Crossovers

Okay, well that was all pretty helpful. In any case, it helped answer my underlying question. It seems that many people feel that lower order xovers are the "purest" method, in that due to their simplicity, they "color" the sound the least. Less components = more direct reproduction. I've seen it argued that higher order xovers can introduce more problems than they solve. So, my underlying question was, are higher order/more complicated xovers "bad"? It appears that the answer, like most things audio is, "it depends."

If I've misinterpreted anything here, please let me know. Also, is it logical to assume that as you add more drivers, the crossover necessarily becomes more complicated? (I.e., a 4-way system is going to be more complicated than a two-way)

-Chris

Indeed, it depends...on LOTS of things. BUT...I believe you should not obsess about crossover networks or even make the simplicity/complexity of the crossover a 2nd or 3rd priority. LISTEN to them and go for the best-sounding speaker system you can afford.

You certainly have some overall considerations. Perhaps you're like my friend, a 'worn-out diddeebopper', who values grace under (high sound) pressure above all. He simply walks away from systems, no matter HOW else they sound, if they don't sound at ease while driven VERY LOUDLY*. Or perhaps you value razor-sharp imaging? Or perhaps you value overall soundstaging...ie the mimicking of the concert hall...above all else.

AFTER you buy a speaker, live with it for a while. If you still love it after 6 months or a year, consider improving the crossover components. But first, fall in love with a speaker.

* When he was evaluating speakers this summer, I couldn't be in the same room!
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Actually, I would have no intentions of altering a speaker's crossover, or even basing speaker choice on the crossover type. Ultimately, I'm asking more out of general curiosity, given that there's so many different setups out there.

In the end, I'm going to buy whatever sounds the best to me. But, I like to have SOME understanding of how things work.

OK, good.

Generally, high-order filters are used to increase power handling at the expense of phase coherency.

Another thing I like to relay in layman's terms is that the order of the crossover more or less correlates to how much power one will need to drive the speaker.

Think of them as hurdles on a runner's track. The more obstacles one has to hurdle, the more difficult it is to get to the finish line. All things being equal, first order crossovers are the easiest to drive, and things become progressively more difficult as one moves upward.

The fly in the ointment are brands like Theil (first order) and Dynaudio (second order) who throw all sorts of networks in the crossover to flatten this or that, and end up with first order crossovers with 71 parts and loads that are just as difficult for an amplifier to drive as a higher order crossover.