Finally going active... Advice much needed!

[RunninRedline 10+ year member]

After about a month of internal debate, I've decided I'm going to give running active a shot! I thought my life would get easier after making this decision, and I have no idea why that thought crossed my mind. I figured if I were to go active, I should go all out. I'm doing an active 3-way in the front and 2-way in the rear (yes I know rear fill is looked down upon for the most part but I need it for the 5.1 so it might as well match).

My biggest dilemma is what speakers to run. I was thinking about running Dayton Audio RS series woofer and mid with a Dayton 3/4" tweet. Feel free to make changes. Only thing is where I'm going to mount the tweeter I don't have more than 2" so I need to stick to a small form factor tweeter.

Tweet: Dayton Audio ND16FA-6 5/8" Neodymium Dome Tweeter 275-025

Mid: Dayton Audio RS52AN-8 2" Dome Midrange 285-020

Woofer: Dayton Audio RS225-4 8" Reference Woofer 4 Ohm 295-376

OR go with HAT audio.

Tweeter: Legatia L1v2

Mid: Legatia L3v2

Woofer: Legatia L8

I was also potentially thinking about running the DDw6.5 instead place of either set-up's woofer. I wasn't sure of the SQ of that speaker.

Amplification:

Here's where I'm most lost... the L1v2 says 10 watts RMS and the L3 says 30... They are both 4 ohm rated. I was kind of hoping to use an Audison LRx6.9 to power the front 3 way since you can use it for active set-ups and a LRx4.5 on the rear set.

Subs:

I have 2 TC Sound Epic 8's in small sealed enclosures powered by a Audison LRx1.1 currently at 1 ohm.

HU:

It's proprietary so it must remain factory.

Click to read more...

 

[Shinju 10+ year member]

I am running 3 way + sub active system using HAT speakers.

Imagine 1" tweets

Imagine 6.5" Midbass

Legatia l3 Mid Range

DD1508 sub (Soon to be a Imagine i10sw)

I run all Alpine PDX amplifiers (Gen 1's) I will be changing them to the Gen 2 PDX f4 and v9 with the Alpine PXA-h800/c800 combo and a 9886 source unit.

 

[rebelfromva 10+ year member]

Which hu?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I thought about the same thing for months but check my sig. Thats my pick

 

[RunninRedline 10+ year member]

Sorry I forgot to mention my head unit is proprietary and can't be replaced.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Legatia is leaps and bounds better than Dayton RS, and also more expensive by a factor of x10 (once you buy the entire 3-way).

so it's not a fair comparison. if you can afford Legatia (which you probably can give your excellent amplifier choice), go with HAT.

don't rule out Hertz MLK-3 PA. I would put that against Legatia any day. The ML165 is an impressive woofer. I would choose that over any DD product.

 

[RunninRedline 10+ year member]

Legatia is leaps and bounds better than Dayton RS, and also more expensive by a factor of x10 (once you buy the entire 3-way).
so it's not a fair comparison. if you can afford Legatia (which you probably can give your excellent amplifier choice), go with HAT.

don't rule out Hertz MLK-3 PA. I would put that against Legatia any day. The ML165 is an impressive woofer. I would choose that over any DD product.

Yeah I can afford the Legatia. I thought about lookin into the Hertz line but it seems to be the general consensus that HAT is the best overall. My main goal is a nice SQ curve with an emphasis on low end umph.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Hertz Mille can give you exactly what you want. Legatia is great, so is Mille.

 

[Shinju 10+ year member]

IF you are going with intergration since you are running the stock deck, I would look strongly into the Alpine PXA-h800/c800 combo.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

IF you are going with intergration since you are running the stock deck, I would look strongly into the Alpine PXA-h800/c800 combo.

a big x2. having all of the best gear won't give you the ability to get the most out of it (especially if the locations aren't ideal) without some tuning capability.

 

[RunninRedline 10+ year member]

My car is a Lexus IS F and some of you may know they send their cars down thE road to Yamaha for audio tuning and not just on the speakers but engine note as well. The factory locations and angles are actually very good without being in kick panels. It's going to take some fabrication but in the end I think the final result will sound great without being obtrusive.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

cool. in most cases, door locations require T/A to result in a proper sound stage.

 

[Beerdrnkr 5,000+ posts]

I voted HAT but now that I think about it, I think you should go with Dayton to start off. I've ran both and Daytons are great drivers, especially for the price. If I were you, instead of the dome run the 4" (which is actually more of a 3" driver) if you can fit it. Just stick with the stock speakers in back or a decent coax. Are you running an external processor? Interested in seeing how you're going to run them.

I'm doing something similar but with Arc Audio Black series speakers but just a 2way up front w/ center channel and stock rears running off the stock HU and Rockford 3sixty.3.

If you're not too familiar with tuning active setups, xover, eq, t/a, etc., than I'd recommend picking up a JBL MS-8 and you can find them refurbished on ebay for pretty cheap.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

As someone who "went active" for the first time this year I do not recommend jumping right into a 6-way setup. Even if you spend most of your time on the front stage that 3-way setup is going to be a mind job. There's more to it than just using the same speakers as other people and copying their crossover points and slopes. I'm not saying you said such a thing, but I hope you have someone you can at least call on(not just this forum) to guide you through the installation and tuning.

 

[Theride 10+ year member]

i can tell you, active set up is one of the most time consuming thing i've done in a while. Make sure you are ready to constantly mess around with settings to get the sound right. Ive had an active set up for about 2 years now and im still not satisfied.