heyy i know this has nothing 2 do with actually neons them self but i got a question i got two 12' clarion pro audios and im runing them with a rocksfordgate amp but 2day when i went 4 a drive i want happy with the base theres a dial that says 50 hz all the way up2 i think approx 250 what is my best opitin 2 set it on 2 max out my base and having them sound good to ?? ... thanks

 

Well you should have it set around 80- 120. Just play with it and see what sounds best. Most subs are not made to go over about 150- 200.

 

thanks

 

This is the low pass filter setting. Anything above what you set it to is filtered out. This way the amp is not wasting power amping unnecessary frequencies. The same goes goes for amps that are powering the full range speakers. The ones built into amps are electronic crossovers. The more correct term is LPF (Low Pass Filter) or HPF (High Pass Filter). Some amps even have a HP/LP/OFF switch. This way you can use the amp as a full range(OFF), sub(LP) or 6X9" to 3.5" speakers(HP). Like in my system, I am lucky to have the headunit with X-Overs built in for each of the 3 outputs (Front, Rear and Sub). I have the 3.5" dash speakers on the front with a 220hz HP setting, this way the 3.5's arent trying to produce the low bass and destroy themselves. The 6.5" door speakers are running off the head unit on the rear speakers leads with a 100hz HP setting. The rear 6X9" speakers are running off the rear RCA to an amp and because the rear spreakers in the head unit are set to 100hz, that is what they get too. The subs are set to a 100hz LP setting running off the Sub RCA connection. Another good thing about using HP filters is that the amp is not ampng the lower freqs, so it will devote its power to the upper frequencies. This way an amp that is rated, lets say, 50X50w will actually have more power at a given frequency and perform like a more powerful amp.

Now for X-vers, X-overs builtin to headunits and amps are of the electronic form. Before the digital age, X-overs were "passive". Using capacitors for HP and inductors(wire coils) for LP. These simple X-overs are 6db filters. What this means is, if you have it setup for 100hz, at 200hz the level will be 6db down. They have 12db and 18db passive X-overs. This is accomplished by using caps and coils together instead of one or the other. Drawbacks to using passive X-overs is 1) since the X-over is on the speaker leads, the amp is wasting power on frequencies that will get filtered out. 2)they use some of the power that is meant for the speakers. Some say that passive systems sound smoother/better than digital X-overs.

I hope you dont take this mini novel as me talking down to you. I posted this incase there are newbies out there. Can you tell that im an instructor? haha. Not as in college, but in the Air Force. Well I hope I didnt put you to sleep with this.

Oh yeah back to the original post, the frequency cutoff is of personal choice. I listen to all styles of music. When I setup someone elses system, I start off with 60 or 80hz LP for bassheads and 100hz for all other styles of music. Then I get the owner in the vehicle, have him play his fav music and tweak it from there. That is one of my main beefs with stereo shops is that they set it to what they think is good sound without taking the time to tweak the system to the customers preference. Then you get someone that sees all the adjustments and goes nuts or even damage something. When I installed systems for a shop, we used to call them "tweakers", now days it has a totally diffferent meaning. I even seen one shop that put tamper labels on the adjustments and void warranties if the adjustments were messed with. Needless tp say, I never did any business with them. Whew! Im done!!!![:-]