Howdy all,

I just got my AD Designs 6.5" speakers installed in the rear pods of my bike and forgot to ask what to set the crossover to on that channel of my SS PN4.1000D.

On the front with the DBX Motos I have it set to flat and that seems fine. I can adjust the bass plenty in either direction with the head unit. How about the rear channel on the AD Designs? Should I set it to flat or high pass and experiment with the crossover?

Thanks to all, I appreciate all the help so far as well.

 

I'd set it at flat first. Unplug front speakers and set gains for the rear. Then switch to HPF and set crossover at 80-90 and adjust some more. See which you prefer best.

 

Man, my ears are ringing.

Thanks for your quick response SBates. I've tried both settings and I think I like the flat setting a little better. To test stability I ran the bass all the way up (I usually have it a notch or two above half) and was able to turn the volume up almost all the way (a good bit past the "e" in Volume on the HK head unit) with no distortion. When I bring in the Motos up front they provide more volume than I can stand without distortion.

I mainly want to err on the side of caution. I don't want a slip of the volume control to blow any speakers. If I run into a situation where it doesn't go quite as loud as I want but it saves the speakers that is where I'll leave it.

I have the gain controls set at about 10 o'clock and I get more sound than I can comfortably stand. I'll take it out on the road in a little bit and see how it sounds there.

Thanks again I appreciate all the guidance. That SS amp seem to be one heck of a bargain if you can stomach the install.

 

You are setting gains with the bike running aren't you? And AVC off.

 

Not at the moment I am setting them with a battery charger connected and AVC off. I'm going to take it out on the road and try it (I've already put the outer fairing back on) and if it seems to get too loud too quick I'll back it up to the door and set up a fan to adjust them.

 

As SB mentioned, after you have some approximate gain settings and crossover settings dialed in, fine tune with the bike running due to potential voltage bump. Magic smoke!!!!!

I rarely run full pass or flat simply due to the sled environment targeting low mids (kind of), mids and highs. U will get a bit more applicable performance out of those Speaks if crosses at 80ish. Maybe 75ish. I was not a fan of those ADs crossed below 90 as they seemed to take a knee when pushed.

2 cents.

T

 

That’s about where I set the crossover as well, 85-95, depending on wattage.

 

Thank's y'all I appreciate the info. I realized when I went out on the road there was another variable I hadn't thought of. When I had my helmet on the straps obstruct sound from the rear, so I may have to drive the ADs in the back a little harder. Main volume linearity up front tracked as it did sitting still though, so I may try to go back to high pass on the rear and tinker with the crossover since I know now I will have to drive them a little harder to hear them.

I just hope I can resist the urge to research speakers in the saddlebag lids.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I'm getting close to where I can leave it until I get the parts in to start adding the lower fairing speakers.

On a side note the technician at Iron Cross Audio told me using AVC would be fine once the gains were set properly. He said there was no electrical change in the signal being sent to the amp between AVC increasing the volume as speed increases and pushing the volume switch up with your thumb. So after I ran it up manually to max volume without distortion (I intentionally kept the gains low enough to do that in case my volume switch ever stuck) I stopped and set AVC to level three just like I used to and everything worked great. I know the HK head unit is not for everyone but I gotta say I am really pleased with how things turned out and Iron Cross was a big help just like all of y'all are.

 

OK I just realized that looking at the crossover dial on this amp I am not smart enough to know where "80 ish" is on this dial. Here is a pic of it:

So would about 80 hertz be about 10 oclock on the dial? I have never fooled with crossovers before so it's all new to me.

Thanks again.

 

On that amp you have to turn the crossover **** until it sounds good to your ears at the volume you prefer. It's a guessing game. I've had good luck with the 10:00 o'clock position on that amp. Again, depends on the speakers as well.