Crossover question
03-16-2005, 09:08 PM
#1
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 68
This 'crossover frequency', is that the frequency where the signal gets divided between the woofer and the tweeter?
So, any signal less than 4.0Hz (for example) goes to the woof and anything over 4.0Hz goes to the tweet?
Is that the idea?
So having a crossover with the wrong number will ........?
(Sound ****ty???)
And, is there any differerence between a 'good' and a 'bad' quality crossover? Or is it kinda like a working or not working sorta part?
[img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
So, any signal less than 4.0Hz (for example) goes to the woof and anything over 4.0Hz goes to the tweet?
Is that the idea?
So having a crossover with the wrong number will ........?
(Sound ****ty???)
And, is there any differerence between a 'good' and a 'bad' quality crossover? Or is it kinda like a working or not working sorta part?
[img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
03-16-2005, 10:39 PM
#2
Cheddar
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 558
Most humans can detect/hear sounds at the range of 20Hz to 20kHz.
So, 4.0 Hz woud be pretty low. Can anyone fart that low?
Most people use a crossover frequency of about 80 to 90 Hz as the cutoff point for their subwoofers. Most two way crossovers for full range speakers use 3kHz as the crossover point between the mids and tweets. The crossover points are determined by the design of the speakers and their capabilities. If you use a crossover point that is too low for the tweeter, you will get very poor sound and possibly (most likely) kill the tweeter. Set the crossover point too high and you would get terrible sound quality (big hole). Tweeters take over where woofers and mids can't produce any significant volume.
Good and bad crossovers? Yes. The crossover design determines and the way the two frequencies merge at the crossover point. The slope is important (sharp slope as opposed to gentle slope). Again, it all depends on the speakers involved. The quality of electronics in the crossovers make a difference, too. Tolerance values of resistors, caps, and coils......
One of the best sounding pair of door speakers I've had in my car didn't have a proper crossover at all. I used a heavily doped 4 inch driver that naturally rolled off at a gentle 6 db per octave curve. I just made sure the tweeter was cut off at a decent 3500Hz frequency to protect it from damaging low frequencies. Those were the days I had very little money and relied on creativity to get good sound. Now I rely on more expensive pre-packaged setups. Lazy and spoiled, I am. I got into designing my own crossovers - at one point I made a board in the glove box that allowed me to exchange coils and caps whenever I felt like trying different speaker setups. This was before car audio and competitions were popular.
So, 4.0 Hz woud be pretty low. Can anyone fart that low?
Most people use a crossover frequency of about 80 to 90 Hz as the cutoff point for their subwoofers. Most two way crossovers for full range speakers use 3kHz as the crossover point between the mids and tweets. The crossover points are determined by the design of the speakers and their capabilities. If you use a crossover point that is too low for the tweeter, you will get very poor sound and possibly (most likely) kill the tweeter. Set the crossover point too high and you would get terrible sound quality (big hole). Tweeters take over where woofers and mids can't produce any significant volume.
Good and bad crossovers? Yes. The crossover design determines and the way the two frequencies merge at the crossover point. The slope is important (sharp slope as opposed to gentle slope). Again, it all depends on the speakers involved. The quality of electronics in the crossovers make a difference, too. Tolerance values of resistors, caps, and coils......
One of the best sounding pair of door speakers I've had in my car didn't have a proper crossover at all. I used a heavily doped 4 inch driver that naturally rolled off at a gentle 6 db per octave curve. I just made sure the tweeter was cut off at a decent 3500Hz frequency to protect it from damaging low frequencies. Those were the days I had very little money and relied on creativity to get good sound. Now I rely on more expensive pre-packaged setups. Lazy and spoiled, I am. I got into designing my own crossovers - at one point I made a board in the glove box that allowed me to exchange coils and caps whenever I felt like trying different speaker setups. This was before car audio and competitions were popular.
03-16-2005, 11:18 PM
#3
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 68
Thanks for the in depth answer to my question. The reason I ask is I am using a set of Pioneer crossovers for my MB Quart component speakers.
The MB Quart website says the crossover frequency of the RCE216 speakers is 4.200 Hz. I am not sure of the crossover frequency of the Pioneer crossovers because they are inside my door. The speakers do seem to sound good though, loud and clear.
I better take my door apart, find out the model of the Pioneer crossovers, and see if the frequency is close.
So, name brand shouldn't really matter, the actual frequency is the important part, right?
Thanks again.
[img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]
The MB Quart website says the crossover frequency of the RCE216 speakers is 4.200 Hz. I am not sure of the crossover frequency of the Pioneer crossovers because they are inside my door. The speakers do seem to sound good though, loud and clear.
I better take my door apart, find out the model of the Pioneer crossovers, and see if the frequency is close.
So, name brand shouldn't really matter, the actual frequency is the important part, right?
Thanks again.
[img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]
03-17-2005, 12:12 PM
#6
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 68
Hey Pioneer Guy,
Here is a link to a picture of the crossovers. I can't quite make out the model number, but you might be able to knowing what letters are likely.
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.p...threadid=70153
Thanks
Here is a link to a picture of the crossovers. I can't quite make out the model number, but you might be able to knowing what letters are likely.
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.p...threadid=70153
Thanks
03-17-2005, 01:00 PM
#7
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 154
It will also matter what the slope is. The frequencies aren't just cut right at the crossover point, that's where it begins to cut off. If it's a 12 db/octave slope, it will deminish the sound at 12 decibles per octave. For instance, with the active crossover in my deck, I can choose 6/12/18/24 db/octave. It makes a big difference.
03-17-2005, 05:37 PM
#8
Cidley, it's a misprint, it seems as though someone used a . in there when there should not have been, thus 4200hz from what I have gathered. Chances are that they will work fine.
[ March 17, 2005, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: MR2NR ]
[ March 17, 2005, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: MR2NR ]
03-18-2005, 02:32 PM
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally posted by 75grandam:
It will also matter what the slope is. The frequencies aren't just cut right at the crossover point, that's where it begins to cut off. If it's a 12 db/octave slope, it will deminish the sound at 12 decibles per octave. For instance, with the active crossover in my deck, I can choose 6/12/18/24 db/octave. It makes a big difference.
It will also matter what the slope is. The frequencies aren't just cut right at the crossover point, that's where it begins to cut off. If it's a 12 db/octave slope, it will deminish the sound at 12 decibles per octave. For instance, with the active crossover in my deck, I can choose 6/12/18/24 db/octave. It makes a big difference.
[img]graemlins/boring.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/blah.gif[/img]
