Best Location for Passive Crossover

[EUVL]

Perhaps an already well discussed topic, but my search did not reveal anything :

Take an example of a 2-way speaker with a passive crossover (e.g. B&W Silver Signature) and bi-wiring, where is the best place to put the crossover network ?

1) Inside the speaker -- common solution, user friendly, but get all acoustic excitation of the box.

2) Outside but close to the speaker -- improve on (1) in terms of vibration, but cables still carry signal with full frequency spectrum.

3) Remote crossover, close to power amp, long cables (one pair for each chassis) after crossover (inductance ??? ).


Looking forward to some enlightening advices,
Patrick

[knorke]

Hi
I would recommend placing the crossover near
the amp.
The benefit would probably be that the amp doesn't
"see" the capacitance of the woofer cable since it's
isolated through the crossover...
I've done that with good results before...

[aarsoe]

I believe anything is better than placing the crossover inside the box. However It does require some considderation if your doing it to a pre-fabricated speaker. Mening I would use the same type of cables from the crossover to the speaker - as you may change the sound in a direction by using a different speaker cable. Also you need to considder if you want to use speaker post or just wires running out from the speaker, as you will be adding another connection otherwise. Finally you also need to considder the enclosure of the crossover. Stay away from metal if possible, as the induction fields can create unwanted distortion in a metal cabinett (unless you use MU metal)

[Ron E]

Originally posted by aarsoe
Stay away from metal if possible, as the induction fields can create unwanted distortion in a metal cabinett (unless you use MU metal)

Mu metal would be the worst material possible. Its high permeability means that the values of the inductors would change - and unpredictably.

Putting the crossover in a separate enclosure makes sense in a number of ways, not the least its accessibility for tweeking/changing the design after the fact.

Biwiring may change the sound, but not always for the better. Its true purpose is to sell you twice as much wire. As PT Barnum said, there's one born every minute.

[scone]

Here's a method you might want to look at. The crossover is mounted vertically on the back of the speaker box, but inset so you can seal the back with another piece of wood to make everything look nice. I just came across the page yesterday. I'll be using the technique in my next pair of cabinets.

http://member.newsguy.com/~stigerik/html/gnurk.htm . The pic is near the bottom of the page.

In regards to the cable carrying the full freq. spectrum... is there any reason this is a problem? I would seriously doubt the capacitance of any decent audio cable would have an audible effect on the sound of the speaker.