Low freq. from small drivers? Is it possible

El: Series crossovers consist of the opposite components one would use in a parallel crossover.

While "common" crossovers are called "parallel" designs, they really are closer to a series circuit by their very nature. Some newer speakers ( and old ones like Fried and Koss ) use what is called a "series" crossover, which is really like a parallel circuit. You can see a diagram of a basic "series" crossover here at Karl's website. The terminology is quite confusing and i can understand why this baffles people.

As a side note, i was doing a search and ran across Clement Perry's comments about Karl's speakers. You can read it by clicking on the link to Stereotimes CES coverage. Sean
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Sean:

Series crossovers consist of the opposite components one would use in a parallel crossover

I think that's what El was asking about: how come the woofs are looking, so to speak, at an inductor rather than a cap...

Yep Gregm.

In a series crossover you first put the woofer and tweeter in series. That would, of course, pass all frequencies through both drivers, briefly until the tweeter burned out. To avoid this you put an inductor across (in parallel with) the tweeter, so that LF signal bypasses the tweeter. Similarly, a capacitor across the woofer keeps HF out of that driver. The value, mH, of the inductor, together with the inductance of the driver determines the high pass frequency of the tweeter.

In summary, the inductor relates to the tweeter, not the woofer.

Perhaps the terminology just got mixed up, but, I wonder...

The terms "series" and "parallel" describe the basic topology of the circuit, and refer to the connection arrangement of the DRIVERS. Look at the diagram link from Sean above for the first-order "series", and note the difference in driver connection compared to a "parallel".

But regardless of whether it's "series" or "parallel", the main inductor is still in series with the woofer, and the main capacitor is still in series with the tweeter. If you don't understand how this can be, it's time to do some homework. I'll give you a hint to get you started: Always think about where the CURRENT flows at a given frequency, because that's what makes the driver move. It follows the path of least resistance, just like water.

Best Regards,
Karl Schuemann
AudioMachina

Karls...Having messed around with crossovers for more than 40 years, I don't need your schematic to comprehend a series network.

Let me ask you...which driver's crossover frequency does the inductor determine? Shouldn't we call the inductor by the same name as the driver it serves?

The way I regard a series crossover is as a series connection of two elements...(1) Tweeter/Inductor parallel pair and (2) Woofer/Capacitor parallel pair.

(And, to Sean's point, a "parallel" crossover is a parallel connection of two series-connected elements).

Makes sense to me, but you evidently have some other way of looking at it. There is more than one way to skin a cat, which we can perhaps agree is a good idea.