Thoughts on converting active CLR to passive??

3 Chord Rock

3 Chord Rock

Member
I know anything is possible given enough effort...but does this make any sense?

Currently I have two active CLR wedges that I've owned since the CLRs came out and they are pretty much perfect when they work correct. Like many, I started having issues with cutting out etc a few years back and dealt with it as they were intermittent problems but they've gotten progressively worse to the point they are almost unusable. I started a support email with Atomic with some initial contact, but then got completely ghosted on my cry for help with a few unanswered emails leaving me presumably totally on my own here. I don't have anything local (that I can find) that will help with repair, besides the hassle of shipping I'd rather not deal with.

So the short story if you skipped the last paragraph is I have a couple of grand into two fancy looking bricks I can rest my foot on top to help me look cool while doing a guitar solo.

So I started thinking....what about the possibility of converting these into passive? I'm certain the power amp designed to work with these is probably the best, but right now I'm willing to consider other possibilities. What would be the downsides....and what would be the easiest way to do this? Has anybody?

Please explain it like you're talking to an 8 year old. I haven't even pulled it apart yet to see what's in there, and honestly my knowledge of these things and speakers in general is pretty anemic. I mean. I'm good to hook up a speaker in a traditional guitar cab....and maybe a little more lol

Again, I really don't expect them to sound the same no matter what I do, but I'm running out of ideas. I'd be ok with buying a new power amp section and replacing the whole thing but I don't think that's available. Any help ideas etc appreciated.
 
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You should be able to take them to a decent amp tech and have them modified with a switch that would take their power amp out of the circuit. And, who knows, maybe the tech will see the problem and fix it.

There are plate amplifiers available and a tech should be able to help you find replacements if you want to go that route too.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
You should be able to take them to a decent amp tech and have them modified with a switch that would take their power amp out of the circuit. And, who knows, maybe the tech will see the problem and fix it.

There are plate amplifiers available and a tech should be able to help you find replacements if you want to go that route too.
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I probably should be a little more specific in my question in that I really need some insight on how the crossover works, and how it's integrated to create the final sound. And for all I know the crossover is the problem. Only thing I know about them is that the active wedge is active and the passive are passive.

IF I were to remove everything down to a basic cabinet with speakers , which would literally bypass everything, I'm fairly certain I could wire things up and use an external poweramp to make sound come out of it and make something functional, but would it be any good? I'm lost on what is needed for a crossover and how to implement it. My quick internet searching has results for passive and active crossovers that are all across the board in price and I presume quality as well. I imagine that's fairly critical to achieving the sound I love from the CLR.

I suppose I could get it to a tech at some point, but I have no idea who, and one thing I've learned about ANY trade is there are those who really understand how to optimize things and there are those that just know how to "make it work". I think I could make it work lol, but that;s about it.

In the bigger picture, I've taken some inspiration from the Headrush thread, and figure if I can find an acceptable crossover, and power it with a solid state amp ( I already have a few to choose from) if I'm anywhere in the ballpark I could work with EQ within the Fractal unit to get me close enough to a sound I enjoy. I'm not stuck on the idea of it being as flat response as it is in factory configuration, bust something usable.
 
I don't own a CLR, but looked around a little bit. Found an old Reverb listing that had pics of the drivers. Also looked at a manual online, and it seems the power amp has an active crossover and 2 amps, one driving the 12" and the other driving the horn, and the passive speaker has a passive cross over. So you would need a passive crossover for your active box and a stereo amp to run them, which you have. Parts Express sells all this kind of stuff; plate amps, crossovers etc. There is a ton of info on this stuff on the net. Reading through it can make your eyes glaze over, but building speakers is a hobby, and so all the info you need is out there. It's worth doing since you already have a lot of $$ into it. If you're happy with the sound of your passive wedge, then it shouldn't be too tough to shoehorn a passive crossover into your powered box. Best luck man!

Edit: I see you have 2 actives. So install passive crossovers in both. Might be possible to salvage the amp plate without the amp and add or use the original jacks. Otherwise you’ll need to plug the hole with a flat plate and a speaker jack.
 
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What a great idea! I have a pair of original version CLRs myself which are still working (knock on wood), but in the event that
they quit, I would definitely be interested in powering them with my Matrix instead. I bet it would sound great!
 
skolacki said:
. Reading through it can make your eyes glaze over, but building speakers is a hobby, and so all the info you need is out there.
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And that's where I'm at right now lol
I know many here really enjoy the discovery process, and for some things I sure do as well. This is not one of them :) Looking more for an end result than the joy of building.

Sometimes I've learned in life it's better to cut your loses to, but that gets harder to justify the deeper I go
 
skolacki said:
I don't own a CLR, but looked around a little bit. Found an old Reverb listing that had pics of the drivers. Also looked at a manual online, and it seems the power amp has an active crossover and 2 amps, one driving the 12" and the other driving the horn, and the passive speaker has a passive cross over. So you would need a passive crossover for your active box and a stereo amp to run them, which you have. Parts Express sells all this kind of stuff; plate amps, crossovers etc. There is a ton of info on this stuff on the net. Reading through it can make your eyes glaze over, but building speakers is a hobby, and so all the info you need is out there. It's worth doing since you already have a lot of $$ into it. If you're happy with the sound of your passive wedge, then it shouldn't be too tough to shoehorn a passive crossover into your powered box. Best luck man!

