2. speakers
  3. 137349-82539

Is Speaker design evolution stagnant

Based on what I read from speaker manufacturers, many use the same drivers but apply different crossover philosophies to achieve a particular sound.

My simplistic understanding is that while limiting the range of high or low signals , the remaining signal is corrupted ( phase inversions, roll off, etc.. ).

With today’s technology, why aren’t more speaker manufacturers using active crossovers to be connected after the preamp and sending exact spectrum signals separately to be amplified to each driver.  That would Eliminate all electronics inside the speaker cabinet except the drivers. Each driver gets fed only the signal that it works best at. No out of phase, half phase, quarter phase issues, no phase angle issues. 100% of the power goes to each driver without limiters to scale it back.  I think Bryston Model T Actives is designed this way ( don’t work for them and not pushing any product). Am I looking at it too simply? Do electronic crossover play havoc on signals the way inductors and capacitors do?

Some speaker manufacturers have gone half way with built in woofer amps ( Vaughn?)

Of course you would need a 3 channel amp for each side ( based on W/M/T config) or some variable of mono amps, whatever.



jacksky
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
@bache 

I build or rebuilt my own stuff except for the Focal speakers. Practically nobody here is listening like I am for as little money as I've spent. To do as you suggest I would spend nearly the price of the speakers to simply build the crossovers and amps out of individual parts. To actually buy the amp I'm using retail you'd spend about 75% of the price of the speakers. You're talking about some VERY cheaply built amps of the sort I'm not even interested in looking at. Stuff like you'd see at Best Buy. 

What seems to go unnoticed here is that passive crossovers are artfully designed to compensate for the shortcomings of driver and cabinet behavior and you're not going to get that result with an active crossover unless it's carefully tailored to the speaker; a skill practically no DIY'er has, and most definitely a trait no retail unit will get you. If you're going to go the active crossover route, you need to be pretty sure your cabinet and driver alignments are dead on because a simple active crossover will give you none of the corrections you need to compensate for less than ideal cabinet and driver behavior. 
bache's avatar
bache
222 posts
 
kssst_amojan,  I dont want to argue.  You are DIY guy and build and
rebuild for own use, i hope you sound as perfect as you tell us. 
 is no secret we use high quality amp module from Hypex , it not such
expensive and no chip, we have account and get good price. you see
on market now plenty accembled   amps based on Hypex M-core
Some people like it ,some not, but  without doubt is best choice
to amplified  25-700 hz, The quality , damping is excellent  amd price
for all parts no more $700-800      per speakers ( no labor cost)    FOR mids and high my customers using low power class A  (tub or solid
state)   My personal preference is Pathos double TT   20 Watt per channel. See my   http://bacheaudio.com/bache-audio-002ab-loudspeakers-v2-stereotimes-com/ 

  http://bacheaudio.com/6moons-audioreviews-bache-audio-002ab/
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
@bache 

Not trying to argue. Just pointing out facts. Generally, the more complicated you make the system, the more complicated the problems and distortion get. I've seen what it takes to make an active crossover that replicates what a well designed passive can do and it's a fairly monumental task with debatable benefits. The question is why more people don't do what you suggest and that's the answer. It's extremely complicated and the results aren't really worth the hassle. 
lewinskih01
793 posts
 
Kosst,

What you describe is true, sometimes. As usual it depends on implementation. Active digital xo aren't that complicated to implement and can solve the issues you describe if done right. At a fraction if the cost of passive. But the system has to be designed to work that way - not just the xo.

Why this isn't used more frequently? The learning curve is steep. It's a lot more involved. You need to be able to measure. It's a lot simpler to connect an amp with a pair of wires to the speaker,  play music and call it a day.
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
782 posts
 
lewinskih01 +1
More to discover