# Amp settings in active mode : DEH-80PRS



## peegeesee (Dec 19, 2008)

Hi guys, 

Noob question. I just got my DEH-80PRS. running full active with the h/u with silver flutes an vifa tweets. 

Question: using the h/u network :- at the amp, which filter should i use? HPF, FULL, LPF 

Thanks.


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

Full. But you should be careful with connecting the tweeter directly to the amplifier channel as the tweeter could be damaged if you send a full range signal to it either by accident or due to a malfunction. A common solution is to insert a capacitor with appropriate value before the tweeter to create a 1st order passive crossover at a desired frequency.


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## peegeesee (Dec 19, 2008)

Thanks. Ok another one:

If set to full : what freq do i turn the crossover knob to? Or i just ignore?


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

When full range more, the crossover frequency won't apply.


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## dietDrThunder (Nov 4, 2010)

Just a note for you...sounds like maybe this is your first rideo running active (nice!). When you set your gains, start your tweeter channels at 0 gain, and turn them up incrementally by ear. IME you should end up with the tweeters' channel gain set to a fraction of what the mids are set to.

I only mention it because if you set them the same, you will maybe find the tweeters to be way overpowering/bright, and you might be unhappy. with your choice to go active. Once you get it all tuned, you'll enjoy it.


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

If he is using a tweet and mid on left and right of the amp the gains control both and are equal for each pair of drivers. 
I ended up turning down the front / high on the head unit to -12 and -9 each because they were too loud and bright. I just trying to stress both sides of the amp equally (not sure if it has a dual power supply like my last).


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## peegeesee (Dec 19, 2008)

Thanks all. Nice tips. I am running active now with external crossover (read: el-cheapo). After a year of fiddling, i like it better than when running passive. But it's not really appealing as the vocals seems too driver-centric. The instruments are btw - centered. Couldn't solve so will be using TA on the 80. 

As for the amp xover, i just ignored it last time regardless of where it was when i first started. And it was on full all the time. Just wanted to verify. And tq for the tweet gain tip. I turned it down and the quality improved. 

Anyhow, any suggestion as to the xover freq on the 80 to begin with? Was thinking of crossing the vifa at 2k and the flutes at 80h. Ok?


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## dietDrThunder (Nov 4, 2010)

nervewrecker said:


> If he is using a tweet and mid on left and right of the amp the gains control both and are equal for each pair of drivers.
> I ended up turning down the front / high on the head unit to -12 and -9 each because they were too loud and bright. I just trying to stress both sides of the amp equally (not sure if it has a dual power supply like my last).


True, but why would anyone want to do that? A significant part of the reason to run active is the ability to customize the gain between the tweeters and the mids.


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

Just trying something different this time (it was like that last time and controlled by the gains). 

Plus the wiring for the drivers looks neater lolz


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## ecobass (Oct 15, 2012)

Good info here as I am too going active for the first time with the same HU as the op. Someone mentioned to be careful and not send the wrong signal to tweeters to avoid damage but from what i understand if you follow the instructions included in active mode and connect the dedicated output for the highs than you shouldn't have a problem here because it would only send signal designed for that driver (tweeter, mid ect) but is the power gain knob where you should be careful and try not to over power the driver and burn it. Good luck!


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## peegeesee (Dec 19, 2008)

I agree with ecobass. if the settings is set correctly the first time there is less probability of popping the tweets. Unless wrongly setup (happened to me before, tweet RCAs plugged into mids output). I have learnt by mistake and will be extra patient this time. 

I have also read, however, of the amplifier turn on-off pop. this worries me a bit. FYI, it's quite difficult to get a decent protection capacitor with the correct value here in Malaysia. choices are limited.


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## peegeesee (Dec 19, 2008)

O.k guys, this is really noobie question. English not a first language here, so pardon the grammar.

Let say:

1) My VIFA tweets is capable of playing 1500hz - 40hz (Vifa XT25TG30-04 1" Dual Concentric Dome)
2) I was thinking of crossing the tweets with the DEH-80PRS at 2000hz - 4000hz range
3) I have a Jantzen 400vdc 3.9microfarad capacitor lying around. With the calculator i found that this cap crossover freq for 4ohms is at 10,000hz. What this means actually?

My thinking is that the PASSIVE will only let 10,000hz freq and above to pass through. So my intention to set the HU cross at 2000Hz is moot. Therefore, i have no choice but to get a 20Mf cap for cut off of 2000hz. 

Audio guru please enlightened. Thanks.


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## low4ever (Apr 27, 2013)

Hello everyone at DIYMA! Sorry for bumping an old thread. Just figured i would post my question here instead of starting a new one. I am also a noob at running active. I also was planning on running the pioneer deh-80prs and a zapco dc 360.4 and a zapco dc 1100.1. Being that the zapco amps have on board dsp and the pioneer is 2 way plus sub active, what would be the best way to tune the setup? With the hu or the amp dsp? Not completely sure what speakers i am running. More than likely it will be 2 tweets and 2 6.5's. each on their on channel. Thanks in advance.


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

Generally speaking it would be better to use the HU dsp because you have the ability to fine tune from the driver seat. It's tough to make a small adjustment on the amp, run to the driver seat, listen, and find the best setting. If you can control everything while still being in the listening position, it has it's advantages. However, I'm wondering about your dual tweeter, dual mid setup. Is this the front stage or front and rear? Rear speakers can be a disaster to tune properly, especially rear tweeters.


