Recommendation On Active Crossover

[whoaru99]

not savvy but lucky

Lucky every time. LOL.

No, my friend, saavy. Take your time, pluck the ripe cherries.

 

[techguy0192]

I do agree they don't upgrade for that last 5% that's an "audiophile" thing. But they do change gear for any number of reasons. However, to say it's like buying a taxi is nonsense. But, of course, this varies too. If you buy some 10th hand ****, well...you got what you paid for. No different than anything else.

Buying right it's more like buying a used car with a good track record of running to high miles to use as a taxi. Get it inexpensively and run it for a few hundred thousand more miles for minimal cost of ownership.

I agree. There's a big difference in a pro component that has spent 100% of the time in a studio vs one that has been on tour. A nice studio will have good power, climate control, and should be clean/dirt free....not the same case for life on the road going from gig to gig.

 

[Poultrygeist]

I've gotten great service from this Behringer bought new from PE and not from a stoned roadie. A couple of advantages it has over the Ashly is it's removable ears and it's separate sub controls. SQ wise the Ashly is better but for sub duty this is all I need. At $79 it's cheaper than many DIY passive crossovers. Considering a used one with no warranty is brainless.

 

[RobRoy]

Buying used pro gear makes as much sense as buying a former taxi. They're both used professionally and not sold until they're used up. Pro sound guys don't upgrade for that last 5%. For them it's a living not a hobby.

As a bass player that has been in a lot of bands, and gone through several bass amps and PA's, I can tell you that most people selling used gear on CL are guys like me. They get GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome) and are either upgrading, changing their sound, or simply going for the latest "shiny thing".

I buy virtually all of my equipment used and have been for almost 20 years. Some of it is virtually brand new. I've been burned by a couple of purchases, but they were cheap in the first place.

You save a TON when you do that.

Regarding stuff used by your typical musician or band leader, it's like buying a used car.
But regarding stuff used by "professional musicians and sound companies", you are right. It's like buying an old taxi.

 

[RobRoy]

Yeah. However, I'd consider a mic cable a generally different situation than what is typically rack gear. I have not purposely bought used mic cables.

That said, with the last piece of pro gear I bought the seller included a bag of odds and ends with the sale. Inside was a pair of 40ft balanced cables made from Belden 8412, terminated with Amphenol XLRs. The cable alone is worth more than what I had originally thought I was getting, and seem to work fine.

The point here is not quibbling over bad sellers. The point is there is opportunity for really good deals. It's just caveat emptor as with any used gear sale.

All my pro stuff, sans the couple bar smoke amps I mentioned earlier, have come from midline owner/operator pro sound companies. These folks earn their living with this stuff and generally don't beat the **** out of it because it's money out of their pocket if something goes wrong or resale is lower than normal.

I'm with you. I was merely pointing out that, as both a hi-fi hobbyist and musician, though I try to be careful with everything, I treat my hi-fi gear with kid gloves and tend to throw my pro stuff around more, if only because it needs to be transported so much. However, pro stuff is also designed to take that kind of use.

 

[whoaru99]

Considering a used one with no warranty is brainless.

If there is a possibity that a $20 used crossover is going to damage you then, absolutely, buy new. But, for the rest, there are great deals out there.

 

[vinyldavid]

Yep. I've bought all of my crossovers used, and thus far they've been excellent (except some seriously beat Yamaha F1030's which were worth taking the risk on).

Used, good condition truly professional audio gear (NOT BEHRINGER) is one of the best buy's in audio. I bought my Rane AC23B and Ashly XR-1001 for $200 from a very nice guy who was going over to digital and powered. They're perfect.

 

[Bob]

I second the DQ-LP1. I caution any use of cross overs if you listen to different genres.
adjusted for rock makes for bass heavy classical. and highly dependent on your speakers
like some JBLs which are bass heavy to begin with.

However, in support of the DQ-LP1 - you can have 4 bass channels if you like the low notes.

 

[JoeESP9]

I second the DQ-LP1. I caution any use of cross overs if you listen to different genres.
adjusted for rock makes for bass heavy classical. and highly dependent on your speakers
like some JBLs which are bass heavy to begin with.

However, in support of the DQ-LP1 - you can have 4 bass channels if you like the low notes.

This I don't agree with. A crossover is either properly adjusted or it's not. Different music does not require different settings. Flat is flat. Both of my crossovers are set and adjusted using REW and a calibrated microphone. I find no reason to change the settings once things are measured and the crossover is set. The same applies to the parametric DSP I use with my main speakers.

 

[whoaru99]

^^^
I tend to agree. If adding a crossover screws up the quantity or quality of bass then a setting/adjustment wrong is more likely, not just because a crossover has been added.

 

[RobRoy]

I second the DQ-LP1. I caution any use of cross overs if you listen to different genres.
adjusted for rock makes for bass heavy classical. and highly dependent on your speakers
like some JBLs which are bass heavy to begin with.

However, in support of the DQ-LP1 - you can have 4 bass channels if you like the low notes.

Are you thinking of equalizers?

