2-way or 3-way crossovers? 

Servo woofers are a force to be reckoned with. The last time I heard one, I thought there was an earthquake for a moment before I realized it was the woofer. Punchy bass at such extreme low frequencies and volumes is different sounding and feeling than a traditional cone woofer.

Simple answer is for every driver`s intended frequencies band its own band pass is needed. It keeps the drivers from encountering distortion, breakup and frequency overlap. Loved the video Paul!

I had one built a system with a pair of 18" subwoofers running from 20 hz to 60 hz, (4) 8" midbass drivers running from 80 hz to 300 hz, (4) 5 1/4" midrange running 300 hz to 3k, and (4) 1 in silk dome tweeters running 3k and up. Every speaker had its own amp channel @ 125 w RMS and crossed over at a minimum of 18 db per octave electronically. the split between the 8s and the 5 1/4" were doubly crossed over at 42 db per octave. talk about live! the snap of a snare drum rattled you as if you were standing feet from a live drummer.

A properly done 3-way beats a two way in my eyes, especially for larger speakers. I like the 3-way sound.

There's a good argument to be made for a 2.5 way system . Dynaudio used to have (still?) nice speakers like that with 2 x 7 inch woofers , one that was limited to 400 Hz : the added x-over complexity vis a vis a 2 way remains limited to a 1 extra low pass .

I like concept of doing the band filtering digitally, at line level, and then using discrete separate amplifiers for each set of drivers. Overkill for hi-fi purposes but for PA applications it's standard practice.

It's interesting that the human ear with a very small "Receptor" can appreciate such a wide range.

Unless you're Bose, in which case you pump it all through a 3.5" paper cone. :p

Great explanation! I own and use vintage JBL L100a loudspeakers. They sound good with a 12” driver playing full range, a 5” midrange, and a 1” tweeter. The L100a tweeter and midrange each have one capacitor limiting how low they can play sounds. The tweeter and midrange in the L100a speakers also have volume controls so the user can adjust the intensity of their sound. The L100a is an example of a very simple crossover that works. Some loudspeakers have crossovers containing many parts that are designed to EQ each drivers output. These tend to require high powered amplifiers in my experience. Crossovers sure are an interesting aspect of the audio options out there!

Can't say enough what Andrew Jones at elac is doing with the Unified series I swapped out a pair of Bose two ways with the unifies the UB 5's a few months ago and I'm hearing stuff I've never heard before on the same old system I've had since the 90s.

5-way, in my case, for my main pair! But using active crossovers and multiple amps - and the effortlessness of the system is amazing. However, being just a hobbyist, I have never made any passive crossover higher than 3-way. As for "full range" speakers, that some people convince themselves to listen to, they are just bad, unless you only listen to a solo singer or solo saxophone...

I really really enjoy the insights you provide Paul. Your RU-vid channel is invaluable.

I have disassembled 2002 Philips mini "hi fi" system 3 way speaker with bass reflex. I have expected to find a crossover, but only found one capacitor connecting tweeter. Low and mid range woofer were barehanded. Does it means Philips audio engineers choose good drivers, that they not need crossover? I have tested speaker system by listening every driver separately or disconnecting one of three drivers. In result, disconnecting low woofer - deep bass disappeared, mid woofer - audio become empty, only bass and voices I could hear, high driver - women voices were not pronounced. Does it means Philips 3 way speaker boxes are thoughtfully engineered?

1/2023: General question/statement. Why is it that JBL seems to like 2-way speaker systems over 3-way, while costing more than a comparable Klipsch 3-way system? They along with other brands sometimes choose 2-way speakers for their higher priced speakers? Yes I know. Big question with many variables. But still expensive to very expensive speakers that are just 2-way. Thanks. I have enjoyed this video.

You're awesome. You sound like a good teacher. I was actually wanting more.

If the passive crossover in speakers is such a pain to get right then why don't you try to design a system where a dsp splits the spectrum and then feeds individual speaker sets for each slice? I'm guessing here but given the flexibility added you could virtually avoid overlap. This was Radu Oprisan from Bucharest, Romania. Yeah, the place Dracula came from...

Always great explanation .... thank you Paul..

I was apprehensive about the video at first, but you crushed it. This also really cemented that I'm an audio nerd.

4 way with a minidsp and Dirac Live!

