HPF setting?, 0dB or -3dB?

MMPolker

My tweeters can be a little harsh in the front. What to do what to do.

My fronts are MM6501 components
Rear MM651 coaxial.

They have passive crossovers I set at 0dB.

Please help me understand what 0dB versus -3dB is. Is -3dB 3 rungs quieter? or 3 rungs louder? Or 'Differenter'?

What does it change?

Please also help me understand what difference an active crossover will do if any, and do these speakers allow such experimentation.

I listen to rock and classical and indie rock. Sometimes hip-hop.

I don't want my ears to bleed excessively. I want warmth. What do I do?

Amp:

Rockford Fosgate Punch
4 channel, 135-138w rms per channel
Total RMS: 546w
2 ohms

Kenwood DPX502BT.
Slope settings?? Whats that all about?
If I could see the slope i'd be the pope.. but I can't because they're NUMBERS ONLY.

Punch EQ? At what point do I turn that up? Sounds a lot more... tweetier when you do, but I have a feeling I shouldn't touch that just yet?

Current settings:
80Hz HPF both set on head unit and amp front and rear, that loses me some low bass, but the higher thumps thump very clear.

Is this why I should go get a sub to take care of that? Or.. one of those sub/amp under-seat combos by Infinitt/Pioneer. Are these speakers just not able to handle mid and 40Hz range together.......

deucekazoo

"Please help me understand what 0dB versus -3dB is. Is -3dB 3 rungs quieter? or 3 rungs louder? Or 'Differenter'?"

At 0 dB your tweeter is getting the same power as your mids. When you switch to the -3dB your tweeter is getting less power than your mid to the point its 3 dB quieter. So if they are bright then switch the x-over to the -3dB position. If they are still too bright you might have to look into pointing them away from you.

"Please also help me understand what difference an active crossover will do if any, and do these speakers allow such experimentation."

A passive crossover is a crossover that does not have power running to it, this is what you have now. Resistors and caps filter out the frequencies and send them to the appropriate speaker. Active crossovers have power running to them, use solid-state circuitry, are more adjustable and make things a little more complicated but give you full control over your setup. The one down side is you need to have an amp for each speaker. So your tweeters would need their own amp as would your mids. But this set up would give you full control over how loud your tweeters are compared to your mids.

"Current settings:
80Hz HPF both set on head unit and amp front and rear, that loses me some low bass, but the higher thumps thump very clear."

If you are using the amp crossover than you can have the head unit set to full. Also you can drop this a little more down. I think 60Hz would be good for your speakers. I think they go down into the mid 40s. But you are also supposed to add a sub amp when you use this. The sub would then handle the frequencies below 60 or what ever you set it at. I start at 80Hz on the sub and go down till I like what I hear.