor since the amp probably has a better one.

Back in the day, I learned something about wiring two passive crossovers in series and obtaining a rolloff curve that was twice as steep as each crossover. For example, two 6db/octave low-pass crossovers at 80hz would make 12db/octave at 80hz when wired in series.