Modifying Crossovers

Yeah, I spent about $3000 for the parts in my current crossovers. These are high quality parts, but FAR from the most expensive parts available. I’ve seen some crossovers from Tidal and other high-end brands that use parts that are several times more expensive. Even at volume pricing, these crossovers could easily cost $5000 to $8000 in parts.

A number of years ago, I talked to the designer of some high-end speakers about how he picked crossover components. He said he listened to a variety of parts and selected the ones that offered acceptable performance for his cost target and the available space, AND that were also available in quantity from a vendor he was confident in. But he said the choice was rarely his favorite from a sound quality perspective.

A lot of the best sounding components are made by small manufacturers with limited production capacity. A speaker manufacturer that intends to sell hundreds or thousands of units can’t take the chance of designing in parts that may not be available when they need them.

I think it's true that in general, speaker makers have put a retail price of 10:1 at least for the electronics, so a $1 capacitor has to be sold for $10 to make a profit.

Exceptions here are manufacturers that make their own drivers, they can exceed these margins by quite a bit. 

B&W and Magico are some of the rare manufacturers who use high end scrossover ocmponents in their high end speakers.

Don't.  Mummy knows best.

@simonmoon,  good post.

As you describe, results of sensible XO mods I've done have always improved the  sound, ranging from a clear and easily heard upgrade to the astonishing.

I used my Altec 604e with the original N-1500 crossover.

After 10 years I bought an autotransformer DIY crossover from Germany. I liked it more than the original one. As I understand lately the schematics of this new crossover wasn’t good but better parts quality made speakers sound more transparent despite losing some neutrality.
Then I upgraded it with Duelund RS, Jupiter VT and Duelund Cu-Sn bypass that made the sound even better - more resolution, tone and clarity.

When I bought a measurement mic MiniDSP I found some significant issues with this crossover schematics that caused serious dips in frequency response.
So I decided to build the original N-1500 with better parts. I used old N-1500 inductors with Duelund RS, Jupiter VT, Jensen Aluminium foil, Duelund Bypass (Cu-Sn and Silver) that I already used in German crossover plus constant Duelund Cast resistors (that I used instead of variable resistor in original N1500). So I get even better and more neutral sound with much better midrange and bass. In the end I exchanged the inductor to Jantzen copper foil Wax Coil inductor that improved dynamic and bass even more.

I never tried the famous Mastering LAB crossover that should improve bass extension of price of sensitivity and smooth high frequency frequency response. I don’t think it will sound better than my current crossover that use much better quality parts than Mastering LAB does.