Audio Research EC-22 Crossover

[Robert_Anderson]

Does anyone have experience with this crossover? I am thinking of using one with my Magnepan 20.1's with Krell 350MCX's on the bass and Pass XA100.5's driving the tweeters that I am purchasing from another member. I also have a pair of Tympani 4's it could be used with. I ask because I saw an ad on Audiogon for a pair of Tympani 4's sold with two EC-22's. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[jdandy]

Bob.......Until you asked this question I wasn't aware that Audio Research had an active crossover.

[Robert_Anderson]

Thanks for posting the pics, Dan.

[DrRob]

I still have the EC3 I used in the late 70's to the early 90's. It was the center of a triamped system that included Tympani IB or IC and a custom Kef sub purchased from a dealer in north east Philadelphia.

Power for the system included at one time 4 Luxman tubes on the mid range and highs and a Phase Linear on the sub. Later there was a switch to a ARC D52 on the high, a D100 on the mid and a D110 B on the sub.

Setting crossover points was not too difficult and the system performed quite well.

When I upgraded to a Tympani II I found the combination of a ARC D250 and Magnepan passive crossover to be superior to the triamped system and the EC2 an sub was retired.

[GaryProtein]

If you are thinking of tri-amplifying your Maggies and using a Pass Labs power amp, I can't recommend the Pass Labs XVR1 three way crossover highly enough.

[Robert_Anderson]

Originally Posted by GaryProtein

If you are thinking of tri-amplifying your Maggies and using a Pass Labs power amp, I can't recommend the Pass Labs XVR1 three way crossover highly enough.

Thanks! I have actually been looking very hard at this model.

[GaryProtein]

If you decide to get it, the internal set-up can be confusing, but well worth it.

The XVR1 can do much more than the owner's manual describes, although you probably won't need to do those things.

I have my midrange set as a bandpass and the woofers is set as low pass and tweeters set as high pass. You can set the frequencies and slopes as you desire.

Kent English was of great help to me at Pass Labs.

[Robert_Anderson]

Originally Posted by GaryProtein

If you decide to get it, the internal set-up can be confusing, but well worth it.

The XVR1 can do much more than the owner's manual describes, although you probably won't need to do those things.

I have my midrange set as a bandpass and the woofers is set as low pass and tweeters set as high pass. You can set the frequencies and slopes as you desire.

Kent English was of great help to me at Pass Labs.

I wrote Pass last week, and Mr. English promptly responded. Thanks so much for the tips!

[Triodeotl]

I have one of these active 2 way electronic crossovers. There were about a 100 of them and were made for Magnepan MG20 & MG 20.1 speaker because of Bill Johnson's desire and others to biamp the biggest of the Magnepan speakers. Typically all of these active crossovers are 100Hz high pass 18db slope to mid panels and 300Hz low pass to bass panels with 6 db slope which matches the MG 20.1.

This is a 2 way active crossover. If you open the unit there are stickers the active cards inside that plug in to the main circuit board which specify the frequency. The crossover also has full bypass outputs to send full range signal. Pretty rare usually only owners of early MG 20 & 20.1 speakers have them as they were designed for that speaker.

When the crossover was introduced it listed for $2999 and by the time it was discontinued according to the information I have it was $3500. The crossover was introduced in March of 1990. Fairly rare on the used market. Typically one may come up for sale each year if its lost its speaker home.

http://www.arcdb.ws/EC22/EC22.html

Optional crossover module cards were available at one time. Called the EC22CM and priced at $150 there seem to be none around for sale. And if there are they are part of a crossover unit that could use them. Apparently no one bought them because of the specific use of this crossover and the speaker it was made specifically for. Audio Research no longer supplies the modules and offers no help to those that may desire them due to the age of the crossover. If anyone needs the owners manual for this I can supply it if you contact me.

[microstrip]

I also own an EC22 - as far as I remember it has a card for the MG 3.3 tweeter. The EC22 uses custom made passive component boards to establish crossover frequency and slopes - a knowledgeable technician can modify the boards for specific speakers.