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JBL XPL-200 and Rane AC24
Has anyone had any experiences with Rane's AC24 Active Crossover or any of Rane's active crossovers? Supposedly they're on or very close to the top for active crossovers for professional and home theatre.
At the moment I am trying to source some XPL-200 input/output cards for my DX-1 crossovers with no luck and so I am looking at other options in connecting up XPL-200 speakers to an external active crossovers.
Since the XPL-200's are a 4-way setup with two sets of binding posts, one for low and the other for high, I have been thinking about re-wiring the speakers so that each driver has its own set of binding posts and then use Rane's AC24 crossover to drive of the drivers in the 200's.
By using the AC24 crossover, I should be able to gain complete control of how each driver performs in any room scenario. I know the DX-1 from JBL does not have anythin near the prgrammability of Rane's AC24 crossover plus the AC24 incorporates the latest technology out today.
The DX-1 is classified as a classe "A" pre-amp but it would be intersting to see if there are any comparison's between the DX-1 and Rane's AC24 crossovers.
I will attach some info on the Rane so you can decide for yourself.
Any thoughts on whether or not this project seems a reasonable one to pursue?
rE: JBL XPL-200 and Rane AC24
Earl K,
Thanks for your reply and an interesting one. I have attached a crossover schematic for the XPL-200's so let me know what you think? It's a JPG file so the numbers might be a bit hard to read but I have a pdf version, which is much better to view. Let me know and I can send it to you?
I'm only just starting up my system but so far I have a pair of B&W 801 Matrix Series 3 speakers hooked up to a NAD 208THX amplifier using a Denon 1803 as a pre for the 208's. I use a Denon DCD-300 CD Player but looking at replacing this with Denon's DCD-S10 MKII CD player, which I want to mod (another project). I am also looking at replacing the 1803 with a pre-processor amp and had Lexicon's MC-1 in mind until I found out this unit doesn't support XLR inputs (back to the drawing board).
"Where does JBL come into this so far", you ask?
Well, I'm going to buy a pair of JBL XPL-200 speakers (I already know where to get a pair from) and I already own two JBL DX-1 crossover kits, hence my quest for 2 sets of XPL-200 input/output cards.
My aim is to bi-amp the XPL-200 speakers using 2 x NAD 208's to run the low end and one other amp to run the high's, which I currently haven't found. As you can see I'm in the hunt for a second NAD 208 and a single high frequency amplifier, all linked via XLR. Any ideas on what is a good high frequency amplifier to compliment the 208's or a good/exceptional high frequency amp in general (must have XLR's)?
When I first heard the B&W 801's 4 years ago, I fell in love with them straight away ánd it wasn't till mid this year that I eventually found my 801's. Having said this, late last year I was working with a friend of mine who told me about JBL's XPL-200 speakers and how great they were. He went as far as saying that the 200's were the best speakers he's heard thus far and said they were even better than the 801's.
I thought this wasn't possible for a speakers that stopped production some 11 years ago but I decided to do some research on the 200's. Sure enough, from all the reviews I read around the trap and from people I has spoken to had put the XPL-200's in a class of it's own, eating the 801's for breakfast (That's with the XPL-200's using the DX-1 crossover).
So, ever since then, having never heard the 200's and going by someone's opinion, I went on a mission to find pair of XPL-200's. I also read about the much sought after DX-1's that was made for the 200's so I was hell bent on finding these as well, which I did but with no cards....Anyone out there have any spare cards?
During my search for the 200's, I stumbled on an ad on the net selling a pair of Matrix Series 3 801's. I jumped at the oppurtunity and bough them. Being such a rare speaker to find in Australia, I imported this pair from New Zealand....such is my dedication and "Yes", they did weigh a lot. :)
Now that the Aussie dollar is a lot favourable than it was 4 months ago, buying stuff overseas seems so much more attractive. :)
My aim is to audtion the 801's and the 200's in a so called shootout, see what the results are. If I have both of these speakers, I don't think I can afford to keep both of them so whichever wins the shootout, will be the ones I keep. I'm partial to the XPL's but I'm going by what I've read so until I have the real deal in front of me, only then will I experience the truth. Even if I do have both speakers, I don't think I would want to part with either of them.
I suppose I just want to listen to my music being delivered in the best possible way but maybe I'll wait until I get my XPL-200's and input/ouput cards and all my other amps and so forth before making a judgement. I suppose I'm just too eager to find what I want. :)
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Re: JBL XPL-200 and Rane AC24
Earl K,
The reason I'm after two sets of cards because I have to DX-1 kits. I bought two because initially I wanted to use one DX-1 per side, keep the cables short theory but also down the track, if I were ever to find a second pair (heaven), I'd use the second with the second set of 200's as the rears.
I'll definitely keep the NAD 208's for the low end as I think they provide more than enough power and soniq quality but I will agree that sometheing exceptional will be needed to drive the high frequency side of things. I have attached a spec sheet for the 208THX if anyone is interested in some light reading or use its data to match it with some high frequency amps.
I have thought about tubes but I've read a lot articles where tube and solid state amps together cause phasing issues in a bi-amped scenario. Hence my inclusion in my orignal post about using an active crossover such as the rane which has a lot of programmability to correct phasing for such cases. Like you guys have mentioned, there are other active crossovers that will do a better job. Has anyone used Bryston's 10B crossover?
The only reason why I'm holding back on the 200's here in Australia is because I think they're very over priced for the Australian market. Then again, we're talking about Australia where we receive the last of anything technology wise and we get charged like a wounded bull. Plus, the 200's here in Australia is not in top condition.
As a matter of fact, with the Australian Dollar being the way it is, it's actually cheaper for me to source a pair of 200's in the U.S and have my friend in Utah send it to me. Including shipping, it's still way cheaper than those 200's here on the other side of my country.
I know, sometimes beggers can't be choosers but I like to make sure that what I get for my moey is in excellent condition///that's me. I'm thinking hard about it.....those 200's here in Australia are probably the only ones in Australia and I have been posting around the world looking for them. The same goes for my quest of the DX-1 input/output cards.
I agree that I should get the 200's and do my comparisons with the B&W 801's and go from there.
Cheers
Pasadena
Re: JBL XPL-200 and Rane AC24
I have included some pictures of JBL's DX-1 external active crossover - Front, back and circuit board, which will be of interest to most.
If you require a more detailed pic of the circuit board, I can e-mail it to you.
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Re: JBL XPL-200 and Rane AC24