Crossover resistors

[float]

Theres not much talk on this subject (unlike caps), yet the tweeter l-pad resistors must affect the sound somewhat.
I've currently got bog-standard ceramic coffins in my XOs; have previously used MOX10s, but I dont remember being particularly impressed.
I'm thinking of ordering something from Percyaudio, so the choice looks like: caddock MP820 or MP930(big price difference here) or the seemingly well thought of Mills MRA12.

I think Wilson use caddocks, but does this mean they are the best? Any opinion welcome, thanks folks.

 

[audiobomber]

Padding resistors definitely affect the sound. I don't care for the Lynk metal-film resistors. Mills are very good. I found Caddocks a little more transparent, but they're a pain in the butt in a crossover. They need a heat sink, and they're tricky to install with the heavy gauge wires. I'll stick with Mills from now on, the difference isn't worth the aggravation.

Re MP830, Mp930 etc, I spoke with a Caddock engineer and he said all Caddock resistors sound the same. He also said he's heard many times that their resisitors sound better than Mills.

 

[float]

Thanks Dan, thats useful insight.
I tend to consider transparency the ultimate goal, so I might work up the courage to make things hard for myself and go with the caddocks.

Re MP830, Mp930 etc, I spoke with a Caddock engineer and he said all Caddock resistors sound the same. .

I wonder if the engineers listen to these things like we do....... of course, if hes right, we can just buy the cheapest

 

[audiobomber]

I wonder if the engineers listen to these things like we do....... of course, if hes right, we can just buy the cheapest

I got talking to this engineer because I spotted some conventional-looking power resistors (MS series with axial leads) on Caddock's website, but I couldn't find anyone selling them, nor the price. Turned out that the 3-ohm resistors were $65 each, so when he told me that they sounded the same as the MP line, I wasn't about to find out for myself.

 

[Joules]

If The resister dosen't have to disapate large quanitys power, and is used in a tweeter or midrange circuit and is not to large in value less than 1 ohm may be 2. The best sounding resister I have ever heared I made from small guage magnet wire, 32awg. I've even use an old voice coil. Even with some extra inductance it still sounded "better" cleaner than any other resister I've tried. Once you know the ohms/foot it's easy to cut a piece of wire to get any value you need, wihin reason. to minamize inductance I wadded the magnet wire in to a little ball. In fact the length of wire I needed for a padding resister for a tweeter turned out to be just the right length to use it as speaker wire to the tweeter. minamal stuff in the tweet circuit!

 

[float]

Joules- I like this idea a lot, but in my case( I need 5.5 ohms) a quick check suggests I'd need about 15 foot of 40awg and this would give only around 1 watt of power handling. Not practical unfortunately. Makes me wonder what resistance wire(constantin?) sounds like?


As for 65$ caddocks- maybe they have a sample program

 

[h_andree]

I use Mills resistors everywhere. Very good.

Harry

 

[SimontY]

Hi,

I use resistance wire for my tweeters, and I reckon it has very little sonic character. If there's any difference it's certainly better than MOX, which is a tiny improvement over the coffins.

Resistance wire is a pain in the behind to solder though!

 

[float]

Hi Simon,
I see maplins do a 28awg resistance wire; I'd need about 4 foot to do the job. Any idea on power handling? I guess the best way to use it is to sleeve in teflon, zig-zag it and use a cable tie to hold it together.

Why's it hard to solder BTW

 

[soongsc]

Joules- I like this idea a lot, but in my case( I need 5.5 ohms) a quick check suggests I'd need about 15 foot of 40awg and this would give only around 1 watt of power handling. Not practical unfortunately. Makes me wonder what resistance wire(constantin?) sounds like?


As for 65$ caddocks- maybe they have a sample program

Some 50W or 100W wire resistors might be good. They look somewhat like the pic. For 5 ohms, the wire isn't long.

 

[SimontY]

Hi Simon,
I see maplins do a 28awg resistance wire; I'd need about 4 foot to do the job. Any idea on power handling? I guess the best way to use it is to sleeve in teflon, zig-zag it and use a cable tie to hold it together.

Why's it hard to solder BTW

Hi float,

I think the stuff I bought came from Maplin, so it'd be the same thing. I have no idea about power handling, but I'd imagine it's quite high, considering there's no dielectric to melt

Seriously though, how much power will normal music put into a normal hi-fi tweeter?? Not much.

I expect a flaming for this, but I 'feel' teflon 'may' have an unpleasant 'over-clean' colouration to it, so I would personally avoid it. Having said that, I'm not sure how you'll deal with 4ft of it... maybe paper tape?

If you're the sort of person who worries about the dielectric, maybe it's worth doing this wire thing. If not, just use a normal resistor. There are people who'll argue a normal resistor is better, I'm sure...

 

[SimontY]

Just a further thought. Was it this thread, or another where someone said they did this? I can't remember and I'm short on time. But is it convenient to use the resistance wire as the cabling to the tweeter? If so you can reduce the need for additional cabling and have a way to use up some of that 4ft. Maybe use masking tape as the insulator. Of course you might want to coat it in deoxit or something to limit oxidation.

 

[float]

I suppose if I used it as internal cabling I'd only need 2 foot for each wire. A good twist to minimise inductance means I'd want decent insulation though, so i think I'd sleeve it irrespective of dielectric "effects".

Seriously though, how much power will normal music put into a normal hi-fi tweeter?? Not much.

This makes me want to feed it sine waves and watch it glow!!

 

[SimontY]

This makes me want to feed it sine waves and watch it glow!!

Please take pictures when you do!!