Edit: I see you have 2 actives. So install passive crossovers in both. Might be possible to salvage the amp plate without the amp and add or use the original jacks. Otherwise you’ll need to plug the hole with a flat plate and a speaker jack.
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@skolacki nailed. It— you’ll need a passive crossover to pull it off. If you can find pictures or a description of the innards of the passive model, you’d be ahead of the game.
 
3 Chord Rock said:
what about the possibility of converting these into passive?
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Are they neo- or ferrite-magnet transducers? There was a passive crossover developed for ferrites but not for neos.

If you build correct passive crossovers and install them in the speakers, you can then use any good power amplifier with them. FYI, there is no store-bought passive crossover that will work, nor is there any way to use the power amps in the active units with passive crossovers.
 
You can try contacting Atomic Amps on The Gear Page. He has been posting some there recently & you might get a response on how to get the power amps fixed. I know you can send just the power amps in for repairs so you don't have to ship the whole cab.
 
ropas2 said:
Are they neo- or ferrite-magnet transducers? There was a passive crossover developed for ferrites but not for neos.

If you build correct passive crossovers and install them in the speakers, you can then use any good power amplifier with them. FYI, there is no store-bought passive crossover that will work, nor is there any way to use the power amps in the active units with passive crossovers.
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Mine are NOT the Neo version. I assume by a passive crossover developed you are referring to what was installed in the original passive wedges?

Unless somebody has a great workaround I'm pretty much off the idea of repairing or using the original power amp and/or crossover. When you say there is no store bought passive that will work, do you mean that will work like the original (same characteristics) or that will work at all? In other words I'm going to have no choice but to learn about building one?
Rex said:
@skolacki nailed. It— you’ll need a passive crossover to pull it off. If you can find pictures or a description of the innards of the passive model, you’d be ahead of the game.
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Would love this info. I'm sure somebody is ahead of me on this, but I'll be Googling
 
notalemming said:
You can try contacting Atomic Amps on The Gear Page. He has been posting some there recently & you might get a response on how to get the power amps fixed. I know you can send just the power amps in for repairs so you don't have to ship the whole cab.
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I haven't checked there in awhile, so maybe I will. Last I saw over there were guys who sent stuff in were without gear for months with little to no contact in regard to progress. I would be totally down for sending stuff to them with a hint of assurance that it would be done in a timely manner. Or at least some communication.
 
3 Chord Rock said:
Mine are NOT the Neo version. I assume by a passive crossover developed you are referring to what was installed in the original passive wedges?
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Yes.
3 Chord Rock said:
When you say there is no store bought passive that will work, do you mean that will work like the original (same characteristics) or that will work at all?
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Well, if you install somebody's generic crossovers, sound will indeed come out of the speakers when you play through them. OTOH, they will sound pretty bad by comparison with actual passive CLRs.

3 Chord Rock said:
In other words I'm going to have no choice but to learn about building one?
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If you want a speaker that sounds like your CLRs do now when they're working, that's the only way you can go passive.
 
skolacki said:
After you read up on crossovers, you can buy parts here: https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-components/crossover-components

They also sell whole kits: https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-components/crossover-components/assembled-passive-crossovers
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Thanks........it's rainy here so may have some time to read up on this lol

ropas2 said:
Yes.

Well, if you install somebody's generic crossovers, sound will indeed come out of the speakers when you play through them. OTOH, they will sound pretty bad by comparison with actual passive CLRs.
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Thanks for clarifying. And that's where I'm at right now, I don't want to put effort into this if I don't think I'd ever be happy with the sound. On the same token, I'm sure I could be happy with something that isn't the exact same, but I enjoy. I don't need it to match my studio monitors. I just want something with volume that I can use different IRs and hear the individual character. I've been using a guitar cab lately with the cab block bypassed...which is a lot of fun and sounds great if you like Greenbacks :)
 
This might come in handy if you have the same model of driver. I found an old Reverb listing (sold) that had pics of a speaker set from a CLR.

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AFAIK the active CLRs are bi-amped, so the crossover would be before the separate power amps driving the woofer and tweeter, in the preamp section of the module. There's also additional EQ and filtering taking place with the various mode settings, so it might not be possible to exactly recreate the same response with just a passive crossover.
 
mr_fender said:
There's also additional EQ and filtering taking place with the various mode settings, so it might not be possible to exactly recreate the same response with just a passive crossover.
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The good thing is that some judicious EQ adjusting on the modeler side should help make up the difference.

Maybe someone could shoot an IR of the CLR, or get a frequency-response chart which'd help.
 
mr_fender said:
AFAIK the active CLRs are bi-amped, so the crossover would be before the separate power amps driving the woofer and tweeter, in the preamp section of the module. There's also additional EQ and filtering taking place with the various mode settings, so it might not be possible to exactly recreate the same response with just a passive crossover.
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Yeah, I think best case scenario is I'd be building something different
Hopefully good.
I remember when the CLRs were first introduced at least one of the members over at TGP went into some detail on what went into designing these and even the definition of C L R and what it meant. While it gave me a decent laymans understanding it was all WAY above my pay grade

If i can get these to the point of being a musical option , it sure beats the alternative at this point of putting them in the dumpster.
 
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