capiscators as crossovers...how to wire?

[EliteConcept]

so my audiobahn component plate speakers took a fat crap on me...oh well they were like 2 years old and i'm really not heavily into audio anymore so its all good...i did manage however to salavge the tweeters and the capiactors that were mounted on teh speaker...I'd like to use them in the truck but not sure how to wire the tiny little capicators so they filter out the low frequencies.

also what ones to use. i have 140 uF and 4.7 uF.

If i had to guess i'd say i'd use the 4.7 uF and wire it inline with the tweeters...coming from one of my 5x7's.

let me know if i'm right

 

[mhn3773]

honestly i have no idea about that..but u can buy things that are called bass blockers..really easy to wire and cheap..dont know if that helps u though

 

[Fhantazm]

Yes the 4.7 uf caps will wire in on the positive side of your tweeters. This will net you with a high pass cuttoff of 6khz at 4ohms. Just about perfect for tweets.

And bass blockers are nothing more than capacitors wrapped in a fancy package. They do the job, but are more expensive.

 

[mhn3773]

ohh..the bass blocker things are prety big to...

 

[jimbo74]

that is becuase the bass blockers are already wired capacitors in a protective casing....

i need some new speakers for the yota..... i have to use some 4" ones..... so the 4.7 uf will be good for the fronts? i wouldnt mind the bass, but the box in the back pumps out enough of that. and a 4" speaker trying to push bass at high volume, well sounds like poop...

 

[Fhantazm]

Well I think the 4.7's would probably be a little high. You may want to try for a 6uf.

 

[jimbo74]

whats the cutoff for the 6 uf? i basically just dont want stuff lower than 120 hz going to the fronts.....

 

[EliteConcept]

sweet now just to find a place to mount them and wire them up...
probably end up wrapping the capicators in tape so they don't brush up against metal...

 

[Fhantazm]

whats the cutoff for the 6 uf? i basically just dont want stuff lower than 120 hz going to the fronts.....

Actually, I meant to say 26uf, but after thinking about it, i dont think they make those. Plus only inserting a capacitor inline yields a 6db slope, which still allows a majority of the frequencies through. This works fine for tweeters, as the nature of tweeters act very much like a crossover, themselves. But for mid/full range speakers your going to want a 12bd crossover network. Its still very easy to build, and very cheap. 1st , buy a 27uf non polarized, mylar capacitor. Then buy a 0.91 mH coil. Both should cost you less than 10bux. 1st, wire the capacitor in series with the positive lead of the speaker. Then immediately after the capacitor, wire the coil in parallel with both leads. This will give you a 1khz, 24db slope, passive crossover network. The same thing that some manufacturers charge you $30 for. Here is a schematic to give you a visual. One thing to remember, however, is that at the cutoff frequency, in this case 1000khz) the amplifier sees it as an equal impedence to the speaker. In other words with the passive crossover inline with a 4ohm speaker, the amp is now seeing 8ohms. This is great for keeping the amp cool, but it also causes a 3db drop in power/output. If you have a powerful enough amp, theres really not a problem. Hope this helps! If you need any more info, ill be glad to assist!