What's the purpose of coils and capacitor

Home / the12volt's Install Bay / Car Audio / What's the purpose of coils and capacitor (

Topic Closed)

Welcome Guest :)

Members

Next Page > < Prev Topic Next Topic >

sachmosis

Member - Posts: 12

Joined: April 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:22 PM / IP Logged

My boyfriend is trying to hook up the speakers in my car - (for maximum bass output) and I am, as usual, butting into his whole project thinking that I can help. I tried to read to him the pages on this site that explain low pass, high pass and band pass filters - but they don't make much sense to either one of us. What is the purpose of a coil and a capacitor? He's got a Realistic 3 way electronic crossover, 2 200 watt 3 way Infinity's (3 1/4") in the front, 2 200 watt Pioneer's (6 3/4") in the back, 2 300 DB Crossfires (bridged, in a no-portholes box 2 1/2' by 1 1/2') pushed by a Blaupunkt 230 watt stereo, and a 600 watt Rockford Fosgate amp. The way he had it hooked up before it was BANGING! Is there another way to connect this, though, that would reduce damage to the speakers or maybe even sound better as far as the high's and midrange go? Because although he thought it was great, I thought that there was not enough of the higher sounds. It was ALL bass. I don't think that makes for the optimum listening experience. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, please let me know.

kickerstang

Copper - Posts: 180

Joined: April 08, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:30 PM / IP Logged

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

what!?!?! you want some??

sachmosis

Member - Posts: 12

Joined: April 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:31 PM / IP Logged

barstow, california

DYohn

Moderator - Posts: 10,741

This member has made a donation to the12volt.com. Click here for more info.

This member has been recognized as an authority in Electrical Theory. Click here for more info.

This member has been recognized as an authority in Mobile Audio and Video. Click here for more info.

Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:35 PM / IP Logged

Capacitors and coils are use to build passive crossover networks. These connect between an amplifier output and speakers, and are designed to absorb sound in certain frequency bands and only let certain sound get through to the speaker it is connected to. Electronic crossovers are much more efficient but do the same thing, only on the pre-amp (or line-level) side of the amp. By directing certain sound frequencies to amplifiers dedicated to certain speakers, they make sure only the correct sonds get to the correct speaker. For a subwoofer, there is no need for a passive crossover after an amplifier if the electronic crossover is set up properly.

Normally, an electronic crossover is most commonly used to direct only bass frequencies to a dedicated subwoofer amp. This is a "low pass" filter (meaning only low frequencies are passed through) and one built into an amplifier does the same thing. The high frequencies are sent to a seperate amplifier for the "main" mids and tweets (the "high pass" section.) Usually in common usage, a coaxial or component set will include a passive crossover of some sort to keep the correct frequencies going to the tweeter.

Did this help or make it more confusing?

Support the12volt.com

sachmosis

Member - Posts: 12

Joined: April 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:35 PM / IP Logged

why?

kfr01

Gold - Posts: 2,121

Joined: April 30, 2003

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:39 PM / IP Logged

Well, as I understand it (kinda a noobie myself)... a capacitor is used to filter out low frequency sounds (bass) and a coil is used to filter out high frequency sounds (highs). His electronic crossover, since it sounds like he only has one amp and it is used solely for the subs, probably only serves the purpose of filtering out the highs going to the subs.

Some capacitors (bass blockers - you can order them from crutchfield - will take the bass off your 3-1/4 and 6-3/4 inch speakers, something you DEFINITELY want to do. They will make better use of the power given to them if they don't have to work at producing the lows. Also 3-1/4 inch speaker given a full-bandwidth single I've ever heard will bottom out (distort) like crazy and sound like crap.

The best option is buying a 4-channel amp for the mids/highs and using the electronic crossover to filter the frequencies appropriately.

Also, remember to turn off the loudness, bass boost, or whatever other crap that might be used to jack up the bass on the head unit.

kfr

sachmosis

Member - Posts: 12

Joined: April 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:44 PM / IP Logged

sorry - the why? was to Kickerstang's question. Yeah, it made things a little clearer. But how would you incorporate all of the stuff that I said he had into making the best set-up for listening to? Where there is a lot of bass, but where you can still hear the mid-range and highs even at lower volume?

DYohn

Moderator - Posts: 10,741

Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:55 PM / IP Logged

Is one of your amps a four-channel amp?

Support the12volt.com

sachmosis

Member - Posts: 12

Joined: April 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:57 PM / IP Logged

ok, that was helpful. thank you!

sachmosis

Member - Posts: 12

Joined: April 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: April 21, 2004 at 2:58 PM / IP Logged

we have one amp - a sub woofer amp. a 2 channel 600 watt rockford fosgate.

Next Page >

Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Search the12volt.com

Follow the12volt.com

Disclaimer: *All information on this site ( the12volt.com ) is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular use. Any user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and use of this information. Please verify all wire colors and diagrams before applying any information.