*~Gone Active~*

got the crossovers, thanks.

I trust they arrived safely?

yes they did. now to get them swapped out. sunday, i am gonna drive 3 hours and pick up a third set of al-III's. i hope they are not busted or blown up. also a tfm 35 as well maybe.fingers crossed.

I STILL haven't gotten a long enough cable to run the room EQ software on this setup, yet.....

I need to get on that~

yes, you do.

Still looking for the right material to make the physical waveform guides...

I found symmetrical leading aircraft wing edges available in balsa wood for SUPER cheap ($2 each) & ordered several in both 1/2" & 3/4" sizes to build my waveform guides to correct the notch resonance. I'll shape to fit & paint them black to match the ribbons:



I'll post pics when I get them done!

Someone asked for it, so here goes:

Before/After Review:

I guess I'd have to say the main difference is CLARITY. Cymbals are crystal-clear; the "edge" of instruments shows through--saxaphone, trumpet, etc. Stringed instruments& awesome voices sound so good on great recordings it could just make your cry. The closest I can call it is a "graininess" that was there before & now isn't. Before, if I played at moderately loud levels, it would sound better after about 30 minutes, but never as good as now. My guess is the caps & in-line passive crossover components were aged & in need of replacement. If I had all new passive crossovers, PERHAPS the difference between passive & active wouldn't be as great. Too late to tell for certain now~


On top of that, a lot more headroom is available from the amplifiers; I give a conservative estimate that roughly 40% of available power was wasted on the passive crossover components.

I can't think of a single thing that's suffered (other than simplicity) from the upgrade. I highly recommend it! Just don't skimp on active crossover components, & get the most for your dollar there.

I spent a few hours this week replacing the circuit breakers on my AL-IIIs with fuse holders (not convinced they were working properly as they NEVER blew) in order to ensure a future for my ribbons/woofers.....

I also replaced the wood screws holding the woofers in with nice stainless steel hex-head bolts & blind nuts to save the MDF from certain destruction (had to tighten them occasionally as they tended to loosen from the vibration)

Pics:











































Heat sinks are important when working with insulated wire & plastic connector parts~


Wanted to post these pics of how the AL-III "wing" attaches to the bottom of the speaker enclosure, FYI:

I salute you Rabbit, you are a brave man.

You just keep making them look better.

I think you are just about the only guy I know running a "true active" setup. I dont have the time, patience or gear to do either lol....

Thanks guys!

Actually I'm glad I took them apart because 1 of the surrounds with was coming loose around the outside edge of the Infinities. Apparently, they changed the outer surround mounts at some point in production & glued them down with double sided tape. So, I re-glued them with silicone caulk. I was getting some strange bass sounds...that may have been why.

Now that I'm fully active, I might reconsider using JL Audio woofers insread of the Infinity ones. For thise who don't know, I had decided on the Infinity woofers as they were at least 4 dB more efficient than anything else I found, but it's immaterial since I'm able to dial in the crossover to match....

Now that I'm fully active, I might reconsider using JL Audio woofers instead of the Infinity ones. For thise who don't know, I had decided on the Infinity woofers as they were at least 4 dB more efficient than anything else I found, but it's immaterial since I'm able to dial in the crossover to match....

Now that would be interesting. I am assuming your thinking JL car subs so along those lines you might also check out a car audio company named Treo (which is the brand for my car sub) and/or Sundown. Both those companies have some pretty insane woofers that have pretty nice specs.

Their woofers have some insane magnets, weight to them and excursion.

Nice work Gary.

treo is what i just got myself for the new subs.

I don't know; 83 db is pretty damned inefficient.....they look gimmik-ey to me.

JL Audio is a known , long term quality builder...

TC Sounds is another....I'll have to check them out.