Going Active
OK, I kicked the passive crossovers to the curb and went active with a stock DCX2496. There's a bit of a drop in response between 10khz and 20khz that a 6db per octave boost on the DCX addressed quite nicely. There's also a 4 db bump between 1khz and 2khz that the DCX can dial in a small drop to get the upper mids very smooth indeed. I also got rid of my SA-1 amps because I just didn't have the space to build a box for them. They were actually pretty darn good amps. I ended up getting a Crest CA9, which is 900 watts into the V2 bass load, and I hear no difference in sound quality between it and the SA-1 at all. Of course, the SA-1 has a built in bass boost to compensate for the OB deep bass roll off of the V2's, but the DCX has a 12db per octave boost I can dial in to deal with it nicely too.
Going fully OB!!!!
OK, I had some problems with the original V2 tweeters - the shipping company does a poor job with the drivers when they pack/ship them (P. Audio, it's the BM8XCA coax driver). The problem is that the tweeters are easily damaged in transit. But, luckily, dealing with Danny is awesome. He let me upgrade to the V1 tweeters and I have to say that going from the direct radiating tweeters (stock) to the OB V1 tweeters (upgraded) made a HUGE, HUGE difference. IMHO, the stock tweeters should be kicked to the curb, the OB tweeters make that much of a difference. I suppose it's the fact that the mids are radiating much more energy into the room than the stock tweeters, while the upgraded V1 tweeters match the total energy of the OB mids. Anyway, I'm not sure if Danny will make these a standard option on the V2's, but IMO he should. They make a giant difference for the better, creating a more cohesive sound from top to bottom.