At least in my case, I adjusted the crossover so that the system was flat and adjusted bass with an equalizer.

 

[Poultrygeist]

If there is a possibity that a $20 used crossover is going to damage you then, absolutely, buy new. But, for the rest, there are great deals out there.

Buying a $20 "pig-in-a-poke" vs a new $79 active with a warranty makes perfectly good sense to you.

 

[whoaru99]

Buying a $20 "pig-in-a-poke" vs a new $79 active with a warranty makes perfectly good sense to you.

You're the one having problems, not me.

Like I eluded to before, if the risk is too great by all means buy new.

 

[Gibsonian]

Little tough on the working guys using this equipment. They're not all destructive stoners!

I've had good luck buying used crossovers, parametric equalizers. For gear like Ashly, second hand saves a lot of money. It is easily fixed as well if it would need it, I just haven't ran into that. SQ noticeably better than the Behringer's, whether analog or digital, and that's what I'm looking for in the end.

And regarding Pass Labs stuff, would love to use one of his crossovers, he (they) just won't make a 3 way!

 

[SPL db]

Anything from Ashly.

Seconding the Ashly recommendation. I use the XR2001, 3 way in my system today. I have used Behringer CX3400 and the DCX2496 in my system prior to XR2001 and to my ears the Ashly easily bests them for SQ.

Looking at the XR2001, if all I would really need is a two way crossover, would the XR1001 be just as good?

 

[Gibsonian]

Looking at the XR2001, if all I would really need is a two way crossover, would the XR1001 be just as good?

I'm thinking so. Unless they've cheapened them inside, should be the same as the 2001. I like the 2001 since it's thru hole technology. I can upgrade it easily. Maybe someone can pop a top on a newer XR1001 and show you the guts?

 

[vinyldavid]

Looking at the XR2001, if all I would really need is a two way crossover, would the XR1001 be just as good?

Yes. I believe that the XR-2001 is just two 1001's in the same box.

Buying a $20 "pig-in-a-poke" vs a new $79 active with a warranty makes perfectly good sense to you.

Every crossover sounds different. $20 for a pig in a poke Ashly, Rane, BSS, Lake, Yamaha, or even DBX crossover is going to have me pulling out my wallet. If it doesn't work? Eh. It was worth a shot. $79 for a crossover with all those features.While I haven't heard that specific Behringer product, I'm extremely dissatisfied with my pair of DCX2496's. They're incredibly noisy, the UI is terrible, and they were $300 or so new. They have amazing amounts of processing power, but they're not even quiet enough for connection to Bozak drivers to be silent, much less anything high efficiency. Behringer is crap, sorry.

Furthermore, I worked a gig where there was a rack of new iNUKE amplifiers driving JBL Vertec line arrays and double 18's, and the hiss level was definitely audible with quiet program material. Their lightness would make me buy some if I needed them, but the SNR is unusable for HiFi. I keep a Behringer DSP-8024 in my rack only because it was free and hasn't died yet.

 

[Judas Priest]

please live and let live. I hear the differences - you may not. do not slam me for
offering an opinion that may be different than yours

MODERATORS: please close this thread if there are more personal attacks on me or my
system or my ears. the whole goal as I understand it here on AK is that everyone is different
and their gear is different and their music is different.

Having a bad day? No one "slammed" you. They (very politely) disagreed with you.

I also disagree with the human ear being "the best measurement device". Technology can measure WAY more than any human can hear.

 

[ehoove]

I've owned an NHT X2 and was quite satisfied with it's performance. They periodically show up on ebay. You do NOT want the NHT X1.

You do if it is for dedicated Subwoofer use, I use one on my W2 subs
Regards,
Jim

 

[ehoove]

Yes. I believe that the XR-2001 is just two 1001's in the same box.



Every crossover sounds different. $20 for a pig in a poke Ashly, Rane, BSS, Lake, Yamaha, or even DBX crossover is going to have me pulling out my wallet. If it doesn't work? Eh. It was worth a shot. $79 for a crossover with all those features.While I haven't heard that specific Behringer product, I'm extremely dissatisfied with my pair of DCX2496's. They're incredibly noisy, the UI is terrible, and they were $300 or so new. They have amazing amounts of processing power, but they're not even quiet enough for connection to Bozak drivers to be silent, much less anything high efficiency. Behringer is crap, sorry.

Furthermore, I worked a gig where there was a rack of new iNUKE amplifiers driving JBL Vertec line arrays and double 18's, and the hiss level was definitely audible with quiet program material. Their lightness would make me buy some if I needed them, but the SNR is unusable for HiFi. I keep a Behringer DSP-8024 in my rack only because it was free and hasn't died yet.

I use a Behringer DCX2496 in my main rig, and have no hiss. My speakers are dead quiet with gain applied and no load. Not sure what to make of your comments. My current DCX2496 has been modified by adding PS and analoge outputs by Selectronic of France which did improve the SQ, however both the current and the stock unit were and are dead Quiet through my tri-amped Magnapans.
Interesting,
Jim