Do they make a crossover in box form? Meaning not a rack mount unit? I'm asking because I have I have a set of passive subs that I may use from time to time and I don't have room in any of my racks for another rack mount unit.
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Crossover Q??
- Thread starter DWBass
- Start date
Maybe there's something in an old analog graveyard from the 1980s...no idea. Do any of your power amps have DSP and presets, like the Crown Xti series?
What about a high quality passive crossover installed in the subs? Not as efficient, but that depends on how critical your needs are.
passive x-overs in the subs would be a bad idea, as they'd need to be really big and would suck up a lot of the amp power.
anything more "pro" is gonna be a rackmount.
the good news is they're going for nothing used now, hell i've got two or three languishing in storage myself; there's no law says a rack unit has to be in a rack to be used, maybe just stick it behind the amp rack.
doubtful.
anything more "pro" is gonna be a rackmount.
the good news is they're going for nothing used now, hell i've got two or three languishing in storage myself; there's no law says a rack unit has to be in a rack to be used, maybe just stick it behind the amp rack.
are any of them using a furman "power conditioner" thing up top? you could just lose that, stick the crossover in there and throw a power strip in the back.
I use to have a rack mount crossover and set it at 70hz. My new amp came in it had a built in 100hz crossover and I'm using that now, I don't notice much of a difference really and it was worth the extra rack space.
What subs do you have and what mixing board? Do you run powered tops that have a high pass filter? Maybe you could aux-feed the subs just bass and kick drum and a bit of keys and avoid a crossover? Or, just get a rack crossover in a shallow 2u rack and keep it separate from your other rack gear? You’ll have to patch anything you get every time so there is no time save there.
OR mount it facing the rear of the rack you have in some dead space?
OR mount it facing the rear of the rack you have in some dead space?
that won't work because those are still full-range signals, you still need to cross the subs over at say 100Hz so nothing higher gets in.
aux-feeding subs still requires crossovers in the PA the same as running it normally
Most subs won't reproduce anything much higher maybe 150 hz. If you had enough aux outs you could send the aux out with kick and bass to a spare channel. Use the channel strip eq. to mimic the high end roll off and send that channel to another aux out which goes to your sub power amp. anyway
Depending upon the gear there may be ways around the problem.
1. If the speakers are passive they will generally have built-in HPF and LPF sections. Hopefully you buy subs and mid-high packs that are compatible; if they are it's basically plug N play with a bit of level matching.
2. Some digital boards have built-in DSP crossover capabilities. You just need to configure the outputs as crossovers.
3. Many digital boards have built-in output EQ that can be tricked into functioning as a crossover. Some boards have output EQ that includes a variable HPF. Also some boards allow the bass and treble bands that can be set up as parametric, shelving or HPF/LPF. IF you have such a board you may be able to trick the filters on various outputs into behaving like a crossover. Basically apply a HPF to the mains at 100HZ and then apply an LPF at 100HZ to the subs.
IMHO, You are unlikely to find anything approaching professional quality that is not rack mounted.
I have some old Ashley half-rack gear...a compressor and mono crossover. I bought a kit to screw them together so they could be rack mounted. These don't have XLRs but they are compatible because they have 1/4" TRS jacks.
IMHO your best bet is to get a bigger rack, or repackage your gear a bit so you can put the crossover in with the main power amps. I.E. package the crossover with the main power amps, and then have a separate rack for the monitor amps. This puts the crossover over where it is needed and breaks the amp racks in to lighter, easier to lift packages.
I have one of those rolls. It's not bad. If you are burying it in a rack, are you sure you need XLR ?
That was my first thought. I believe my Crown XLS DriveCore 1500 & 2500 have that capability.
Riis
My amp has a switch to make it reproduce LF only. I still want to use a crossover so I may try out that Rolls unit. I don't need an XLR as I have XLR to 1/4" cables. Was just asking. Subs are 90's Community brand. Mixer is early 2000's analog. All my mains and monitors (and other sub) are powered but the mains/monitors don't have HPF's.
I have a powered sub already but I'd only be using these passive subs in rare occurrences. So no big deal.
I have a powered sub already but I'd only be using these passive subs in rare occurrences. So no big deal.
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