Loudspeakers

Chapter 5

Crossovers

5.1 What is a crossover?

The term ‘crossover’ appears to have been originally used to describe the relationship of the filter slopes – crossover filters – as shown in Figure 5.1. In reality, and in many languages other than English, they are better described as frequency dividing networks, or words to that effect, though the name crossover has generally stuck. The fact that no loudspeaker drive unit suitable for music monitoring or serious listening can provide a flat response over the entire musical frequency range requires that the multiple drivers in a system need to be fed by signals which are only appropriate to their designed performance range. The two normal ways to apply these filtered signals are via high level, ...