Help me understand crossover (1 Viewer)

[AshishNJ]

Whenever I am reading tech specs for a speaker, i always come across a term called crossover frequency. Can someone please explain what it means and what a good number is ?

ex. Speaker is lsited 10-130w
frq 30-20KHZ
Impedence 8Ohm
Crossover 2500 ??

 

[gene c]

In your example the bass driver would produce the frequency range from 30hz to 2500hz. The tweeter would produce 2500hz to 30,000hz. It's called a crossover because it's the point where the frequency crosses over from the woofer to the tweeter.

And of course, it's not really a point but more like a slope. The woofer would slowly begin to drop off in volume as the tweeter slowly begins to increase in volume. A well designed crossover leads to a smooth, seamless frequency response.

Some less expensive speakers don't really use a crossover but the tweeter has a bass blocker, which blocks harmful bass notes from reaching the tweeter. The woofer will receive the full range signal, even though it can't reproduce the whole range. There's a lot more to it than that but other, more knowledgable members would be better to explain in more detail.

 

[AshishNJ]

That is good to know. So, a 3500 HZ cut-over vs. 2500 hz cutover rating for a pair of speakers, which one is better ?

 

[Robert_J]

We can't answer that question without knowing the details of the drivers used and the goals of the designer.

-Robert

 

[Stephen Tu]

Neither is "better". It's just a design choice. It's not a number you have to care about at all if you aren't the one building the speaker!