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## low4ever (Apr 27, 2013)

Thanks gijoe. The dual tweeter, dual mid setup is all front stage. Plan on running 1 12 ID max


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## 07azhhr (Dec 28, 2011)

Just to clarify here. You are talking about running one tweeter and one mid on the left side of the car and one of each on the right side of the car correct?


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## low4ever (Apr 27, 2013)

Yes one of each on each side.


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

07azhhr said:


> Just to clarify here. You are talking about running one tweeter and one mid on the left side of the car and one of each on the right side of the car correct?


Thanks for asking, for some reason I thought he was going to run a total of 4 of each, not sure why I thought that. 

For a 2 way front stage I would highly recommend my previous recommendation. Use the pioneer to control everything, set your amps to full and make all of your adjustments from your seat. This way you can hear the changes real time and it'll give you a more dependable comparison.


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## 07azhhr (Dec 28, 2011)

gijoe said:


> Thanks for asking, for some reason I thought he was going to run a total of 4 of each, not sure why I thought that.
> 
> For a 2 way front stage I would highly recommend my previous recommendation. Use the pioneer to control everything, set your amps to full and make all of your adjustments from your seat. This way you can hear the changes real time and it'll give you a more dependable comparison.


All settings for these amps are done via either a laptop or a indash controller so it is all done from the seat LOL. BUT I do agree with using the HU for the mere fact that you can do on the fly adjustments as you drive. The only downfall to this is that you can make any adjustment on the fly and sometimes you might not give the adjustments long enough listening time to truely evaluate them. 

I know I have this issue sometimes with mine which is also the 80prs and 4 Zapco DC amps. 

There are things in the amps that are better then the 80prs though. Things like the parametric eq that you can type in an exact frequency that you want to adjust along with being able to adjust the Q for each band as well. Then there is the easier phase control per side. With the 80prs if you want to have one mid out of phase with the other then you have to always have only one side selected in the menu. As soon as you set it to control both sides at the same time then it reverts back to both phase settings being the same. In the amp processor you can set each on separate without issue. The XO options in the amp are nicer too since there to you can select any specific frequency you want and you get the choice of Butterworth or Linkwitz-riley but using the HU here lets you change it on the fly without the need for the laptop. The HU xo slope for the subs only goes down to 12db but goes to 36db and is not defeatable but you can set it to 250hz if you do not want to use it and then use the amp from there. This is only better if you intend on using a 6db slope though. Otherwise the HU xo will fit the bill. 

Basically just try them out and see what works best for you. You may end up with using a combo of both. 

I find the TA adjustments in the HU easier to use as you can use the remote and bounce back and forth from all 6 settings as opposed to having to look at the laptop and move the mouse from the bottom right corner to the top middle of the screen then hit the channel you want to adjust twice then back down to the bottom. Then when you want to adjust the other amp(s) you have to select that amp and then wait for it to switch over then choose severl options to be able to adjust that amp. PAIN IN THE ARSE I must say.


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## low4ever (Apr 27, 2013)

Thanks gijoe and 07azhhr. I was hoping you were gonna say what you both said. Being a rookie at active settings I was hoping to be able to use the head unit. Maybe as I get a little more knowledge i can start messing with the amps tuning. I still need to learn more about the slopes, phase etc. So being able to do it with the HU is definately what I am looking for. I appreciate all the help. I am pretty sure I will need more help. Just trying to make some good decisions. Been doing a lot of reading and reviews on the different forums.

By the way how do you guys feel the jbl ms62 components sound. I've read the reviews on here. Just wondering if I don't use the passive crossovers with the set, will it be good for what i am going with? Or could you recommend something else in that price range? That might work better for my application.


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## ecobass (Oct 15, 2012)

I don't have experience with the jbl ms62 comp. set but one thing ill like to tell you from experience is that having a Hu (80 prs in this case) that's capable of running active/ network mode opens up a world of choices/ options for selecting drivers- to be more specific Midwoofers and tweeters it's where I'm heading. With that been said, don't worry about passive x-over units of any brand type (2 way -, 3-way) etc.. heck even a Focal car I demo early this year had ditched it's own passive x-over units that come in their $5500 dollar component set , that should tell you something - Active is the way to go.

Search for raw drivers and test them too see which you will like , I personally like the Boston Acoustics pro se 6.5" mid driver with infinity kappa 2" tweeter, remember this is active and after tweaking the settings and swapping drivers a few times i ended with the combo mentioned. I could be different for you as far as the sounds the drivers reproduce you might hate it. lol check out parts -express.com for tons of drivers and tweeters you'll end up getting more for you money by not spending $$ on x-overs that you don't need (if you have the 80 prs ) and paying for a brand more than a product.

I hope you understand my writing and the whole idea. Good luck!!


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## SkipNJ (Mar 12, 2009)

I have a similar question, if I set the high pass filter on my amp to 2khz (12db) for tweeter protection, and then set the high pass crossover on my 80prs closer to 3.2khz 24db/octave, will that crossover on the amp interfere at all? I can see it interfering if I set the HU under 2khz but it would seem that it wouldnt be a problem the other way, unless the crossover in the amp is doing something to the phase or something I don't understand.


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## ecobass (Oct 15, 2012)

Ill let some one else chime in on this one as I have all the filters on my hd 900/5 set to "off " and it's the way i understand it easier. Of course I'm a noob at this!


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