An Introduction To Understanding The Crossover In Your Sound System

A sound system is made of a number of units of specialised audio equipment

. And amplifying sound is a complicated business, with a lot of need for overcoming the realities of acoustic engineering and physics. So getting to know how your sound system works can really help you manage and control the sound that you need to amplify. And the crossover unit is a crucial element in your signal chain.

So what is a crossover? A crossover in audio and sound system terms, is a filter unit that splits the audio signal so it can be sent to the appropriate speaker. Most public address (or PA) system speakers are unable to reproduce the whole frequency spectrum. Speakers are usually broken down into bass speakers or bass 'bins' and more mid range speakers. If it is a larger PA system then there may also be a higher frequency set of speakers often called tweeters in the industry. So the crossover will filter the whole audio signal into two or three separate signals so that it can be then sent to the speaker that can best deliver that given frequency band. You can generally have three types of filters: high pass filters, low pass filters and band filters for everything in between the bottom and top end of your signal.

Like speakers, crossover can be passive or active. This essentially means they are active and have an amplification unit housed within them or they are passive and require an external amplifier. Passive crossovers come within the speaker itself whereas the active type come in a separate unit sometimes with its own Equalisation and limiting parameters too.

Within the crossover unit, you can set the cut off frequencies for each speaker and there are a number of different options here. You can usually set the curve or rate of cut off for each frequency band separation. Then the point at which the split frequency bands cross over is treated to make the split signal not noticeable to the listener. Steeper cut off curves are usually considered preferable for a smooth crossover signal between your speakers.

This is a complex field of audio engineering and is best considered at the speaker installation stage of your system design best tailored to the space it will be filling. If you are intending to operate your PA system yourself, it may be very worthwhile getting an expert audio engineer in to help you set up the system correctly to achieve the optimum sound with minimum room for error and problems.

by: Mike Short

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