ok think of it this way. Your headunit will have minmum 1 RCA out or up to 3 RCA out. If the Headunit has only one, that RCA output will be fullrange front. That fullrange bandwidth will needed to be divided to the fronts/rears(if necessary)/and subwoofer.

An initial active crossover(powered) will seperate the signal into a highpass signal and into a low pass signal. Typically you'll have 1 RCA input into the crossover and 3 RCA output (front, rear, subwoofer). The front output will go into your amp, and from your amp into your passive crossovers which will further divide the frequencies between your component woofer and component tweeter.

Now if you have a headunit that has 3 pre-outs(front, rear,subwoofer), you can just wire the front(fullrange signal) into your front amp, and use it's internal crossover to attenuate the low frequencies. Same thing with the rear RCA out, the subwoofer(signal already lowpassed typically about 90-100hz) output RCA will go to your subwoofer amp where you can adjust the amp's crossover to further attentuate range.

hope that helped a little.

 

yeah...it did help...but when you said... "1 RCA input into the crossover and 3 RCA output" did you mean 1 into the EQ?...this is what i'm figurin i'm gonna do...my sub amp already has the high and low pass crossovers on it so i can adjust stuff so i wont need a passive crossover on that line

i will buy a 6.5" component system for the front and put em in some kick panels...they will come with a passive crossover

for the rear i'll buy a 6x9" component system and they'll also come with the passive crossover i'll need for that stage...

so i really dont need to purchase any additional crossovers except one active one right?.... who makes good active crossovers in the 60 to 90$ range?...also, what's the difference between a crossover and an EQ?

sorry for all the questions and i appreciate all your replies...i use to think i knew alot about audio and stuff and now i feel like i dont know sh*t:fawk: ...thanks again

BTW...my HU does only have 1 RCA output which is why i was originally gonna get an EQ

 

active xover is mainly used to separate certain frequencies to certain outputs and to adjust gains....

there are 2 different types of eq...but the main function is to boost or attenuate signal in that certain specific band/s...some eqs have built in lp xover for the sub channel...

if u want a cheap and effective active xover.....look into lanzar
theyre pretty good for the money...

 

is this a good crossover for me?...by the way i am going for a good bit of bass with fairly good sound quality...i'm thinking of using infinity reference components 6.5 in the front and 6x9 in the back...here are the specs on the crossover

Model VIBESX7 Half-Din, Dash Mount 6 Channel Electronic Crossover Network

-Half Din Size
-Mounts In or Under Dash
-6 Channel RCA to RCA Outputs (Sub,Mid,High)
-Infinity Adjustable Crossover Points: Sub 32-400Hz/Mid 32 400Hz /high640-8000hz
-2 Channel RCA Input Jacks
-Independent Output Gain Control Per Stereo Channel
-Subwoofer Phase Shift Adjustment
-Power On LED Indicator
-Remote Power Output
-12dB Per Octave Slope
-Fully Isolated DC to DC Power Supply
-Frequency Response: 20Hz-30kHz
-S/N Ratio: >90dB
-Distortion: 0.01%@ 1khz
-Dimensions: 1"H x 7"W x 5"D

 

Active and passive crossovers do the same thing but jsut in a different way. Active are typically used on the rcas while passives are usally the ones that come with your speakers.
Active crossovers use processors to tell the signal where to go so there is no signal loss. Passive crossovers use resistors and coils to tell the frequencies where to go and tend to have more loss than active. Crossovers are basically traffic cops telling the signal who should go where, splitting up the signal. What amps are you using? Some amp have built in crossovers and will have rca outputs so you can hook to the other amp eliminating the need for extra crossovers. There are a few different ways you could set it up depending on the head unit and what the amps you have picked can do.

 

yeah i'm startin to think i dont need a x-over cause i'm gonna be usin JBL amps and they have crossovers on them...but i do want somethin to split my front, rear, and sub signals up...what should i use for that?...now since i started realizing how there is signal loss and stuff with the passive crossovers which they use with component sets it's making me want to just throw those our and get a 3-way active crossover...good idea or not?...thanks for the help

 

My personal opinion is don't bother. A 3 way active system is jsut gonna make setting up that much harder. There are plenty of compitition vehicles that use passives. Youll have to find out where each speaker needs to be crossed at so it doesn't blow up. Esp the tweeters. Id say for now keep it as simple as you can. You can always add later. What kind of rca outputs does your deck have?

 

uhh...what do you mean by what kind?...it just has one RCA preout..that's all i know...

 

why do u say "signal lost" ??

the passive are there to attenuate <generally...the tweets> and help fix the usual spike between the slopes...
there is no signal lost

imo...an active xover is better than having ur "typical" amps internal xover doing the work...
most amps internal xover arent accurate anyway..

4thgenhatch...
the lanzar xover u have above looks ok...
keep in mind that its only has a 12db/octave slope though..
u might want a third order slope for the higher frequencies...
wiring difficulty might b another reason u wont like that xover...
if u have 3 long rcas going back toward the trunk....its gonna b costly and messy...

imo...get one of those square xover and mount it in the trunk...
one rca to it and 3 shorter rcas going to ur amps..
my friend has the lanzar x6 and it has 18db/oct slope as well...
so u might wanna look into that instead

 

Ok here is to sum up everything. from the amp, you have a certain frequency output that it sends out to speakers, but some of them can be disabled so you can use your OWN frequency channel, which you would call the crossover. The crossover helps tune a certain range of frequencies to certain speakers. Like for example, the mids, 6.5 will get from 70hz and up I dunno just whatever the crossover allows to go through. The tweeter allows a higher frequency. But you can also spread out the frequency even further by getting a 3 way system. This consists of a 6.5, 4 and a tweeter. The further you separate the frequencies to different speakers, the better it will sound. Reason for this is because certain sized speakers are better playing certain frequencies. Think about it. Would you play higher frequencies on a big speaker? Say like the frequencies coming from a tweeter.....would you use that on a 6.5? No because it wouldn't be as clear sounding. But once you start separating them to different sizes, you have to place them closer to each other so that you get that mix sound but at the same time clartiy. If you have all the speakers ranged far away from each other, you will hear other frequencies more than others, which is NOT what you want. I think 3 way systems sound the best, but most will tell you that 2 way components are good enough. It's all on how you hear things. Either way....if you get components of any kind, it's better to put them as close as possible so you get the entire range of frequencies coming to your ear at the same time. Also I got a question for you. If you don't know too much about components and stuff, are you SURE you need to be getting an equalizer? Equalizer helps you fine tune everything component in your car and that is probably one of the hardest things to do. If you don't tune it right, you can make it sound like shit. Just a thought.