Off the shelf crossover performance?

[Eric_Allard]

I'm considering building a few PA speakers for the band for the rehearsal room and for live use where a PA isn't provided. I have a fair bit of experience building bass and guitar cabinets, but I haven't yet designed or built any crossovers. And, to be perfectly honest, I don't know if it's something I feel like learning right now.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with off-the-shelf crossovers? Specifically, I'm looking at something like Eminence's PXB2:1K6 combined with a fixed L-pad.

I have a pair of Eminence Delta Pro 12A's I would likely pair up with some PSD:2013-8 HF drivers and H290 horns.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[4Mal]

biamp ?

 

[Eric_Allard]

biamp ?

I was thinking full range with a passive crossover.

 

[4Mal]

Depends on your goals quality wise but bi amping is a whole lot more forgiving...

 

[4Mal]

When I was building my fearfuls, the question was 600 hz or 800 hz. The idea was to minimize things where the woofer began to get ragged. To my ear the Delta goes higher smoother than the 3012LF's I was working with. I'm guessing that you could look at 1.2 to 1.5 as the workable range for the woofer. How the horn plays in - that's someone else... I think that if it were me, and I was going passive -which I wouldn't still... I would design the box based on your choice of the stock Eminence designs for the woofer. I would extend the sides up past the top and mount the horn above the sealed (well, ported ... probably) woofer enclosure. Slightly more complicated, a little heavier but stiffer box - and you didn't have to figure out the volume offset for the horn and driver... If you're going DIY, I would highly recommend reviewing the fearful construction. The internal bracing scheme really works. I would also, search out a source for 12mm, void free baltic birch. It is a pleasure to work with.

Finishing supplies from speaker hardware.com. - Leland Crooks has the goods. Grilles from Reliable hardware are killer too... I did the ones with the stand offs bent in. You can do a very pro looking job of it

I would still biamp though...

 

[Eric_Allard]

Thanks for the reply,

Thanks for the advice: I always use the 12 mm baltic birch ply (except for the baffle where I prefer the 18 mm thickness) from a local specialty hardwood supplier and brace my cabinets extensively . I haven't built a box with MDF in a long time... it's far too heavy. I use Bassbox Pro and WinISD so I have no problem the cabinet design. I have several good sources for hardware.

Specifically, I'm wondering about of the shelf crossovers and whether they'll leave a gaping hole or nasty peak in the frequency response near the crossover frequency. Biamping would require another power amp so I would rather not get into that right now. I hope to use one channel of the amp (2 x 800 watts @ 4 ohms) for the mains and one for stage monitors. I may consider adding subs later, which would require a dedicated power amp, but that won't be for a while.