Loudspeaker and Headphone Handbook, 3rd Edition

 

5	Multiple-driver loudspeaker systems
	Laurie Fincham

5.1 Introduction

Ideally, a loudspeaker system should possess an extended and smooth frequency response which is maintained over a sufficiently large radiation angle to cover the intended listening area. In addition it should be capable of reproducing all types of programme material without any audible non-linear distortion. In practice, a single drive unit cannot meet these requirements, and so the majority of loudspeaker systems employ two or more drive units, each of which reproduces only part of the audio spectrum. The electrical network used to split the audio signal into the required frequency bands and assign each band to the appropriate drive unit is called a crossover