I am confused and need some help. I am going to be running most likely a Zapco C2K-3.0X2 for my front stage. I tried looking at some other topics on this forum and did not find what i was looking for. My question is can i get Rainbow Platinums, and run them off the x-over in the zapco. what are my options if i decide on these comps. it just seems silly to pay over a grand for a x-over such as with this set. any help would be greatly appreciated. again i have a 2004 yukon and would like to stick to the factory location of the doors for the install.
You can run the Platinums active no problem, it may help to do so since you can optimize them for your vehicle, again it may not. One of those things you can't really predict, the Rainbows have good off axis performance as it is and they are very good with crossover design. The Zapco amp likely isn't going to give you the options you'd want from an active crossover, and I personally would rather go active with something like the Pioneer P9, Alpine F#1 Status, or Audiocontrol units anyway, more control and options for tuning. Most of those are going to be a lot more expensive than a passive x-over for the speakers, though. Zapco also offers a crossover themselves, for your needs the SX-SL would do the job, it has a 3 way crossover (subwoofer, midbass, and tweeter) and also 5 band paragraphic EQs, system volume, fader, and high/low balance. However, retail on that is nearly $900.
The Audio Control DQX is a great little unit, and can be purchased for around $500. I was actually planing on using it to run my Focal Utopias in an active setup. So I am pretty sure you would be happy with it. You can always add the dash controler later, if you want to be able to fine tune, or change between presets without axcessing the unit.