Pro Audio Vs Components, and Active Vs Passive

[CLPeller]

Hey guys. I'm sure these topics have been beat to death before, but I'm relatively new to the (big) car audio scene. I have a 2011 F150 and I'm going to be running 4 15's in a half wall with 4 cubes per driver and a forward firing slot port on the bottom, tuned to somewhere around 33-35 Hz. Now I've got my lows figured out, but my mids and highs are where I'm struggling. Which leads me to the questions;

I've heard pro audio gets louder, but doesn't have as good SQ as components. Truth?

Is there a noticeable difference in active/passive crossovers? I've been in plenty of systems that had passive and they sounded good. From what I've heard from a few people though, active sounds WAY better. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance! Any links or places to look, or opinions are welcomed

[Krakin]

The outcome of weather either one sounds better is the time you take to tune the system.

Components come with a passive crossover, the crossover can be set perfect for your speakers, but it also take power for you to get the crossover to work.

Active doesn't require power from the amp to run, but you can also have horrible sounding speakers if you don't tune them correctly.

It's easier for PA speakers to get louder but they do lose some accuracy. That being said SnowDrifter on here has some nice sounding PA speakers.

Components while being to an extent more accurate in reproduction of sound can also be overpowered more easily.

In the end it comes down to how you treat the speakers. Treat them good you get food sound, bad and you will get bad sound.

[ham4864]

besides me there are lots of guys on here that have nice PA systems.

You can't please every body.

[mrd6]

I will say this. If you do not have a ton of experience and know what you are doing, you will have a much harder time getting PA speakers to sound good. A nice set of components that are designed to work together will likely give you better sound. And if you properly install and power them, will get very loud still.

However, if you are just going to be listening to a lot of decaf and value volume over quality of sound. It might be worth going the PA route.

[CLPeller]

Thanks for the breakdown Krakin. I won't be tuning the system myself, as I'll be running a JBL MS-8 off the stock HU (until I upgrade the HU, probably next spring). A good friend of mine has a Lot of experience with the MS-8 so I'll be putting it in his hands. Lol. As far as component sets being overpowered/drowned out, I'm going to put anywhere from 4-8 sets in my front doors, so I don't think that should be an issue. I want to do 8 (if the mids will fit), because excess is always more fun. But will that be too overpowering on the highs? Or can that be all adjusted with proper tuning?

Mrd6, quality is definitely of value to me. This will eventually be my show truck, so I don't want something overpowering on any aspects. Just a nice, well rounded, loud as hell system

For what it's worth, I plan on doing a full wall down the road, which is why I figure 8 sets of comps would be best. But if they'll overpower the half wall, then I'll do less, and rebuild doors when the time comes.

[Krakin]

I haven't had any experience with big builds other than seeing the results of others through the internet. But from what I can tell is the you need less amount of highs.

Being a show truck I would think that having overbearing anything besides bass would make the experience less enjoyable to the person in the demo.

That being said you can always turn down the highs if running active and you have too many. It will be harder to get less louder if you undershot on your guess.

[mrd6]

Gotcha, well in that case, if your friend does know what he is doing with the MS-8 he should be able to get the pro audio to sound plenty good and you could keep the efficiency advantage. I think your best bet would be to go that PA route, make sure you have a solid install to bring out the midbass, and then get ready to dial it in with the processor. Thats what I would do at least, especially for a show truck.

[BassMunky]

what are some good pa speaker and brands?

[Krakin]

Rockford, Sundown Audio, some others just haven't ever looked for them.

[Kevin M]

what are some good pa speaker and brands?

I run Selenium and Eminence in my car and am pretty happy with them. Check out usspeaker.com. They have a ton of great brands. RCF, Beyma, Faital Pro, B&C, half a dozen others.