I have a set of Digital Designs DDW6.5 Components (woofers + tweeters) in my fully deadened and sealed front doors.
They are Currently getting around 100wrms (Running Passives) each side from a Rockford 200a2 (4 ch bridged into 2 ch). Using High Pass XO on my Alpine 9813 instead of the amp XO.

They perform really well and play pretty loud and low. But not loud or low enough for my RF 15" HE2 Sub.
I am thinking of throwing some more power at them so i can get them playing as low as i want them to at high volumes.

Here are some options i have in mind... Other suggestions are welcomed.

1. New Amp
-Eclipse
EA4000 ($399)
75 x 4 @ 4ohm
150W x 2 @ 4ohm Bridged
OR
-Eclipse
XA4000 ($599)
125 x 4 @ 4ohm
350W x 2 @ 4ohm Bridged

2. Run them active first to see if i can get any improvement before spending more wads of cash on an amp.

3.New Smaller Amp to run tweeters only and run the woofers with 100wrms each by themselves off the RF200a2 i already have. How much power would be needed for tweeters only?

Someone please suggest something. Even if its something totally different to the way i'm thinking.

I though 100W rms each side would be plenty........

So is the problem that the speakers arent playing low enough PERIOD, or they're only not playing low enough when you crank them?

what are your filters set at?

Have matched your gains properly?

I cant play them at a high enough volume for my taste, at the high pass setting i want to run them at, to better compensate for the very low tuned sub & box i have. Doesnt this mean i need more power?

Dont get me wrong. These DDW6.5's play damn low. But I cant play them at a high enough volume for my taste, at the high pass setting i want to run them at, to better compensate for the very low tuned sub & box i have. Doesnt this mean i need more power?



-Sub low passed at 100hz -24db/oct. But would like to set it at 80hz -24db/oct.(when fronts play to my liking)
-Fronts high passed at 125hz -12db/oct. But would like to set it at or closer to 80hz -18db/oct OR 100hz -6db/oct.

are they distorting at the volume you want the speakers at?

125hz isnt very low at all. Again, have u tuned your gains correctly?

Without looknig at a manual on ur amps or h/u:
Set your front speakers and sub channels to full range on the amplifier but do this only if you are controllnig the XO from the h/u

If they dont go loud enough, couldnt the gains on the amp be set a little lower to stop the distortion or 'ugly' sound? I had the same problem, but with a bit of extra tuning my speakers now play extra loud and low. I assume you are saying that you just cant turn the volume up a lot without distortion? Is that correct?

Also, from what I've read on here, the blending between 6.5" and 15" sub, could be mistaken but from what had been discussed was there would be some loss in playable freq's. Not positive, so don't quote me on it, as I dont know for sure if thats right

Just as a side note - if you decide that you are in need of more power I can defeinately recommend the E-Audio 480AB.
Whilst it may only be advertised as putting out 150wrms @ 4Ohms when bridged, the reality is that it does much more. In fact the birthsheet that came with mine shows that it can do 206wrms @ 4Ohms when bridged.

That, and it would only cost you the amount of the Eclipse EA4000 that you were looking at.


Personally I would try running active though I am not sure of the Xover capabilities of your current amp. That said by removing the passive Xover you may see some improvement. However what you describe seems to be an under-powering probem.

I'd also suggest lowering both crossover points, but a avoid using 6db or 18db slopes as it makes it hard to allow for phase shift, as a 6db slope gives a 90deg phase shift but a 12db gives a 180deg shift which is easy to compensate for.

Luke

6db actively gives a 90 deg phase shift at the crossover point for roughly 1/2 to 1 octave.

IE: not the whole freq range like a passive.

in some cases this can greatly improve midbass response.

Juls

I be looking at even a 50 or 60Hz HP on the fronts.

Certainly less than 125. We ran the set from our 323 on Termlab and got around 133dB at 74Hz from a single door mounted pair......

Phil

Well it turns out i was underpowering these bad boys.
Got my Eclipse EA4000 today and OOOOHHH MYYYY GOD what a difference.
Can run them full range of this amp if i want to, and loud too.

But i got em high passed at 50hz now and it WAAAAAAY better. They play soooooooooo low now. I turned my sub off this arvo when a friend was in the back seat (I am considerate) and i was amazed at how much sub bass and mid bass i was still getting with just the fronts running. The DDW6.5 woofers are like mini Subwoofers!

One more question.
Should i go ACTIVE? As the tweets are still a little too bright even when on the -3db setting on the passives.
Its either 2 x 125Wrms Passive.
OR
4 x 75Wrms Running Active. (More tuneabilty?)

Good to hear! People never believe me when I tell them what the W6.5s are capable of. You should see what the long throw (W6.5LT) can do!

Where are the tweeters mounted? This can have a big effect on level control.

You can't beat active, the question is, do the amps/head unit have enough range in the crossovers? You want 3-4kHz high and low pass, 12dB or better for the tweeters.

Phil

The tweeters are dash mounted facing up bouncing of windscreen. (yes i know it makes them sound bright but these tweeters play very low for a tweeter. Guess its to compensate for the slight lack of midrange from the woofers)
But my staging and imaging are ok. But not great.
What would be a better spot for a tweeter that plays pretty low for a tweeter?

Also 'DD Phil' what are the passives crossover frequncy for the tweeter?

I know the woofer has no crossover for cutting the High (tweeters) frequencies. Therefor they are not Band Passed, they are only High Passed at 60 hz from the Eclipse's High Pass Crossover.
Wouldnt they sound better Band Passed which i could do if i went Active?

And what about the power, would the woofers get more or less power from the amp if i went active?
ie: 125wrms x 2 Passive VS 75wrms x 4 Active

if you have time alignment with db reducer in your h/u , then if you go active with the splits you can use that feature to trim your tweeters power by 1db at a time........zion

That tweeter position gives a lot of gain, the dash and windscreen can tend to act like a horn.

The W6.5 rolls off naturally from around 3.5k. Using an active crossover allows you to control this, with the added benefit of infinitely variable level control.

But where does it end?? If you're not careful you'll end up with $5k worth of amps, more speakers, 30 band EQs etc etc........

This is the nature of the beast we call car audio!

Phil