component speaker systems
 

so what exactly is a component speaker system?...i was lookin at em on ikesound cause i'm ordering my amp and EQ from them tomorrow and i need an extra pair of 5-6.5 speakers...size doesn't matter cause they're goin into my fiberglass rear setup...it will be very nice...is the component set just like 6.5" "woofers" with seperate tweeters and mini amps or something? what are those little things in the pics?...i'm gettin confused here...sorry if this is a stupid question...i'll just delete this once i get my answer

those little things you speak of are crossovers. they just send the right signal to the correct speaker. for example it will send only the high frequencies to the tweeters so they dont play the lower notes.

components are just a better way of separating ur highs and ur lows. You kno how u see 2 or 3 wk spkrs? just think of those tweeters being separated. Sometimes you rather hear the highs coming right at you instead of under you. Get what i'm? Components can cost a lot and typically needs an amp to get the most out of it. you kno...a 4 channel amp. anymore info?

so there is a cross over for both right and left?...or the mid and the tweeter?...and if i was usin an amp(i probably will if i go with a component system) could i use a 2 channel...will i just have one set of wires going into each crossover?...also, who makes good eq's...i want one with about 5 rca outputs...thanks for the help

There are 2 crossovers for each set of components. One for the right and one for the left. You connect the speakers wires from the amp to the crossover and then connect the woofer and tweeter to the crossover as well.

got it man...thanks for the help:thumbup:

No reason why you couldn't use a two channel. One channel to each side. You could always add another 2 channel later on and have effectivly a 4 channel. Depends on the rout, space money ect.
As far as wiring you will have wires from the amp to the crossovers (+ and -) then from the crossovers there will be two wires, one will go to the tweeters(+&-) and the other to the mid(+&-). DO NOT GET THESE MIXED UP. If you do youll probably have to buy new speakers. Double check before you power up. Most eqs don't have x-overs you may need to buy a seperate x-over the get all those inputs. Why do you need so many?

dude i didnt get what you were sayin when you said "Most eqs don't have x-overs you may need to buy a seperate x-over the get all those inputs. Why do you need so many?"...who said anything about eq's? and "so many" whats?...sorry...hope i didnt sound like a jackarse there

Why do you need so many rca outputs on the eq? But it looks like you've already found an eq that works so the whole thing is irrelevant anyways. I just thought you wanted some advice on getting an eq. Youll still have to use a crossover to send the lows to your sub and highs to your components. This will be in addition to the crossovers that come with the speakers.

so i need more crossovers for the component speakers?...what exactly do crossovers do?...only allow certain frequencies to go through?

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...

http://209.125.209.59/el//VIBESX7.jpg

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.

wow...99accord that really helped...and kevin thanks for the opinion on what crossover to get...i really think i do wanna get a crossover...but probly not an eq...for now i think i'll just stick with my amp and sub setup with my pioneer 6.5's and do a lot of searching for good prices and research on crossovers, equalizers, and component systems...i'm really wantin some good sound quality in my car since everybody in my town has only bass, except one person who everyone says has good SQ...i'd like to be one of the few...and i'd also like to be able to use all this equipment and not only be able to just hook up an amp and subs...thanks for all the help with all this...maybe i need to start another thread geared more towards eq's and crossovers?