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Active Crossovers, anyone dabbled?

DSP is the way to go. Enormous flexibility, and with the right DSP hardware or software one can use FIR filters.

See MiniDSP for well supported hardware. There are others, of course, such as DEQX. For software that will run on a computer, see Audiovero, Audiolense , Rephase…..
 
Yes i use sublime acoustic’s diy product he sells under x-kitz. If you’re diy inclined you can save quite a bit. The big thing is case work which i cheaped out on with a 19 inch rack case that‘s tucked away. So looks didn’t matter.
The modules are just plug and play and very simple but you have to be careful with the crossover modules, they are in a dip configuration like an old cmos chip for a motherboard. The pins are fragile, not to mention the caps that are nearby the socket.
Perhaps the K231 or his newer higher end model are a better choice, that’s up to you. The performance is great though, i could not detect any degradation. In fact lightening the load on the mains was an audible improvement.

As for Minidsp i use that as well in the form of an SHD studio feeding my dac for dirac/dsp/streamer functionality.
 
al2002 said:
DSP is the way to go.
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Only if you want to go digital. And there are many who don't, especially if they are all analogue.
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I built one of these 40 years ago, and continually updated it. 24dB slope, or18dB if preferred, and includes variable baffle step compensation. It's not in use at the moment as I am using Tannoys.
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I love active crossovers and have a few retail versions in my collection

Esposure V - I have two of these for NAIM SBL and IBL
Exposure VXN 2-way to be used for NAIM S600 Ovators work in progress.
NAIM SNAXO 3-way for NAIM NBL
Exposure VXN 3-way balanced (four box affair) to replace the above SNAXO
A very old first gen NAIM 2-way board only for a project still in gestation!

I was interested in giving the MINIDSP a go but have yet to go there.
I have looked at the sublime kit especially the very new release which has a discount for early adopters.

The XKitz looks interesting but they have had no stock for long periods now.
 
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Ben&Ted said:
I love active crossovers and have a few retail versions in my collection

Esposure V - I have two of these for NAIM SBL and IBL
Exposure VXN 2-way to be used for NAIM S600 Ovators work in progress.
NAIM SNAXO 3-way for NAIM NBL
Exposure VXN 3-way balanced (four box affair) to replace the above SNAXO
A very old first gen NAIM 2-way board only for a project still in gestation!

I was interested in giving the MINDSP a go but have yet to go there.
I have looked at the sublime kit especially the very new release which has a discount for early adopters.

The XKitz looks interesting but they have had no stock for long periods now.
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How do you find the Exposure crossovers?...I'm interested in getting one for my active Linn Isobariks....would you recommend?
 
nostromo said:
How do you find the Exposure crossovers?...I'm interested in getting one for my active Linn Isobariks....would you recommend?
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I think they are some of the best from the retail analog active x-overs and the new VXN are superb.
I am partial to EXPOSURE amps etc over 40 years and 30 years with active.
Downside is you need EXPOSURE to set them up for specific 'speaker x-over frequencies though there is user adjustable gain onboard.

The Isobariks are a unique 'speaker and there are some good threads on PFM (somewhere!) where users have talked about their journey with active set up analog and digital x-overs, might be worth a search.

Otherwise I would recommend contacting EXPOSURE from their website contact proforma, they are a friendly bunch and I am sure Tony Brady has experience with Linn Isobariks.
 
I've done it. Redesigned the Naim 729 board from the NAC72 and later into a universal filter board. Added an extra supply rail, built a carrier board for 4 of them and made myself a SNAXO 2-4 equivalent. Technically I can put two back to back and make an additional band pass filter for a 3 way XO.
 
All crossovers - passive, active or digital - must be tailored to the complement of transducers on a given loudspeaker, if you want them to work seamlessly together. That is because transducers do not behave linearly and they are bandwidth limited. And then there is this thing called relative phase. Bolting on a generic 24dB/oct active filter will rarely achieve a 24dB/oct acoustic crossover, unless there is at least two octaves of linear overlap (e.g. woofer flat to 4kHz and tweeter flat to 1kHz for a 2kHz cross). Double that overlap for a lower order crossover.

The correct way to design and use crossover filters is with measurement and modelling the filter sections to a given acoustic crossover target in mind. I have designed and built many passive loudspeakers, but the last one (Ergo E-X) featured an active crossover for the LF/MF cross at 250Hz. The MF/HF cross is passive, mainly because I really don't like the idea of connecting a power amp directly to tweeters without a cap to filter DC.
 
awkwardbydesign said:
Only if you want to go digital. And there are many who don't, especially if they are all analogue.
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If you want State of the Art sound there’s no alternative to DSP. Multi-way linear phase (if you so desire) crossovers, DRC, crosstalk cancellation, PEQ, etc, etc, all in one box.
 
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I've been running Naim active systems for over 25 years.

Started with and SBL 4-pack with a Naxo 2-4 then a Snaxo 2-4. Now NBL's on a 6 pack with Snaxo 3-6-2 and formerly Snaxo 3-6.

Very hard systems to better.

Always wanted to try the expo XO with the SBL's but they hardly ever come up used. Interesting that they make one for the NBL - I didn't know that!
 
Ben&Ted said:
I think they are some of the best from the retail analog active x-overs and the new VXN are superb.
I am partial to EXPOSURE amps etc over 40 years and 30 years with active.
Downside is you need EXPOSURE to set them up for specific 'speaker x-over frequencies though there is user adjustable gain onboard.

The Isobariks are a unique 'speaker and there are some good threads on PFM (somewhere!) where users have talked about their journey with active set up analog and digital x-overs, might be worth a search.

Otherwise I would recommend contacting EXPOSURE from their website contact proforma, they are a friendly bunch and I am sure Tony Brady has experience with Linn Isobariks.
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Thank you for a very informative reply.... I'll contact Exposure as you suggest.
 
I had passive Isobariks and started to go active.
I soon realised that it was very expensive to do it it with Naim kit.
Naim no longer support the olive 3 way Snaxo.
I gave up and bought new ATC active 50s.
They give you a 6 year warranty.
 
When I had Naim amplification I ran active SBLs, SL2s, and latterly DBLs over many years. Les at Avondale suggested converting the fairly crude filtering within the SNAXO 362 to his gyrators, but after he sent me some I realised fitting them would be a real struggle for me, so he kindly agreed to undertake the task. The result was very worthwhile and I'm sure if you contacted Les for same he'll do so, although it won't be his favourite bit of work…
 
vacuum_tubes said:
Years ago converted my Linn Keilidhs from passive to active with LK100 and Aktiv cards.

Made a huge improvement in taking them from really shit to just shit :)
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You were lucky!
Same route with Ninkas, mine went from OK to OK with weird bass when Aktivated.



And when I reverse engineered the aktiv cards I found out why!
 
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