W-Body Car Audio
| W-Body Car Audio |
| Car Audio Basics |
| Crossovers |
| Active Crossovers |
| Passive Crossovers |
Active Crossovers
If you are unfamiliar with crossovers, please read Crossover Basics.
Basics
Active crossovers are inserted between your head unit and your amplifiers. They split the signal, sending high frequencies to one amplifier, and the low frequencies to another amplifier.
An active crossover is called active because it needs it's own power supply.
Advantages
The advantages over passive crossovers are enormous. Because they have power, they can compensate for insertion loss. Also, since the circuit treats all frequencies the same, there is no delay or phasing issues associated with them.
Disadvantages
The biggest disadvantage is the need for multiple amps. You can't just wire one up to your head unit and power speakers off of it. This also makes the crossover costly to implement.