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Myths & Facts about Loudspeaker Crossovers:

Identifying Legitimately High Fidelity Designs
by Gene DellaSala (/author/Gene) December 29,
2011
This article explores some of the myths and facts
about crossover design. It also discusses some of the
mistakes often made by loudspeaker manufacturers
done either as cost savings or design incompetence. It
is our hope that the reader will gain a better
understanding of the mechanics of loudspeaker
crossovers so they can make a more informed
purchasing decision.

23

The loudspeaker crossover can be considered the

(http://www.audioholics.com
brain of the loudspeaker. It directs the bandwidth of
/loudspeaker-design
frequencies each driver is optimized to reproduce
while it also level matches each driver and can help to /crossovers
/image_view_fullscreen)
stabilize the load impedance the amplier will see.
Crossover Filter Types
Without the loudspeaker crossover, a loudspeaker
driver such as a tweeter can be overdriven which can
lead to distortion and eventual failure. A loudspeaker system without a properly
designed crossover (or none at all) can cause too much frequency overlap between
drivers which can increase distortion and degrade overall sound quality.
Properly designing a loudspeaker crossover requires engineering talent and sucient
budgeting to t it into the total system cost. There are often times manufacturers will
downplay the crossovers importance, either because they lack the knowledge to truly
understand its role, or they are simply attempting yet another cost cutting tactic,
assuming the buyer will never know since its out of sight, thus out of mind.
Let us briey dene some basic crossover terminology which will help in the
discussions later in this article. A High Pass Filter (HPF) bandwidth limits frequencies
below where the driver is inecient at (or mechanically incapable of) producing those
frequencies. A Low Pass Filter (LPF) bandwidth limits frequencies above where the
driver is inecient at (or mechanically incapable of) producing those frequencies.
Traditional lter theory deals with -3dB points where power is cut in half. However,
since we are dealing with actual sound pressure (SPL) and not sound power,
loudspeaker engineers typically deal with -6dB points when working with crossover
networks.
Think of a tweeter trying to produce bass frequencies. It cant do so eciently (or
mechanically!) so we employ a HPF to block those frequencies. Conversely think of a
woofer trying to produce very high frequencies. We employ a LPF to eectively lter
the frequencies above which the woofer is capable of producing. The diagram
pictured here shows basic schematics of each lter type along with a generic
theoretical slope response. The squiggly looking device is an inductor while the dual
parallel adjacent lines represent a capacitor. This diagram is courtesy of Williamsonlabs.com.

For more information on this topic, we recommend reading our article: Filter &
Crossover Types for Loudspeakers (http://www.audioholics.com/education
/loudspeaker-basics/lter-crossover-types-for-loudspeakers)

Myth #1: The Simpler Crossover is ALWAYS Better

We've seen numerous loudspeaker companies defend their 2- or 3-element crossover
(ie. Resistor/capacitor network only) as being preferred to a more complex crossover
network that their competitors employ on their designs. They argue that they custom
designed their drivers to better integrate with each other, thus not needing a
crossover with steep slopes or an elaborate design to improve overall system
impedance.
Tabulated below is a list of lter slopes based on order for the readers
reference:
First-order = 6 dB/Oct
Second-order = 12 dB/Oct
Third-order = 18 dB/Oct
Fourth-order = 24 dB/Oct
The reality here is sometimes the exact opposite. A two- or three-element crossover
on a two-way bookshelf speaker typically has no element at all on the midbass driver,
allowing it to run full range. Unless the driver has been meticulously custom-designed
and custom-manufactured to have a natural, precise, controlled rollo at the upper
end of its operating range (which is theoretically doable, but is often a very expensive
proposition), the end result would be break up distortion at higher frequencies which
becomes audible as the speaker is driven harder and why at least a second-order
crossover network is required to lter such distortion below audibility. This is
especially true with sti cone drivers that have a more prominent audible break up
mode. Higher-order networks are typically needed in such cases. Having no network
at all is NOT a viable solution if high delity reproduction is the primary goal of the
speaker system.
First-order lters arent good at preventing distortion, particularly at or below the
tweeters resonance frequency. They also dont provide enough isolation of the
bandwidths in multi driver systems. The result is too much of an opportunity for
destructive interference, and therefore a loss of uniformity across the crossover
region with the woofer doing most of the damage at high frequencies. Its important
to note that a tweeter still remains pistonic above and below Fc while a woofer does
not. This is why second-order or higher lter networks are typically employed but they
are most costly to employ and complex to produce. The bigger parts are more
expensive and more likely to cause insertion loss or burn out under stress. This
requires a tighter set of tolerances than a lower order network for the same amount
of network variability.

