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THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME DOMAIN RESPONSE MUST READ

Speaker designers ignore or downplay the importance of TIME. Why?

A high end speaker should be as accurate as possible and that means it should not only be optimized with regard to frequency response but time response.

Back in the 70’s and around that time, speaker engineers thought that a perfect speaker would be one that had a flat response. This idea has waxed and waned in popularity over the years and even now there is no consensus.

What the speaker engineers forgot to consider is Time response.

The time reponse of a speaker is how fast it starts and stops. A perfect speaker would have a perfect time response of 0. Since this is not possible, we must get as close to it as possible. The problem is speakers engineers have neglected this aspect of the design and so speakers over the last 40 years have not improved in this respect.

Time is such an important aspect of the sound we hear. We not only hear tone but also time. The brain can detect time differences of only a few microseconds. Experiments have shown that the start of each note is what we use to determine what instrument is producing that sound.

We must ensure that our crossovers do not smear the time response because it will be heard by our ears. Time inaccuracy is why high end speakers do not sound like real instruments.

Diffraction from the cabinet can also cause time smear. We need spherical cabinets not square boxes. Tweeters need to be time aligned in order to ensure that when the woofer stops so does the tweeter. When the woofer starts, so must the tweeter. The woofer itself has to have a Qts of ZERO to prevent time smear. Ports must not be used or else you will get ringing.

We need to make it mandatory for speaker companies to publish the time response of all their speakers so that consumers can easily compare and decide exactly what they want. Some may actually prefer a speaker that has a poorer time response and that is fine. The problem is, we cant decide unless we know what we are buying can we?

Unfortunately, 90% of speakers on the market, even high end speakers have ports. And they are also made of cheap wood, even though there must be better materials by now. Some materials ring more than others.

So dont be deceived folks. If you want better speakers, you will probably have to make them yourself because speaker manufacturers dont care about sound quality. They spend millions of dollars on anechoic chambers all so that they can get a flat response but they spend zero effort on better time domain response. We are being duped.

kenjit
perkri
907 posts
 

@erik_squires 

 

From what I understand, he uses the ARSXO, which he acknowledges (as is required because of the patent held, which was made open provided anyone who used it in a commercial venture credited the circuit/inventor) The classic version of this crossover has one resistor, two inductors and of course the drivers in a two way wired in series. I know there is a version of this crossover out there that includes a single capacitor, but that is not the circuit he links to in his description? 
 

If you know otherwise, please elaborate as I would be very curious to know more!
 

And yes, more often than not, speakers use parallel crossovers. Much easier to tune a speaker that way. Each element can be isolated with greater ease. Change one thing in a series crossover, and you change more than one thing. Not as easy to isolate a problem. 
 

I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the past year or two trying to better understand the ARSXO, and have built several speakers using it. Have even managed to convert some diy friends after A/B comparisons using the ARSXO and the manufacturers crossover supplied, or, recommended crossover to be built. 
 

No capacitors, just those three parts.

 

But I would honestly be interested in learning more about Fritz and if/how he implements the caps.

 

Thanks!

 

p

erik_squires
16,104 posts
 

@perkri

I’ve spoken to him a few times, he has my phone number and sometimes calls me out of the blue. My recollection from our discussions is that he’s never said he doesn’t use caps, but that because they are not in series with the tweeter he doesn’t have to use boutique caps the same way and can spend the bulk of the money on the drivers. On his site I found this line:

 

Series crossover without any capacitor or resistor in the circuit with the tweeter.

He isn’t saying no capacitor at all. :) He has _never_ said to me he doesn’t use caps.

BTW, Fritz are some of the very few 2-way speakers I can always recommend unconditionally.

PS - He's a super nice guy, feel free to call him and ask him if I'm mistaken.

timlub
2,039 posts
 

Acoustic Reality Series crossover are simply Series crossover..... Erik nailed it.... For what its worth,  I also really like Fritz,  smart well designed speakers that are affordable.  

 

bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,202 posts
 

All this ringing Kenjit keeps going on about.  Could it simply be he suffers with tinnitus?  Sometimes the simplest answer.........🤣

mofojo
2,300 posts
 

@kenjit 
It’s a GD injustice is what it is!!!!!! I’m with ya Kenjit I am piiiiisssseeedddddd. These evil speaker companies must be stopped at all costs!

All must come together as a nerdly whole! Stop 1. organize riot at Magico headquarters. Stop 2. Dairy Queen… we’ll deserve a tasty treat after all that rioting. 

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