Active VS Passive Crossovers! Masterclass part 2.

[@zzz2496]

Passive crossovers with resistors are the reason to go DSP. The best way to control a cone is directly connect the amp to the voice coil with as little stuffs that can impede the signal. With active (DSP) crossovers, we control the amp's gain so no power is wasted as heat in resistors (there are nothing between the amp and the voice coil other than the cable connecting the two.

[@realworldaudio]

Connecting the amp directly to the driver definitively forms the best connection between the two. It can work very well when your source is already digital, and there is no need to add an additional device for the active crossover. However, in case of analogue sources there can be a definitive downside when you add this to a well-optimized high level system, and any differences between the amplifiers driving each driver while seemingly unnoticed at first, can become over time quite an itch. As usual, one has to find the most optimal solution for their own systems, and for their listening preferences. Thank you for posting! ; )

[@zzz2496]

@@realworldaudio whoa! I got a reply! Hi Janos. For those who aren't familiar with the limitation of digital systems, what you said is correct. But once you know the limitations of digital systems, it is not hard to design a system to alleviate the shortcomings of digital systems. One of the components that I can suggest to you to research is "Cosmos ADC". This relatively cheap little thing changed what ADC is. Gone are the days where ADCs brings "color", and digital artifacts to our music (this is talking about analog systems). This little thing is so transparent that I have no more complaints about ADCs these days. Now pair that with a properly designed DSP system with good DAC and analog output stage (per driver mind you), you can really tune your system to your heart content. Let's say that I have a 3 way system using one concentric driver and 6 woofers, I can pair the midrange and the tweeter part of the concentric driver to a 300B tube amp for tube sound, and drive the rest using a mix of Class A/B and Class D for the woofers (some woofers will play 80hz and down, this will be driven with the Class D , and some are 80 to 250hz, this can be driven with the Class AB) for perfect cone control. These days we start our chain using digital systems (CD player, or a streamer), this way I can get as pristine signal as possible from the source down to my driver. With proper tools and methods, you can align your drivers down to microseconds to get the perfect coherence between drivers with different types of amplifiers in your system. I can get the sweet sweet mid-range and highs that I love so much, but also have the grunt to slam the cones for those 6 woofers to get the perfect amount of bass for the system.

[@IDontExist14]

the funny thing is that I didn't even try 1st order cause where I was learning crossover design from KZbin , websites , books they said 1st order is inferior and doesn't sound good , only part they said was good that it didn't cause phase problems .

[@realworldaudio]

Oh boy! There is a very good reason why high order is the chique today.. will do a vid on it ;

[@sinatra221]

High quality parts, outboard XO, active-bass XO, passive-48db slopes. Any problem with passives can be solved.