Editorial Note About Directivity, Crossover Points & Driver Selection by Dr.
Floyd Toole

A good sounding loudspeaker needs to have smooth and at on-axis frequency

response and similar performance as we move far o axis. We describe this in
terms of directivity as a function of frequency, and although absolutely constant
directivity is not necessary, smooth and gradually-changing directivity is a good
objective. In deciding on the drivers to be used in a speaker system it is necessary
to ensure that at crossover frequencies the drivers have closely matching
directivities. This means that when the acoustic transition is made between, say, a
woofer and a midrange, or a midrange and a tweeter, there is continuity in the
directional sound radiation pattern. It is not sucient just to have a good looking
on-axis response. So, in addition to selecting drivers for their useable bandwidths
and power handling capabilities, we need to pay attention to their directional
radiation patterns. The most dicult transitions occur when the transducers
involved are very dierent in size.
Editorial Note by Steve Feinstein on Crossover Frequency Selection
A basic, ages-old but still true, rule of thumb states that a designer is usually safe
when he crosses a driver over at double its resonant frequency. If a tweeter has an
Fs of 1500 Hz, use a 3000 Hz crossover, minimum. If a midrange is 300 Hz, use 600
Hz.
Another good rule of thumb says, 18 dB down at resonance. If a tweeters
resonance is 1500 Hz, the voltage curve of the crossover should show the tweeter
section being down 18 dB from 0 dB. That kind of conservatism all but assures no
tweeter burn-out.
This was the rule at a major speaker company I used to work at, and the engineers
all hated it, because it was so conservative and resulted in very high tweeter
crossover points. But we almost never lost a tweeter and our warranty costs were
vanishingly low. Real world vs. theory.
A properly designed lter network will always present a stable load impedance to the
amplier. It will also properly bandwidth limit the loudspeaker drivers to lower their
distortion and better integrate their response resulting in a more even on- and
o-axis frequency response and power response. The power response is simply the
total radiated acoustic output of a speaker measured spherically around it. This is
discussed in greater detail later in the article.
Compromising a crossover design results in MORE losses and MORE distortion than a
properly executed network. This is especially true when the compromise is poor parts
quality, not complexity of design, which by virtue of the increased part count can also
increase losses while improving other parameters.
The most obvious visual cue is simply size. A small cheap crossover is just that. Small
and cheap.

(basiccrossover.jpg/image_view_fullscreen)

(BESL_bezel_xo.jpg/image_view_fullscreen)

Poorly designed crossover (left pic);

a high quality crossover (right pic)

The crossover (above left pic) is from a two-way bookshelf speaker system we have
previously reviewed. The speaker system employs a sti cone driver which has no
crossover circuit (namely a LPF) to limit its bandwidth to reduce its audible break up
modes at higher frequencies. The manufacturer chose to use an electrolytic capacitor
as a measure of cost savings at the expense of performance as these parts have
higher resistance and performance variances than quality and more costly poly
designs. This is bottom of the barrel crossover design unbecoming of any serious
loudspeaker design, despite the claims of science and research behind its products.
At low power levels these speakers don't sound bad but once the volume is cranked
up, audible driver break up was identied by our panel of listeners in blind
comparisons.
The crossover image (right above pic) is of a much higher caliber design by an
engineer making no outrageous claims. Instead, the engineer understands the
importance of proper crossover design and execution to get the most out of the
drivers. The designer invested an appropriate portion of the budget of his product to
arguably one of the most important aspects of the speaker design the crossover.
Notice how air core inductors are used in critical circuit paths and they are properly
oriented and spaced from adjacent magnetic inductors to avoid unwanted cross
coupling.
The tweeter circuit runs vertically up the left side of the photo. The woofer circuit is on
the right. You can see how the inductors are located in the corners, while the smallest
inductor is in the middle of the board. Tweeter/woofer nearby inductors are oriented
at dual-right-angles with each other. There literally is more woofer/tweeter crosstalk
from single-wiring than there is through the inductor mutual coupling.
Interestingly the philosophy can be continued that its better to run a midrange driver
full range in a 3-way system with no HPF element at all because it contributes to the
overall bass output of the product. While there is some validity to this approach, care
must be taken so that the actual driver can handle the stresses of being run
full-range. It is noteworthy to mention a small midrange driver isolated in its own
enclosure will limit its bass contribution to 80Hz or so. Any additional bass output the
midrange may be providing is wasted below those frequencies where the small driver
is inecient at converting the power to sound. At the same time, not crossing over

