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Speakers with external parts, gimmicks or serious?

So I’ve seen, very rarely, speakers that allowed users to change the crossovers by swapping parts. Some by having external hookups to a resistor or capacitor. This isn't just having an external crossover, but having the crossover specifically designed to swap parts in and out. Kind of like some of the high end phono preamps that require jumpers or parts to be swapped.

In theory this would give a lot of flexibility in treble balance but also sound quality. What do you think, would this be a real game changer, or is it better to have this control elsewhere.

Best,


Erik
erik_squires

Showing 3 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires OP
16,682 posts
 
@chayro Oh, I forgot about them.

In addition, some makers provide fancy jumper boards, or switches to tailor the response curve to taste. 

To me that seems like a much better option than to keep swapping amps and cables, but it doesn't seem to be what audiophiles want.

Erik
erik_squires OP
16,682 posts
 
So I found the Gryphon Mojo which has a replaceable resistor, and I think there's another brand that makes it easy. Zu perhaps?

Forgot.

Best,


Erik
erik_squires OP
16,682 posts
 
@timlub

Overall, most manufactures try to obtain a flat response....

I think that's a little generous from what I've seen. Many "high end" speakers are juiced one way or another. From rough treble to dips around 2.4kHz to enhance an artificial sense of imaging to boosts in the bass, or low impedance mid-bass to make speakers seem more "discerning." Product differentiation is very important to many manufacturers and that's hard to do when they all share the same frequency response.

There are of course exceptional products that try for exceptional neutrality, but I think saying "most" try for flat is a little generous. Over time speaker "voicing" of a particular manufacturer also may change as do the fads and what a magazine may promote as "best."

There's also the matter of listening habit and style. Flat in a test room isn't flat in your room, and you may not like it. If you listen at low volumes, boosts at the ends may be ideal.

Best,


Erik

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