Why not put crossover networks in accessible compartments?

The Watkins WE-1 from the early 80's had a recessed area covered with a Plexiglass cover so that the crossover and the circuit board it sat on was visible. It was done not so the owner could fiddle with it; it was done because the crossover actually looked good and to show that the speaker wasn't just a cabinet with twenty bucks worth of resistors and capacitors in it.

Its not practical when designing speakers.And in some cases it will look bad.Good luck though!!

It is also extra expense and complexity in a build, which raises retail prices, in order to satisfy maybe less than 0.01% of the potential buying public. That one in 1000 or less...who might tear the speaker apart and modify it. 

This^^^ Duh! 

Economics, the dismal science, apparently no longer taught or everyone would be able to figure this out.

The compartment idea is nuts. A better idea is to put the crossover outside the speaker cabinet. This has the added advantage of improving sound by removing the crossover from the high-vibration environment of the speaker cabinet. But again, the improvement is so slight compared to the cost it'll never happen. Except among modders. But they already know and have been doing this for years.

I think Wilson kind of helps answer this question. They literally pot (encase in black resin) their crossovers so you cannot see anything, even if you disassemble the speakers.


Wilson, like other highly regarded makers, uses straight off the shelf parts you could buy yourself. If you knew what the crossover values were, you could make a straight up clone. Focal used to have little windows so you could see the parts.


It’s also true that the economics are such that putting in high quality crossover components is rarely a win for makers. This makes a couple of brands like Focal and Wharferdale ridiculously good upgrade targets.


Of course, if you want to play with parts this badly, the DIY speaker kit market is probably what you should be looking at. :) Lots of kits and plans out there which you can tweak to your heart's content.

They literally pot (encase in black resin) their crossovers so you cannot see anything, even if you disassemble the speakers.

so how do you know what they use?