Dunlavy Minimum Phase Mods


Hi Everyone,

Came across an interesting virtual system here on Audiogon. The author claims (and I believe him) to have developed minimum phase crossovers.

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/6692

It is very very rare to get to do an A/B comparison with the same speakers using minimum phase AND traditional crossover design. For instance, I can listen to a Vandersteen or Thiel, and compare them to a B&W, but that's not the same.

I'm curious if anyone has had a chance to hear them and opine as to how important this is to the final experience.

Best,

E
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by shadorne

Linear Phase is preferable except when high Q filters (aggressive filter) are used.

High Q filters can result in audible pre-ringing and a minimum phase filter will have no pre-ringing - so a snare hit will sound more natural with a minimum phase high Q filter.

However, I think high Q filters should be avoided period! 

So if you are dealing with low Q filters then linear phase is always the best. The reason linear phase is best is because it preserves the relative phase information in the audio. The timbre of a musical sound that covers many octaves or percussive instruments that have a wide spectrum response will be preserved faithfully by a linear phase filter. Minimum phase changes the relationship between various frequencies and can really mess up correct timbre.

In a speaker crossover with a low Q filter (gentle filter) I would recommend always linear phase (so as to preserve timbre especially in higher frequencies)