2. speakers
  3. 151262-20253

Speaker Analysis for Armchair Critics

Hello everyone,
There’s a very important discipline called "Speaker Analysis" or "Speaker Testing" which though complicated, is brilliantly illustrated in this breakdown of the B&W 685.


http://www.audioexcite.com/?page_id=6070

Speaker analysis is to measure each of the components both separately and as they come together in a complete system. It is a part of creating a new loudspeaker, but it can also be used to analyze an existing speaker, to understand it and perhaps to make it better.  I prefer the term Analysis because it better reflects that the goal is not merely quality assurance, but to build a complete electro acoustical understanding of the system as a whole so changes can be considered, and their final results predicted.


This particular article does just that, and comes up with a couple of suggestions for re-working the crossover to end up with hopefully a better end result. At the very least, it is a significantly different speaker at the end, and achieves a far greater level of change than cables can.


I share this with all of you just as an example of the work that goes into making a loudspeaker from parts, and the tools, and how much of what we hear has to do with choices made in the crossover.


Best,

Erik
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,134 posts
 
Hello @xyobgyn

Thank you for your kind words.

I think crossover parts are pretty cheap en masse. I don’t think that’s the biggest factor, but I do think that trends and product differentiation are important motivators for speaker makers. Having speakers that sound different than the masses, as well as making sure your more expensive speakers sound better than your mid range speakers is very important.

If you can get enough reviewers to agree that your speakers are among the finest, then you can turn public opinion around.

There’s also a lot to be said for having hills and valleys in your response curve. It makes your speaker accentuate certain notes, and like I said, different is often perceived as better.

So, back to the word "hamstring." From a sales stand point, this may be no hamstring at all, plus there is something to be said for having a variety of sound profiles to purchase from. The world would be a very boring place if every speaker sounded like mine. :)

But, I think the write-up does a fantastic job of showing just how much lee-way a crossover designer has in making the speakers sound one way or the other.


twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
The corporate identity and the target sound at B&W has changed significantly over the years.  For a very long time I used DM1800 speakers (with metal domes) that sounded wonderful.  Nowadays I find B&W, especially their more costly offerings, near unlistenable.
xyobgyn's avatar
xyobgyn
42 posts
 
The first B&W Matrix 801, 802 (I still have a set of the latter) included adjustment dials on the back of the module contains midrange and tweeter.

perhaps a nod to the idea that YMMV.

Quite possibly we should have crossovers with some caps and or resistors we could swap easily to adjust the sound to where we want it. 

Makes more sense to me than swapping around fuses, power cords, and cables to tame or enhance the tone.  We are acknowledging here that there is huge variation in how a designer arrives at the sound THEY perceive we will prefer.

why not make it the way we want?
audiokinesis
2,743 posts
 
Xyobgyn wrote: "Quite possibly we should have crossovers with some caps and or resistors we could swap easily to adjust the sound to where we want it."

I have been making crossovers with an external resistor that functions as a "tilt/level" control; that is, it effects the tweeter’s level more up at 10 kHz than it does down at 2 kHz, the theory being that this would be more useful in dealing with real-world variations in room acoustics than a level-only L-pad.  Also, L-pads are not readily available at the same quality as say a Mills resistor. 

I also like to build in some low-end adjustability in the form of multiple pluggable ports.

Ime often changing capacitors = re-designing the crossover, as there is often a rather precise balance between capacitor values and inductance values in a circuit, such that a change in one often calls for a change in the other.

Duke
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
which is why you need to stop tinkering with these horrible passive crossovers
More to discover