Crossovers

The basic function of signal processors, with the examples of which include: audio crossovers and equalizers, is to alter audio signals in a way to make it more ‘clean’ or more ‘enhanced’. But each type of signal processors differs from one to another. Some of the signal processors you can do without and some are as essential as the subwoofers and the speakers themselves. An exceptional audio system can exist without an equalizer whereas an audio system without an audio crossover can never be anything but complete fail.

An audio crossover’s purpose is to ‘split’ the audio signal according to frequency levels, and send these segmented signals to components specifically designed to reproduce best such frequency spectrum. So allegorically speaking, if a three way audio system has a speaker, a tweeter, and a subwoofer, the 3 way crossover will filter the audio signal and send these segregated audio signal according to their frequency levels: low frequency to the low pass filter (LPF), mid frequency to the band pass (BPF) and high frequency to the high pass (HPF); LPF signals get sent to the subwoofers, the band pass to the speakers, and the HPF signals to the tweeters.

In passing, anyone might ask, do you need an audio crossover? Depends entirely on what you want on your sound really, as mid range speakers (conventional speakers) can produce audio well enough by most standards. But as things get more sophisticated, the need for a better sounding audio becomes even more felt. If you’ve listen to a complete audio system, against casual stereo equipment you’d hear the obvious difference. Conventional mid range speakers are designed to reproduce sounds near the 0 decibels, significantly high frequency will produce a screech and a significantly low frequency can tear the speaker cones. This becomes evident as you turn on the volume, the conventional speaker can emulate only a specific band of the frequency spectrum.

With that, do you need an audio crossover? Yes, if you want true sound. Dead low bass, at sometimes even below 20 dB can only be produced flawlessly by a woofer, high frequencies only by tweeters. Mid range frequency signals are then sent to be produced by the band pass speakers. All three speaker components are producing audio on the frequency band they’re best suited to produce. And yes, all these need an audio crossover.

Of the audio crossovers, there are few types according to its components. The passive crossover is very common, because, like its namesake suggest, it’s made entirely of passive components. It does not increase electrical signal power, instead, it does the opposite –decreasing the signal’s power as it acts upon it. The best thing about passive crossover arrangement is that it is inexpensive, easier to install, though it’s liable to power loss and optimal arrangement is harder to achieve. On the other hand, there’s the active crossover or electronic crossover, the one choice serious car audio enthusiasts always employ when planning for a crossover design. Typical designs for active crossover are installed on the head unit, which then feeds proper frequency levels to amplifiers then to the specific speakers. Really high end audio system would typically include an audio crossover that connects to three amps, one amp on each speaker: for band pass, tweeters and subwoofers. In this way, the active crossover design alleviates the problem of signal loss with passive crossover design.

So now its time to choose the best crossover there is. Frankly I have so many in sights but what we ultimately need is one that works, is cheap and practical. With that, I land my sights on this one:

Kicker KX3

Active 3-Way Electronic Crossover At $149.99

Purpose: this Kicker KX3 electronic crossover is designed for a 3 way crossover system; connects on the amps that supply the signal to tweeters, subwoofers, and band pass speakers. Majority of the features are customizable: users can adjust the high pass and low pass crossovers from 35 to 400 Hz or 18 dB per octave, and users can adjust bass boost to 18 dB at 40 Hz levels. It also features a wired remote control.

Kicker is one of those brand names I love, due to the fact that they price their products on the mid market yet install many useful features on these products. A real deal, if you ask me.