The very best sound I have gotten, and people have voluntarily told me how much they noticed the improvements is when I converted my speaker system into an active system rather than use all those components between the amps and the speakers. I also have my double subwoofers are also an active system . . . TERRIFIC . . . the detail, the precision of imaging, and the quality of very low distortion -- all produce some excellent accuracy in muical timbre. Even the singer becomes rather fascinatingly "live" with a mouth, tongue, and teeth . . . you watch people sit on the edge of their seats, almost as if hypnotized into being unable to listen as if they are listening to something they have never heard before . . I find that kind of fascination quite rewarding forb all the time and experimentation and time patiently invested in the hobby, and evenm much more for when you are listening go the system yourself and are still trying to milk out that last drop of grtting the most out of your system . . . wondering that if you tweaked it one more time and you tried this or that idea, what would happen. ;-)

Now if we only had three way ears on each side of our heads. One woofer ear. One midrange ear, and one tweeter ear. Hmmm? Would sound be processed better ?

Paul I am really looking forward in those speakers you'll have!

i think as technology has evolved its more like speakers can do MID range and we can add HIGH and LOW to them; as opposed to having LOW and HIGH with a compromise band where they overlap

Human ear is capable of hearing the range of frequencies from 20hz-20khz and can differentiate among the 3 forms of frequencies from low to midrange and high. Technology can split the three thru cross-over network or 3-way cross-over. I prefer to hear the 3 rather than 2 way as a multiple or variable sound.

Excellent explanation once again!!!

Recommend me a crossover for a set of subs crossover 150-200hz low pass for the sub and a high pass for the main woofer. I have a set of dvc 8" subs to go in a car, plan was to either have coaxial with a two way or components with a 3 way. Low frequency from LF LR to one sub RF RR to the other sub. Head unit has a hpf which I'm using at the moment just to limit the bass but would rather have a crossover with a sub instead so that I can turn off the hpf and not worry about blowing the smaller woofers.

I got 4 ways with adjustable crossovers. putting the crossover at a dip in room response is also a very good solution..

Impressive answer, thanks Paul. I would only remark that physics didn't found yet a single driver able to handle all the range of frequencies properly (that would be amazing) and that's the reason why we need different drivers and crossovers..

Hello, nice discussion, I've been reading and researching about DSP crossovers and how good are they at handling phase shift and all sort of electro/acoustic phenomena derived from pasive corssovers. My question is, are there some downside of using DSP crossovers acoustically speaking (because there must be some), forgetting the fact that you'll need aped speakers

i just bought crossovers for 2 way 10 in woofer and 1in tweeter and i bought it from dayton audio and it was 3000 hertz it said i dont now if i got the right one im frustrated I thought it would have more bass i just I am starting with building my own speakers just for fun what kind of crossovers can i buy already made

So glad I found this channel, thanks for the videos.

been looking for an explanation for a while now. Thank you oh so much for the advice.

there is a big difference when you have a 3way bass, mid and tweeter with a good crossover there is no comparison it is something magical ...

Best explanation I've found. Thank you for making it "click"

How do you do it, seamlessly? With active crossovers. See the Kef LS50 Wireless as an example.

Really great explanation! Following that I am finally at ease setting my 3-way speakers to "small" in my AV-R's settings because I now understand what it's doing (the subwoofer is connected via low-level input). Looking forward to the day I have 2 subwoofers so I can run them via high-level inputs and practically build my own 4-way speaker array.

The ultimate system is a one way... but, there is something to be said about a well balanced 3 way -- flaws and all.

1979 Braun (ADS) made threeways like the l-710 that were uncoloured, boxless sounding, transparent and ruthlessly revealing. The $5000 a pair B&W 805N sound compress and poorly integrated by compare. In fact, it usually takes brutally expensive scan-speak revelator two-ways to come close.

i use a 5 way active crossover subs , woofer , mid , tweeter , super tweeter

That's easy to answer...3-way.

Very good Paul...

Love my 4 way Pioneer HPM 100s , I paid over 400 bucks to have the crossover redone and i must admit for the money that i have in them Id be hard presssd to find better sound

Curious about the capability of PS Audio speakers. Hope those can be sold at the prices Paul mentioned several times in the past. Audiophiles will benefit if they are Wilson Audio-killer, Magico-killer, etc.

Helo sir, i have a doubt.i have 120+120w sterio amplifire and a 50w 8 ohm woofer ,30w 8 ohm midrange speaker and 20w 8ohm tweeter.which crossover have to buy.if i use 3way crossover what will be the speaker impedance. Can i use 3 way cross over with my speakers?

