I also posted this on the Linn forum...but am looking forward to the replies ill get here as there tends to be a bit more technical expertise here...no offense to anyone elsewhere..
The following is from the spec sheets of Klimax 350 and akurate 242 respectively...can anyone explain what the heck a butterworth crossover? Also, the crossover points seem to differ quite a bit, especially in the low end... if we were comparing the same drivers/speakers what would that result in? Finally, the way its written below, does it mean that the supertweeter for the 350 produces gets signals over 10.9Hz, and the tweeter gets signals between 3.8Hz and 10.9? Hope i didnt confuse anyone. thx
The All Butterworth at
105 Hz, 392 Hz,
3.8kHz, 10.9 kHz
All 4th order Linkwitz
Riley at 225 Hz, 450 Hz,
3.6 kHz, 9.2 kHz
technical question about crossovers
Moderator: Staff
technical question about crossovers
lp12, Keel, K Radikal, Urika, EkosSe/1 Kandid KK1/D, JBL 708p
Linn Pekin
Linn Pekin
This is actually a quite complicated topic. Butterworth and Linkwitz-Riley are somewhat different filter designs with different slope functions. If you really want to know more about how they work the best bet is to start at this wikipedia link and go from there. Knowing how they work is a lot like knowing the gear spacings on your car: you might find it interesting but it won't make you a better driver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_crossover
You are correct that what you have written indicates that the tweeter handles signals from a little below 3.8kHz to a little above 10.9kHz and the supertweeter starts a little below 10.9kHz and extends upward. I say "a little below or above" as the crossover is a slope, not a brick wall. A driver will have significant output above the upper and below the lower crossover point - how significant dependent on the order of the crossover (again see above article).
A slight correction: the Artikulat uses a combination of Butterworth and Linkwitz-Riley filters with different ones at different frequencies and sometimes one type rolling off the top of one driver while the other type rolls off the bottom of the next driver. Also the specs you note are a simplification. While the Artikulat tweeter rolls off at 10.9kHz the supertweeter actually rolls on at 12.1kHz! I imagine this is to compensate for a peak in the output of one or the other. The midbass to midrange crossover is also 3.73kHz.
Finally the different filters in the low end have to do with the Artikulat being a true 5 way speaker system whereas the Akurate 242 is actually a 4.5 way speaker - both 6.5" drivers are operating below 225Hz but only the upper one handles the range between 225Hz and 450Hz. Why Linn uses different frequencies on the Akurate I'm not sure but it does use a slightly different version of the 3K array and the crossover network on the Artikulat is substantially more complex in order to wring even more performance from the drivers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_crossover
You are correct that what you have written indicates that the tweeter handles signals from a little below 3.8kHz to a little above 10.9kHz and the supertweeter starts a little below 10.9kHz and extends upward. I say "a little below or above" as the crossover is a slope, not a brick wall. A driver will have significant output above the upper and below the lower crossover point - how significant dependent on the order of the crossover (again see above article).
A slight correction: the Artikulat uses a combination of Butterworth and Linkwitz-Riley filters with different ones at different frequencies and sometimes one type rolling off the top of one driver while the other type rolls off the bottom of the next driver. Also the specs you note are a simplification. While the Artikulat tweeter rolls off at 10.9kHz the supertweeter actually rolls on at 12.1kHz! I imagine this is to compensate for a peak in the output of one or the other. The midbass to midrange crossover is also 3.73kHz.
Finally the different filters in the low end have to do with the Artikulat being a true 5 way speaker system whereas the Akurate 242 is actually a 4.5 way speaker - both 6.5" drivers are operating below 225Hz but only the upper one handles the range between 225Hz and 450Hz. Why Linn uses different frequencies on the Akurate I'm not sure but it does use a slightly different version of the 3K array and the crossover network on the Artikulat is substantially more complex in order to wring even more performance from the drivers.