Boston Pro60s

I have a 2006 Ford F350 CrewCab. I just installed an Alpine IVA-W200. Now that I can listen to my iPod and XM, I want to make it sound better. I have 3 Carver car audio amps just laying around, so my thoughts are to use them and do the following:

- install an Alpine PXA-H701 and hook up 2 or 3 of my amps to that to drive the following.

- put in a JL Audio Stealthbox in place of the front center seat.

- disconnect the OEM rear speakers.

- install Boston Acoustics Pro60 6.5" components in the front, in place of the OEM front/door speakers.

My question is, if I do all this, would I better to do:

A) Use 1 amp to drive all the BA speakers, by running the amp output into the BA xovers.

or

B) Ditch the BA xovers and use 1 amp to drive the tweeters and another amp to drive the mids.

or

C) Use 2 amps and bi-amp the full range signal (less the subwoofer frequencies) into the BA xovers.

In any case, the xover in the 701 would be stripping the low end out of the signal before it goes to the amp(s) for the BAs. But, in case B, one set of pre-outs from the 701 would be using the internal xover to filter the signal to just be sending the highs to the tweeter amp. And another set of pre-outs would use the 701's internal xover to filter out the high end and low end for the signal to the mids' amp. In which case (case B), it doesn't seem like I'd need the BA xovers.

Also, I should note, I have never used the Alpine 701 before, so my option B may be making some assumptions about how you can configure it that are not correct. But, it seems like, if I don't go with option B, then I won't be able to use Digital Time Correction independently for the tweeters vs. the mids, which means I'd really need to mount the tweeters in the doors right next to the mids.

Advice? Are B and C overkill, and I should just stick to option A?

TIA for any help!

ps. Or, Option D would seem to be:

- Use one amp going through the BA tweeter xover to drive the tweeters and another amp through the BA mid xover, to drive the mids. This is the same as option B except with the individual BA xovers between the amps and the speakers. This options seems pointless since it just adds equipment (and, therefore, noise) for no reason, since the 701 should be able to do all the frequency filtering/passing that is needed, so the additional xovers would be redundant.

Are you saying that setting up a system with one amp for tweeters, one for mids, and one for a sub is fundamentally different than using one amp into a provided crossover for tweeters and mids, and another for a sub?

If it is and you can point me at some info on the subject, I would really appreciate it!

In either case, I don't have any meters for setting up the system. I was figuring on doing it by ear. However, if there are tools I can buy (meters, reference CDs, etc.) that aren't ridiculously expensive, that will help me get it set up for a really flat response curve, I'd love info on that also.

Thanks!

It is fundamentally different, yes, because you must now do all the engineering design work to create the proper crossover and voicing and level matching for the individual speakers, and do so in the active realm.  This is, by the way, all the work already done for you by the passive crossover designer.  It can result in improved sound quality of course, but without the proper tools (like an RTA, a calibrated microphone, etc. and probably an EQ as well) it is very difficult to attain the proper results and it is very easy to blow your tweeters.  In most cases it simply cannot be done "by ear."  Also you'll need the T/S specifications for the individual loudspeaker drivers (or you will have to measure them yourself) to determine the proper crossover frequency and slopes, etc.

Like I said, unless you are experienced in doing this and have access to the proper tools I recommend you use the provided crossovers.  Or go to a pro car audio shop and get some help.

To search for previous threads in this forum on this subject, select a word within the context of the subject (that will not necessarily be used in another type of subject) and employ the forum search icon found above this page.  I used "voicing" as the subject in 'message body' for the following results:

https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/search.asp?KW=voicing&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=2&OB=1&Submit=Start+Search

You'll find ample information and opinions in these 21 threads along with links to equipment needed.

Stevdart and DYohn, thanks for the info. It has taken me a few days to read the stuff in Stevdart's link and digest it (somewhat).

At this point, I think I understand things well enough to say that I plan to go with an active xover setup. If I have successfully grokked the info, that means my Option B from above.

I have found a local shop that I'm going to have install and tune everything. They have an RTA and other necessary tools, so that I *think* they can do it correctly and successfully.

But I still have two questions:

- Since I'm not going to use the xovers, can I spend comparable money to the BA Pro60s, but get better individual speakers without xovers? Or can I buy the BA Pro60 speakers without the xovers?

- For my xover, I'm planning to get the Alpine PXA-H701. From the stuff I read, Audiocontrol and AltoMobile seem to make the active xovers that get recommended here. How come nobody talks about the Alpine? Does it suck compared to those others?

Thanks again for the help! I really appreciate it.

The Boston Acoustic Pro60 components are rated for 125W RMS and are 3 ohms.

I read a thread [URL= http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120054&highlight=Pro60]here[/URL] where people are saying these speakers need 225+ per side to really work well.

I have multiple questions.

I'm planning to bi-amp these speakers and use a Carver 90x2 for the tweeters.

For the mids, I have two Carver KMOS2200 amps and I can either use one to drive both mids, or one each, bridged. These amps are rated at 100Wx2 into 4 ohms, 170x2 into 2, or 340x1 bridged mono into 4 ohms.

Q1) what is the impedance on just the mid driver?

Q2) Based on that other thread, it sounds like maybe I should run both amps and pump ~340W per side into the mids. (I don't know exactly what it would really be, since I don't know the impedance of the 6.5" drivers). Should I? Or should I stick to 100W per side by just running one amp to drive both mids?

Thanks!