Active vs Passive

Turfgod · 10-10-2010, 02:32 PM

In a couple of the audio posts going active is mentioned to get better sound then a passive system. I am looking for an explaination between what active and passive is, and if there is really that big of a difference. I am looking for high quality sound at lower volumes.

Thanks
Troy

bigaudiofanat · 10-10-2010, 02:55 PM

Unless you are going to use a single din head unit at this time I know of no active capable double din head units. On top of this if you go active your going to want to do custom panels for your tweeters for better imaging. Most systems sound better with a on axis tweeter rather than off. But with active it is controllable.

Active is when you run a tweeter on one channel of your amp and one woofer on one channel giving you a total of 4 channels to control. There is no crossover between the speakers and the amp. That is all done by your head unit where you set your crossover freq's hrx and so on. It is very time consuming to tune and can take up to 2 or three days sometimes. A passive means your send a full signal from your head unit to your amp where it is amplified and sent to a crossover where it is controlled and where the freq is controlled for you.

butdamnbrian · 10-10-2010, 06:13 PM

check out these threads from diyma:

Active vs Passive - What's the difference - DIYMA.com

What does running active or passive mean? - DIYMA.com

Unclemeaty · 10-11-2010, 08:46 AM

Basically what Big said, Active would mean a seperate channel between your woofers and your tweeters without using the inline crossovers. The down side is you need some way to high-pass crossover during pre-amp from 2000-3000hz for your tweets; so do your reasearch on HU or Amplifier crossover controls.

When its all said and done bi-amp sounds very good and gets rid of the usually junk component crossovers.

Turfgod · 10-12-2010, 05:32 PM

I am looking to go active with the Lrx 5.1 amp. Any suggestions or comments
Troy

bigaudiofanat · 10-12-2010, 07:21 PM

Love the audison amps good luck finding one unless you have a local authorized dealer. Make sure your get a nice active head unit like the alpine 9887 which is my personal favorite. Patience is your friend when tuning the system remember that.

Turfgod · 10-15-2010, 09:08 AM

I got the car back today. What a difference. I completely recommend anyone wanting clear precise sound to go active. The vocals are so clear it is unbelievable. It really is a night and day difference. Before going active I had the Lrx 4.2 amp installed. The speakers are the High Energy. My HU is the Pioneer 120BT. I love this head unit. It does everything I want and is easy to control while driving.

Troy

bigaudiofanat · 10-15-2010, 09:39 AM

You must be using the amps filters to go part active because that head unit can not do it. Am I correct or are you using a external unit?

Turfgod · 10-15-2010, 08:21 PM

Amp the Lrx 5.1

bigaudiofanat · 10-15-2010, 11:05 PM

Ya real active is going threw a head unit where you control so much more than just what you can on a amp. Active is not for everyone as i said before ever time consuming and to do it right you have to have a good single din head unit.

Turfgod · 10-16-2010, 02:12 AM

No matter what you say it made a huge difference. Plus to do what I wanted the HU to do no one makes a complete unit, not even Alpine.

bigaudiofanat · 10-16-2010, 10:13 AM

Alpine 9887, pioneer dex-p99rs, kenwood XXV-01D and a few more including the clarion and mcintosh. The pioneer can even go 4 way active. Just some info I would share. Glad it sounds good.

Turfgod · 10-16-2010, 02:31 PM

Here is what I wanted my HU to do. Bluetooth sound and phone, Pandora, 7 inch video screen (no large buttons on the side or below), play dvds, back up camera, usb and sd ports, Iphone capabilities and HD radio, staying under 2k for the HU. If I missed one please let me know. Plus a certified dealer has to be in my town. I will agree Pioneer would not have been my first choice for a high end system, but so far I am overly satisfied with the HU, and Audio Innovations in Fresno that did all the work, including the sound deadening application.

Troy

Troy

ZeeingAround · 03-26-2011, 10:49 AM

Not sure if this is the right area or not, but Years ago, more than i care to talk about, I had been in the CA business.
recently, while going through my garage, I found boxes and boxes of inductors and caps ( electrolytic and poly) for building passive crossovers. i would be glad to sell or trade them for Z material. I also have rolls of speaker cloth, connectors and parts.

Resistors and such for zobel coorection too.

