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The equalizer you don't know you have

Audiophiles are amazing at finding ways to not use an equalizer or tone control of any sort. Shame because in the bass regions EQ are magic. We can talk all day long about being able to hear the felt on the seat of the third violinist, but when you have a bass mode that is 20dB louder than anything else it can ruin your experience, and no power cable in the world is going to fix it.

But while our desire for audio purity is commendable for its tenacity, you may not be aware that EQ circuits are built right into a lot of speakers. A lot of very expensive speakers.

What do I mean? Well, very few very good sounding drivers are ideal, or integrate well with the other drivers. Speaker designers compensate for this within the crossover. Those caps, and coils which you think are just there to prevent a driver from going ballistic may also be coloring your sound, in a good way. Hopefully no one starts throwing their speakers out after this. :)


Best,

Erik
erik_squires
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
OMG! Speakers have crossovers! Hold on, just a quick call to Lowther....
erik_squires OP
16,041 posts
 
OMG! Speakers have crossovers! Hold on, just a quick call to Lowther....


That's what I like about you, ebm, you are always able to contribute and use your experiences to help everyone enjoy their music listening in a positive and friendly manner.

Best,

Erik

kenjit
1,771 posts
 
Well, very few very good sounding drivers are ideal, or integrate well with the other drivers. Speaker designers compensate for this within the crossover.

Which is why so many audiophiles are never happy with their speakers. The EQ that is built in, has been tuned to the designers ears rather than your ears. 

If you want a pair of trousers that fits you, who should try it on to see if it fits? The person in the store, or you?

Erik, do you see now why built in EQ doesnt work?
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

In his great Tech Talk Tuesday videos (viewable on You Tube), GR Research's Danny Richie describes and explains how he uses discrete parts in the x/o of loudspeakers to provide compensation filters for addressing driver ills. Part of that explanation is why an outboard electronic crossover, while very useful for some applications, can provide only "textbook" filters, NOT compensation filters for drivers needing help.

Great stuff, everyone should watch them all. 

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