What should I know about sound processors?
 

I currently have a pair of infinity kappa 62.9i's in the doors, 2 rex10d4 subs, and a kicker zx700.5 5 channel amp. I hear a lot of talk about sound processors on these boards and I really never looked in to them! So the question is basically the title, what do you think I should know about sound processors? And even better what do you reccomend for the setup? Thanks in advance

First, do you like the way it sounds?

If not, try to describe what you are looking for.

I do like the current condition but its not perfect. The tweeters are a bit harsh on the kappas, and the subs lack a bit in the higher frequency hits. But I have an amateur ear so its hard to say. This is my first system and I want to know if a sound processor would be a good improvement over the current. It's between getting another set of kappas for the rear deck, or get a processor. But I really have no idea what the processor will change because ive never seen one in use.
edit: Im looking for a warm sound, yet crisp hits. I have purely SQ in mind when i do my upgrades

would anyone else mind sharing their 2 cents?

im running the JBL MS-8 and its the best upgrade i have ever did in the 5 years that i have been playing with car audio. imaging is sick and it smooths out the frequency band to flat. with is nice and then u have a 31 band eq to make it to your own taste. amazing little piece.. fun to play with too

That sounds awesome.. until i looked at the price tag! Any processors that will have similar options/features for less dough?

if you want to do eq/crossovers and others you are looking to spend some dough

look in the classified, i believe someone is selling the ms-8 and some1 else is selling the audiocontrol dqs

This doesnt seem like its for me.. dont even have the cash at the moment to hook up my front speakers to the amp (it seems like a pain in the ass and I dont want to do it, but maybe I haven't researched it enough), nevermind a processor. Maybe a future upgrade. But basically processors are simply crossovers with more in depth EQ's? Whats the difference between active and passive?
EDIT: There has to be something I'm missing here, for $800 and the SQ difference people are describing there must be more to it..

passive crossovers are predetermined filters typically setup by the manufacturer IMO are good for components sets bought as a kit (look at coaxials or trixial speakers where the terminals are there will be a capacitor or two, that's a cheap passive) there other passives you wire dedicated drivers to which filter at a predetermined frequency but usually have a switch for roll off the thing with passives you gotta match your driver impedences and is a little more difficult to add equalization


actives are powered (duh :P) but you have a lot more control on what frequency you can filter at (and even slope in some cases) these often are good if you are mix and matching driver units across brands (or even same brand but different models) with different specs, basically you can do whatever you want with a decent active

if you are inclined you can build your own passive system but if you want it to be any good it can get complicated (in regards of circuitry design) and costly

ah ok, well the kappas have a passive so what effect would already having a passive crossover have on the processor's crossover?