Great channel. I got a question. Has anyone done any measurements on the use of wall binding posts. Is the difference measurable and is it noticeable to the trained ear? I’m wanting to avoid using brush plates as it’s already cold enough as it is in my house.

Recently came into a PA system. 4 cabs, 2 with 4 15's & 2 with 4 12's & 2 horns. So problem I'm having is the top cabs have crossovers in them in which the previous owner unhooked the crossover. I'm wanting to hook it back up but I'm not sure how its supposed to b wired. 3 black wires & 2 reds & the black & reds all look the same so i can't tell what 1s went to what. Any suggestions?

What for are those two microwaves ?🤔🤔

This is an impossible question to answer. The implementation is far more important than the number of drivers. There are terrific examples of all kinds on the market, all with their own strengths/weaknesses/compromises. Every designer will say their approach is the best one of course.

One day it struck to me that theory of statistics prove that 4-way speakers are better than broadband speakers. It's very hard to design a driver that has excellent performance across the all frequency response. Even if such speaker driver is designed, it likely that there is a driver that performs even better but only in certain frequency band and worse in other frequency bands. So you pick each driver for each frequency band and you should have quality without compromise. But can crossovers sound perfect? Can FIR filters be perfect or they are inherently flawed? That I don't know.

Hi there!! Can I use a subwoofer in a three-way system ISO a woofer? If yes then how I may design a perfect crossover.

What would you use for nearfield (below 2meters)?

Gorgeous amps Paul

Speaking of Audio is that electrical buzzing coming from this video or my audio? E.G. 0:55 Probably a dumb question but I don't hear it any other videos :s

Is this why you have a 73-way crossover in music room one?

I'd rather hear about the advantages of the different order crossovers.

Any particular reason you don't call a midrange speaker a "squonker"?

What impact, if any, does adding a sub, with its own (usually) variable crossover, have?

Respected sir, I have a basic question which may sound childish but here it is. First root question presented, "The cross over filters are filtering and not splitting the frequency i.e. masking some frequency to go to the driver unit which concludes to loss of signal/power". Is there a way to design something which instead of suppressing the frequency, splits the frequency and send to the driver unit from the network. I know we have active filter for such thing to reduce amplification/power loss from signal but for low budge project its not the option who have one amplifier say for 500 or 750 watts. Any suggestion will be a great help.

Hi Paul, As matching the rolloff from the crossovers high and low pass filters is so difficult to get a smooth transition in frequency response, what do you think of the following?. Take say the high pass signal to drive the tweeter but also produce an equal gain inverted phase of this signal. Then add the inverted signal to the original signal. This cancel the high pass levels from the original signal, leaving you with a low pass signal. In theory at least, any specific frequency in the in the rolloff range will be represented in both the high and low pass signal such that their sum will exactly match the level of that frequency in the original signal. In effect we will not have changed the gain level of any of the frequencies throughout the whole spectrum. Could it work?

I can't wait to get to a point in life where I can afford PSaudio gear.

How to set up

Great videos thanks

Yes, they are beautiful, and I will probably never be able to afford one

This is a really good video.

Any ETA on the speakers Paul ?

I wonder what he will pick

No offense to the person that asked this question, but honestly, this is not a good question. Most "good" home speakers out there depending on the amount of drivers installed in the cabinet could have a 5 way cross-over. A 2 speaker system should a 2 way Xover, a 3 speaker system should have a 3 way Xover and so on and so forth.....

I've always wondered why companies like Fender and Marshall don't put tweeters in most electric-guitar amps.

staying tuned for ur 4way... sounds awesome, except, i would let the 8" be a 10" and let it handle down to 50hz. probably start to roll off about 70hz

I found a a pair of Kenwood JL 515 3 way speaker system in an alley today for free.

90% speaker needs optimal 4 way . fullrange speaker is for specially for personal use

3-Way SLI is better than 2-way so...

Someone please tell me if there are a lot of haters below (I love to hate them haters, you already know by now). I do not wanna look... :)

"are these the..." you should know, you're the CEO

Why have a 2 way when you can have a 3 way?

💪

Where is that scratchy sound coming from?

3 ways win, hands down...pity even the high-end consumer market has propagated the 2 way myth

boi

Bla blaa blaa ...

Aww I'm second :P