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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
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Unsound...We don't separate them. The full range advocates don't like to admit that their drivers break up, and emit different frequencies from different parts of the cone, and this constitutes a mechanical filter. If you think that design of an electrical filter is difficult imagine the work it takes to get a mechanical filter right!
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Unsound...I had forgotten the Walsh driver...but, I think that even that had a mechanical X/O of sorts. The top part of the cone for a couple of inches (near the voice coil) was made of metal, while the rest of the cone was some other material.
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
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!
matrix
305 posts
 
Yeah I love my Driver cone breakup and distortion, too bad it still sounds best! Crossoverless Zu's see system. Not a single full range however, it uses 2 :)
blindjim OP
3,092 posts
 
Apparently, this thread has become but a public forum for a couple folks to correspond... ever hear of email? Your dialouge seems to have gotten off topic some.... with point & counter point rehetoric about personal perspectives... though input is more than appreciated, getting back to the gist of the thread might well serve others, right? ...and not be "Who's right & why" sort of thing. OK?
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