Hey, hoping for some observations on these crossovers I picked up for a little Cerwin Vega project I have planned with my brother. I have a set of Cerwin E-312 and the crossovers are really subpar.. So in thinking about stuff for the both of us to do as a project, I thought of redoing these speakers I have in my workshop.
Here is the crossover I picked:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005705670791.html
First off, I'd probably do some obvious things like remove the cheap screwed on terminals and solder wire direct. But in reading reviews, these Russian guys were all sounding off on incorrect values used on the LF portion - the 2.7uF specifically and how it should be larger. Having a look, trying to see what they are talking about, if anything at all. I'd also bypass a few caps too, maybe hard-wire the midrange jumper. Interested in some thoughts. Fortunately there was a pic posted of the backside of the PCB. What do you think of extras to do on these?
Here is the crossover I picked:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005705670791.html
First off, I'd probably do some obvious things like remove the cheap screwed on terminals and solder wire direct. But in reading reviews, these Russian guys were all sounding off on incorrect values used on the LF portion - the 2.7uF specifically and how it should be larger. Having a look, trying to see what they are talking about, if anything at all. I'd also bypass a few caps too, maybe hard-wire the midrange jumper. Interested in some thoughts. Fortunately there was a pic posted of the backside of the PCB. What do you think of extras to do on these?
The problem with "pre-made" crossovers is that they are a generic design, and crossovers are anything but generic, requiring careful adjustment of values for a specific speaker set-up. At least this one appears to incorporate some level adjustment (for the tweeter, presumably) so it has some adjustability. Therefore, any expectation that you can simply replace the original crossover with this one, and expect immediate improvement, probably needs some adjustment. Some fiddling with crossover values is almost certainly in your future.
BTW, check the solder connections, I see at least one potential bridge (lower left-hand corner of the second photo).
BTW, check the solder connections, I see at least one potential bridge (lower left-hand corner of the second photo).
Reading reviews I'm not sure about the crossover being the problem.
You'd have to remove the drivers and the XO from the box ad post pix for peoples comments to be valid. The existing crossovers may well be fine or improvements could be recommended
You'd have to remove the drivers and the XO from the box ad post pix for peoples comments to be valid. The existing crossovers may well be fine or improvements could be recommended
Alright. My brother is coming in a few days, and we're going to do a complete tear-down of the E-312s. I plan to bypass the 12uF with Duelund copper foil bypass 0.047uF, I have an eBay soviet 0.1uF mica we'll put on the 3.9uF, and a 0.01 ClarityCap on the lower 2.7uF. New wire, decommission the existing crossover connected to front faceplate with adjustable high and mid attenuation. I may have a mundorf e-cap plain at or near 33uF to replace the chinese electrolytic on the crossover. Remove crossover terminals with magnetic screw fasteners and solder wire direct, and I think I will choose the 3Ohm resistor for the mids and replace the brass jumper with a jumper of scrap Furutech solid core soldered in.
One idea is to wire the 6.8uF cap to the old spring clip speaker terminal inputs for hot swap cap bypassing via those jacks. Going to hook the new Crossover to new binding posts drilled into separate and new holes in the back.
One idea is to wire the 6.8uF cap to the old spring clip speaker terminal inputs for hot swap cap bypassing via those jacks. Going to hook the new Crossover to new binding posts drilled into separate and new holes in the back.
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Wanted to post some outcomes of the CV project. Decent upgrade. The quality level of stock "crossovers" if that is what you can call them is insulting really.. The generic AE ones are based on cheap PCBs, one must be careful with traces/pads but populated it with a nice range of bypass caps and replaced the cheap 33uF with a mundorf e-cap plain I had. Duelund, Auricap, Soviet Mica and Mills resistors are among the upgrades. Interestingly my brother and I ran solid core wires from the mid-range cap to the existing springclip speaker terminals creating a hot-swap port to place additional caps - I put a Mundorf EVO in there, makes an improvement and a neat trick I thought. Re-wired the whole box, it's pretty much a night/day difference. New imitation AE binding posts too.
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