CR-1 Inquiries
 

Through the years, I've used various digital crossover arrangements with a pair of F112. As time goes by, I've grown impatient with the resulting system limitations. For one thing, no two-channel DACs need apply -- four channels are needed. Those are rare birds, and I'm not looking to pay the price of, say, two Mytek Manhattans.

Does introducing something like the CR-1 into the signal chain reduce transparency in the midrange and highs? I'd love to hear from actual users of the CR-1 about your experiences.

I don't have a CR-1, but I have been using electronic crossovers for many years.

Electronic/active crossovers will improve clarity throughout the spectrum. I'm not sure why four channels of DAC is necessary. Can't you just use the two channel DAC before the crossover? The DAC will have done its job and then the signal gets divided appropriately by the crossover.

I have the f113 and the esoteric k01x. Does anyone use this combo with the cr1 and does it color the sound?

:lurk:

I am currently using the CR-1 to blend my mains with two F212 subs. I previously was using the internal digital crossover in my classe cp-800 which I think sounded very good but not ideal for analog sources so I purchased the cr-1. I had the same concern as you but am very happy with how it sounds. Going into it, I was just hoping I'd get compariable sound to using the classe cp-800 digital crossover with a digital source but in my system I think using the cr-1 is slightly better but not substantially better.

Gary, Four channels of DAC, because I was talking about digital crossovers. After the signal is divided in the digital domain, the four resulting channels of digital audio need DAC.

kaarmstrong, Thanks for the info -- it's quite helpful to find someone using a similar setup. In my room it is necessary to EQ the bass. I am wondering if you do any of that, and what product you use. Of course, the CP-800 does that, but I'm thinking of eventually moving away from its DSP features.

So why not do the DAC first, then the crossover--analog or digital?

Why does the DAC need to come last?

Mike-48, I currently to not use any EQ. I have used it before with the Classe and it did work well however I was able to move away from EQ with speaker placement and room treatments which I preferred. Kyle

If you do the DAC first, you have an analog signal, so there's no problem following the DAC with an analog crossover, which then outputs two pairs of analog signals (one pair for the mains, one for the subs). That's what I'm thinking of switching to.

But if you do the DAC first, you can't use a digital crossover, because the signal is in analog form, and a digital crossover works on a digital signal.

I suppose there is some gear that implements a digital crossover on an analog signal. But to do that, it converts back to digital first, then runs the crossover, then has four channels of DAC. In my mind, the repeated conversion between digital and analog domains is best avoided.

Clearer?

Thanks, Kyle. Glad to hear that you've been able to move away from EQ by using treatments and positioning. That is, to my mind, the ideal solution.

Not that I'm opposed to EQ, but it adds a whole other set of variables.