the midrange driver essentially keeps it in parallel with the rest of the system lowering
the overall system impedance at low frequencies forcing the amplier to supply more
current to the loudspeaker that would ordinarily be needed if the crossover instead
employed a HPF. It can be argued that this wastes amplier power and increases the
loudspeakers distortion and the chance of possibly shutting the amplier down as a
result of an unstable load impedance. A loudspeaker designed like this when turned
up in volume has the potential to experience audible break-up from the midrange
driver. This is especially true as it exceeds its excursion limits because of a lack of
protection at high input levels at frequencies below the useful range of the driver.
There are always exceptions to this, that hopefully a loudspeaker designer considers
when choosing not to employ a HPF network on a dedicated midrange driver.
We rounded up several tower speakers a couple of years ago and found both trained
and untrained listeners were able to identify a particular speaker running its
midrange without a crossover in a blind listening test as subjectively having its vocals
being slightly colored and tubby sounding, while also sounding strained at high output
levels. In our option, a simple x to their crossover by inserting a HPF would have
greatly improved the sound quality of this speaker which in itself wasnt a bad
sounding speaker to begin with. It just needed a crossover x that wasnt too costly,
but whose absence was easy to hear by even casual listeners in a controlled blind
listening test. The speaker itself still scored very highly in our listening tests but we as
Audioholics are always picking nits with all products we review to keep pushing
manufacturers into making better next generation products that we can all salivate
and eventually upgrade to.
Editorial Note about Running a Midrange Driver with No HPF by Paul Apollonio
By eliminating the series high-pass capacitor (at the VERY minimum) needed to
protect the midrange driver from dangerous levels of peak low frequency content,
this lowers the impedance of the system in a range where the output of the
midrange driver adds NOTHING to the output of the Woofer(s); hence lowering
system sensitivity. The low frequency content can cause increased voice coil
movement and possibly cause it to go out of the gap if driven too hard, thereby
allowing the low frequencies to modulate (read distort) the midrange the speaker
produces. A sinewave sweep test to measure this problem will be unrevealing in
this case. To see this problem, one must put in two frequencies simultaneously and
view the output on a spectrum analyzer. (One can see distortion products as sum
and dierence frequencies) This is a simple process and one all audio engineers are
familiar with.
Even if the Midrange driver is made INCREDIBLY sti, and placed in a very very small
sealed enclosure minimizing excursion and hence this distortion, subjecting the
midrange voice coil to the heat caused by the low frequency content is generally not
better than saving the price of the series capacitor.
There is such a thing as recommended practice and procedures, and the practice of
eliminating the high pass lter, even if only a single series capacitor from the
midrange driver is, in my opinion, NOT a good idea by any stretch of imagination.
Allowing the large peak amplitudes of low frequency content to get to a midrange
speakers voice coil is, in my opinion, not a very good idea.
Bottom Line: The KISS principle doesn't always work when it comes to building a
crossover network for a loudspeaker. Take pause if you open the speaker box and
see a 2 or 3 element crossover like the above left picture above, recognizing this was,
in our opinion, done for cost reducing purposes and or design incompetence. While
the speaker can still oer respectable performance nonetheless, it's likely not "state of
the art" in performance like you would nd in more robust and often more expensive

