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All speakers have a little EQ built in

It may come as a shock to audio purists but part of the work of a crossover is level matching as well as tonal adjustments of individual drivers.  Ahem.  That's what we call equalization. 

This is true whether the speaker uses active or passive crossover, and may be in place just to adjust phase matching in the crossover range.

Also, curiously, while companies may brag about the number of parts in their crossovers, more parts does not indicate more quality.  It may just indicate more equalization had to be done to the drivers to get them to match. 

erik_squires
waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff
1,108 posts
 

Calibrated flat response.  Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it?

mbmi's avatar
mbmi
568 posts
 

I have a 30K rig and use a $150 Schiit Loki Mini....why, Because I like to tweak bad recordings . Don't put it down until you actually try one.

almosthome
42 posts
 
mbmi's avatar
mbmi

"I have a 30K rig and use a $150 Schiit Loki Mini....why, Because I like to tweak bad recordings . Don't put it down until you actually try one."

I started with a Mini, it is now in the garage system. The middle one is in the HT. I finally got the Max in the main system - there is no going back now. I can fix a bad recording in seconds.

lanx0003
821 posts
 

Why not, as long as you avoid making adjustments that are too high or too low, which could cause clipping, and the quality of the sound such as dynamics and microdetails remains unaffected. Especially during low-volume listening, it is desirable to apply EQ adjustments to compensate for highs and lows to achieve an equal loudness contour.

However, the questions that concern me are:

  1. Will the quality of sound genuinely remain unaffected with EQ?

  2. Should I opt for digital EQ (especially PEQ) or analog EQ?

mashif
242 posts
 

My favorite speakers, JBL 4311, have a simple dividing network with volume controls. 2 capacitors and Lpads. Yes, over time the Lpads need cleaning, but devoting a couple of hours every 10 years isn’t a big deal. 

The drivers, cabinet, and crossover were designed to work together as is. The 3 drivers overlap in frequency response above 1500hz with no inductors choking them off. Additionally, the midrange driver is built with polarity reversed. This is a common technique JBL engineers used in various models. 


These were the most popular studio monitors among recording engineers of all genres during the 1970s. They fell out of favor for mixing because they sounded too good and didn’t translate well to average consumer models, but many engineers used them at home for that very reason. 
 

JBL engineers eventually succumbed to the marketing department and designed more complex crossovers in future models. They sound great but don’t have the dynamics of the 4311. It’s a unique and special speaker. 
 

 

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