Active Crossovers: Ashly XR-1001
This is a continuation of my demonstration of a tri-amped audio system. This time, a much closer look at the heart of any multi-amp setup, the active crossover. Here, the Ashly XR-1001 is highlighted with a rudimentary demo of what the main function of an active crossover is. An active crossover is an electronic version of the passive crossover network found in most every high quality multi-driver speaker. A tri-amp system uses 3 amps, one for each range of frequencies. One for the bass, one for the mid-range and one for the treble. The job of the active crossover is to divide the audio signal (music) into the ranges that the amplifiers will be using to drive their respective speakers. The low frequency output will go to the bass cabinets and usually don't have frequencies much higher than 300hz, but this is always driver (speaker) dependent. It's always best to tune your amp's output to match the frequency characteristics of the speaker the amp is powering. Typical crossover points will match those of a passive crossover found inside most speaker cabinets. The level controls on the active crossover also allow you to mix and match speakers of varying sensitivities. A well tuned tri-amp system can often not require any more equalization than that provided by the level adjustments to each speaker's amp. An active crossover network opens a whole new world of tweaking and tuning.
The music used for demo is a bootleg version of Darude Sandstorm.