10-10-2010, 02:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
Turfgod Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: California Posts: 27 Drives: 2010 Nismo Black Rep Power: 15	Active vs Passive In a couple of the audio posts going active is mentioned to get better sound then a passive system. I am looking for an explaination between what active and passive is, and if there is really that big of a difference. I am looking for high quality sound at lower volumes. Thanks Troy

10-10-2010, 02:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	Unless you are going to use a single din head unit at this time I know of no active capable double din head units. On top of this if you go active your going to want to do custom panels for your tweeters for better imaging. Most systems sound better with a on axis tweeter rather than off. But with active it is controllable. Active is when you run a tweeter on one channel of your amp and one woofer on one channel giving you a total of 4 channels to control. There is no crossover between the speakers and the amp. That is all done by your head unit where you set your crossover freq's hrx and so on. It is very time consuming to tune and can take up to 2 or three days sometimes. A passive means your send a full signal from your head unit to your amp where it is amplified and sent to a crossover where it is controlled and where the freq is controlled for you. __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

10-12-2010, 07:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	Love the audison amps good luck finding one unless you have a local authorized dealer. Make sure your get a nice active head unit like the alpine 9887 which is my personal favorite. Patience is your friend when tuning the system remember that. __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

10-15-2010, 09:39 AM	#8 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	You must be using the amps filters to go part active because that head unit can not do it. Am I correct or are you using a external unit? __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

10-15-2010, 11:05 PM	#10 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	Ya real active is going threw a head unit where you control so much more than just what you can on a amp. Active is not for everyone as i said before ever time consuming and to do it right you have to have a good single din head unit. __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

10-10-2010, 06:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
butdamnbrian Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: bay area, ca Posts: 254 Drives: the ladies wild Rep Power: 15	check out these threads from diyma: Active vs Passive - What's the difference - DIYMA.com What does running active or passive mean? - DIYMA.com

10-11-2010, 08:46 AM	#4 (permalink)
Unclemeaty Base Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 203 Drives: 150cc Scooter Rep Power: 15	Basically what Big said, Active would mean a seperate channel between your woofers and your tweeters without using the inline crossovers. The down side is you need some way to high-pass crossover during pre-amp from 2000-3000hz for your tweets; so do your reasearch on HU or Amplifier crossover controls. When its all said and done bi-amp sounds very good and gets rid of the usually junk component crossovers.

10-12-2010, 05:32 PM	#5 (permalink)
Turfgod Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: California Posts: 27 Drives: 2010 Nismo Black Rep Power: 15	I am looking to go active with the Lrx 5.1 amp. Any suggestions or comments Troy

10-15-2010, 09:08 AM	#7 (permalink)
Turfgod Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: California Posts: 27 Drives: 2010 Nismo Black Rep Power: 15	I got the car back today. What a difference. I completely recommend anyone wanting clear precise sound to go active. The vocals are so clear it is unbelievable. It really is a night and day difference. Before going active I had the Lrx 4.2 amp installed. The speakers are the High Energy. My HU is the Pioneer 120BT. I love this head unit. It does everything I want and is easy to control while driving. Troy

10-15-2010, 08:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
Turfgod Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: California Posts: 27 Drives: 2010 Nismo Black Rep Power: 15	Amp the Lrx 5.1

10-16-2010, 02:12 AM	#11 (permalink)
Turfgod Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: California Posts: 27 Drives: 2010 Nismo Black Rep Power: 15	No matter what you say it made a huge difference. Plus to do what I wanted the HU to do no one makes a complete unit, not even Alpine.

10-16-2010, 10:13 AM	#12 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	Alpine 9887, pioneer dex-p99rs, kenwood XXV-01D and a few more including the clarion and mcintosh. The pioneer can even go 4 way active. Just some info I would share. Glad it sounds good. __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

10-16-2010, 02:31 PM	#13 (permalink)
Turfgod Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: California Posts: 27 Drives: 2010 Nismo Black Rep Power: 15	Here is what I wanted my HU to do. Bluetooth sound and phone, Pandora, 7 inch video screen (no large buttons on the side or below), play dvds, back up camera, usb and sd ports, Iphone capabilities and HD radio, staying under 2k for the HU. If I missed one please let me know. Plus a certified dealer has to be in my town. I will agree Pioneer would not have been my first choice for a high end system, but so far I am overly satisfied with the HU, and Audio Innovations in Fresno that did all the work, including the sound deadening application. Troy Troy

03-26-2011, 10:49 AM	#14 (permalink)
ZeeingAround A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Michigan Posts: 6,365 Drives: 3500 NVP 370Z-sold! Rep Power: 86624	Not sure if this is the right area or not, but Years ago, more than i care to talk about, I had been in the CA business. recently, while going through my garage, I found boxes and boxes of inductors and caps ( electrolytic and poly) for building passive crossovers. i would be glad to sell or trade them for Z material. I also have rolls of speaker cloth, connectors and parts. Resistors and such for zobel coorection too. __________________ Get some roosters for eggs and Bulls for milk . Then you will see that gender matters. Especially at milking time.

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