First Order Crossovers: Pros and Cons

Ah, the JSE Infinite Slopes...

I really liked the smaller ones (1, 1.2(?) and 1.8), and owned a pair. As you moved up in the food chain (2 and 4), I found them to have a tendency to sound boring, and goodness knows, I gave them a chance. Heard a pair of 4s a year ago, and still found them lacking in excitement. Overall, nice speakers and I miss the company a lot. That notwithstanding, Jeff Joseph is a prince of a guy, and his speakers are pretty special.

Darn, Marty, apart from the humor you so graciously provide to us all, you've conferred a tremendous amount of good information in this thread.

Not much I can add beyond saying that the more complex the crossover becomes, the more oomph an amp must have to push the music through these parts.

Skrivis, I must applaud you on the link you provided!

Also, along with the series crossover being "self correcting" in terms of driver variation, it exhibits the same characteristics for variances in the crossover components. For example, as we know, using a 5% capacitor in the network can result in a fair bit of variation from speaker to speaker. While painstaking matching of all components is a solution, the cost effects (time, testing, and parts) cannot be dismissed. The series network yields some very positive advantages here.

However, as the article points out, in the end, there is no free lunch. But, we have always known that and come to this conclusion for a lot of things. Otherwise, there wouldn't need to be much variation in crossover design.

I'm going to let everyone know when Bill finishes his own Ohms, and then you're all going to have to get into Philly so that we can all go over to HIS house for a bar b que. Believe me, it's going to be an absolute blast.

As Sean stated, Bill's favorite speakers are probably the Ohms. He has told me several times he considers the Ohms the finest speakers ever produced, once he implements his ideas into them. I spotted them once in his shop, and he just lit up. I asked, "But, they sure are hard to drive, aren't they?" His reply was, "No, when I get done with them, they are incredibly sensitive. They'll play like crazy with no power."

No, he hasn't tackled his own yet, as he dreads working on them due to the labor intensity. He just doesn't want to take time away helping you and I via his business. You must know the man in order to understand. When he does something, he does it better than anyone else has ever done, otherwise he just doesn't do it. Last summer, he painted his wife's car, at what he claimed to be twice what a quality body shop would charge. Why? Because it needs to be to his own standards or else he will drive himself crazy, and no one beyond him can meet those standards. If anyone ever wants to see how detail oriented he ever is, just ask him a couple of questions regarding automotive transmissions. You'll get an education the likes of which no one has ever gotten before.

I strongly believe Bill is the finest speaker guy in the country, if not the world. It's amazing who we hold in such high regard in this industry, while failing to recognize the true genius of the craft.