Network Transfer
Complex driver loads, series and shunt branches, electrical transfer, and acoustic result.
Passive Crossovers
The Core Rule
A passive crossover is the complete amplifier, component, wiring, driver-impedance, mounting, and acoustic system. A nominal-ohm component calculator is useful for a first experiment, but it does not predict the finished loudspeaker by itself.
Open the guided Passive Crossover Design And Verification lesson →
Canonical Topics
Acoustic Targets
Installed magnitude, phase, directivity, polarity, and summation goals.
Impedance Compensation
Inductive-rise, resonance, and load-shaping networks based on measurement.
L-Pads And Level Matching
Attenuation, input impedance, resistor dissipation, and thermal drift.
Components And Parasitics
Inductor DCR and saturation, capacitor ESR, resistor limits, tolerance, and layout.
Power And Heat
Frequency-dependent branch current, pulse load, temperature, compression, and faults.
Baffle Step And Diffraction
Boundary effects, trim, directivity, geometry, and passive compensation.
Measurement And Verification
Electrical, acoustic, thermal, tolerance, and installed-system signoff.
Design Sequence
- Measure driver impedance and acoustic response in the intended mounting condition.
- Choose an acoustic crossover region from response, distortion, excursion, directivity, and geometry.
- Model the full complex network, including component parasitics and amplifier source resistance.
- Prototype at low level and measure input impedance, driver-terminal transfer, and acoustic summation.
- Verify heat, compression, saturation, tolerance, off-axis behavior, and the final installed system.