Are first order crossovers best?


Here's an interesting item IMO. In looking for some speaker cables, and possibly interconnects too, I've been hearing from the various manufacturers of these wires a question regarding the crossover in my speakers.

"What order crossover is in them, first, second, third, etc?"

I believe mine (VR4 JR's), are fourth order.

The thought that comes to my mind is this...What does that matter? Should I care what sort of ordered crossover there is in a speaker? How big or small a part does it play?

At this point I have no answers for the above Q's.... if I could have your thoughts and experiences it would be more than appreciated to shed some light on this currently dimly lit subject...

Thanks all...
blindjim

Showing 7 responses by gmood1

So from your description Unsound, Theil uses a Zobel network in conjunction with the cross-overs in their speakers? Similar to that of the GMA Europa.
Unsound you're partly correct on the 1st order=correct phase. Until recently I thought all 1st order crossover speakers maintained correct phase.To my dismay there's a couple of imposters in the group.Sonus Fabers and some Dynaudio speakers have their tweeters and midrange drivers wired in/out of phase or the bass drivers are wired in/out of phase.The drivers in these speakers aren't all wired in positive polarity together.
Unsound, I agree with you wholeheartly my friend. I also favor 1st order crossovers or none at all. This cable thing has me scratching my head too.I've never heard of matching cables to a certain crossover design.
I think understand..it's similar to what a baffle step correction circuit does for my speakers. The amplifier sees an almost constant 9 ohm load. This makes the impedance flat from 100Hz all the way passed 20Khz. Also the phase angle is nearly zero in the same frequency range. There was a time when I didn't think this stuff mattered.I know better now as I can hear the difference.
For the people that haven't seen it.Here's a nice little walk through by Pat McGinty on Time Coherence and how to read a step response of a loudspeaker..The Step Response Reveals All.Of course time coherence is just one part as speaker design is quite complicated atleast for me.
Yes single drivers do have a mechanical filter being the driver itself.But there's a bit more to it than that.I think Wayne Parham explains it very well here Electrical filters and Acoustic Filters.Also when it's right ..it's pretty darn good.Martin King and Bob Brines have found a method that works well.Though single drivers..especially mass loaded transmission line models won't play at rock concert levels.What they do within their usable SPLs and frequency range is terrific.One of attributes of their design is minimal impedance and phase angle shifts.The difference can be heard if one were to only take time to listen.The distortion levels are the lowest I've heard in my home and anywhere else for that matter.My Magnepans didn't have the speed of these single drivers with 50 wpc,even with a 600 wpc channel amplifier on Maggies.Bombaywalla
thanks for the links ..this is good stuff!
You ever heard of google? Maybe you should do a google search and save us all the trouble.You ask a question and got great answers. The last time I checked this was a public forum. I think some of the links provided are a wee bit more than personal opinion.

Merry Christmas