alternatives.
Editorial Note by Phil Bamberg
Low-slope designs also allow higher tweeter excursion, leading to distortion or
outright failure. For this reason (and those previously stated), most low-order
designs sound strained when turned up loud. Designers that are not qualied to
develop crossovers properly often tout the simple lter networks. They dont have
the knowledge and experience to handle more complicated circuits, or time delay,
or phase, for example. For anything more complex than a second order crossover,
the designer really needs a good modeling software program with a built-in
optimizer. This is why I believe that some companies which are great at building
quality cabinets still dont have properly designed crossovers inside them. Things
are improving in this regard, as more audiophiles are not accepting of poor sound
from inferior crossovers installed inside beautiful cabinets.
Confused about what AV Gear to buy or how to set it up? Join our Exclusive
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Identifying Legitimately High Fidelity Loudspeakers: Crossover Coils & Capacitors

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Next Page (/loudspeaker-design/crossovers/identifying-legitimately-high-delityloudspeakers-crossover-coils-capacitors)

See also:
Identifying Legitimately High Fidelity Loudspeakers: The Economics of Cost
Cutting (/loudspeaker-design/high-delity-loudspeakers)
Myths & Facts about Loudspeaker Cabinets: Identifying Legitimately High
Fidelity Designs (/loudspeaker-design/loudspeaker-cabinets)
Loudspeaker Drivers: Identifying Legitimately High Fidelity Parts (/loudspeakerdesign/loudspeaker-drivers)
Comb Filtering, Acoustical Interference, & Power Response in Loudspeakers
(/loudspeaker-design/comb-ltering)
By Gene DellaSala (/author/Gene) December 29, 2011

Recent Forum Posts:

Read the Complete Thread (http://forums.audioholics.com/forums
/threads/mythread.77754)
gene posts on January 03, 2012 13:51
GranteedEV, post: 853899
It has to be something along those lines because the graphs don't seem to
match up above 1khz. The impedance peak on Dennis' graph is half an octave
higher with higher magnitude, and there's no impedance dip. The behavior near
tuning is dierent too, but I think the boxes used are not the same (one being a
bookshelf (?) fand the other being a more damped tower (?))
It sounds like someone misread the schematic.
Jim told me the crossover design was not his own and after I found this issue he
said he was discontinuing the product. Perhaps he has a redesign now. I have no
way of knowing. I tried to review 2 pairs of speakers from Salk and both pairs had

issues and there is no room in my schedule at this time for a 3rd try. Perhaps
later in the year we can try again as I still have high hopes for his products.
GranteedEV posts on January 03, 2012 11:19
Nuance AH, post: 853835
It's all good, Gene. I spoke to Dennis and he said he's pretty sure the crossover
guy in the Salk facility wired these speakers incorrectly. Fortunately you found
the issue through testing, though. I don't know if any production models were
accidentally wired backwards as well or if it was just this pair, but the problem
has been resolved.
It has to be something along those lines because the graphs don't seem to
match up above 1khz. The impedance peak on Dennis' graph is half an octave
higher with higher magnitude, and there's no impedance dip. The behavior near
tuning is dierent too, but I think the boxes used are not the same (one being a
bookshelf (?) fand the other being a more damped tower (?))
It sounds like someone misread the schematic.
lsiberian posts on January 03, 2012 11:11
I agree with Kevin on using L-R 4th order networks, but it isn't always necessary if
the power requirements are low. Certainly curving a driver o well before it
bottoms out drastically will result in better overall sound if implemented
properly. I also agree with curving o the top in most situations too.
Nuance AH posts on January 03, 2012 09:31
It's all good, Gene. I spoke to Dennis and he said he's pretty sure the crossover
guy in the Salk facility wired these speakers incorrectly. Fortunately you found
the issue through testing, though. I don't know if any production models were
accidentally wired backwards as well or if it was just this pair, but the problem
has been resolved. And I do believe Salk still oers the Ellis 1801 as a current
model (it is still on their website). Of course, I am sure it's a properly wired
version.
gene posts on January 02, 2012 22:30
Nuance AH, post: 853778
Ah, the name is on the graph, Gene... It's a little late for that.

Crap I replaced the trace with "Sweep" but didn't see it where the lename called
it out. I will change out the image. It wasn't my intent to give Salk a black eye,
especially since they no longer make that speaker.
I xed the image and my apologies to Salk.
Post Reply (http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/replythread.77754/reply)

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