Forums - Need help on a crossover build

Dominick

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Need help on a crossover build
08/24/24 at 13:34:05

I’m looking for a starting point on how to construct a simple crossover. I recently decommissioned an old Polk audio Center channel CS350 speaker for its parts since it’s been replaced. I’d like to use the woofers to construct a new speaker build and buy a new set of tweeters.

The original crossover from the Polk center channel handled four, 5 inch woofers and 1 tweeter…. 2 woofers for the positive side, 2 woofers for the negative side, and sharing 1 tweeter.

Right now I’m looking for some good articles and advice on how to construct a simple crossover network using resistors and capacitors to make a new pairs of desktop speakers….probably to use in my garage or office.

The only experience I have thus far are replacing the caps and resistors on my Err’s, as well as replacing the caps on my Pinnacle speakers with audiophile ones, utilizing the existing crossovers that were built into the speakers. So I’m basically venturing into somewhat unchartered waters.

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CAJames

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Re: Need help on a crossover build
Reply #1 - 08/27/24 at 15:50:08

Quote:

Posted by: Dominick Posted on: 08/24/24 at 05:34:05

...Right now I’m looking for some good articles and advice on how to construct a simple crossover network using resistors and capacitors...

Hey Dom,

Firstly I'm really intrigued by your adventure so I hope you'll post more. I've never built a crossover (I'm much more of a "software guy") but I like the calculators on the VCap site:

https://www.v-cap.com/speaker-crossover-calculator.php

from a theoretical perspective.

Or perhaps this one:

https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/crossover

Good luck!

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Dominick

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Re: Need help on a crossover build
Reply #2 - 08/28/24 at 23:53:34

Thanks for the links James. I built some solobaric speakers back in college, but this is a completely different level. Venturing down this rabbit hole is definitely intimidating. I will definitely keep this thread updated.

To keep things somewhat simple…I may buy the same tweeter that my center channel originally had; because the other difficult piece of the puzzle is matching tweeters and woofers. I’m sure there’s a knowledge base in matching the two and creating a synergy between them.

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Dominick Seasoned Member Offline Still like that old time Rock and Roll!! Posts: 1632 Bergen County, NJ	Re: Need help on a crossover build Reply #3 - 08/29/24 at 14:00:34 So I landed on this article which gives a nice description on crossover builds. It does a good job of dumbing it down for my purposes. https://soundcertified.com/how-to-build-a-speaker-crossover/
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Donnie

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Re: Need help on a crossover build
Reply #4 - 08/29/24 at 15:56:11

Here are some YouTube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rzdOg-F4YY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA0DxFSFj9M

There are a lot more on there.

I'm in more or less the same point that you are in, I am at the point where I need to learn how to build crossovers.
There are so many speakers that I want to build that need a crossover.

I've built several speakers from plans that the crossovers are already figured out and I just followed the prints. It is time for me to spread my wings and fly on my own.

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Dominick

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Re: Need help on a crossover build
Reply #5 - 08/30/24 at 14:58:21

Thanks Donnie!! I’ll check them out. After dismantling several of my speakers in the past years, I noticed that all of the crossovers on PCB boards are made with cheap components. When I took apart my Pinnacle bookshelf speakers and soldered up audiophile capacitors, the sound difference was pronounced. I can only imagine how it would have sounded if I customized the rest of the components in that crossover. So the journey now continues.

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Donnie Seasoned Member Online Why does it hurt when I pee? Posts: 2592 Central Illinois.	Re: Need help on a crossover build Reply #6 - 08/30/24 at 16:00:19 Dom, Check out my “Next project after the last one” here in the DIY section. Dank just posted a great site that will figure out exactly what you are looking for. I would link it but I’m on my phone and it is more difficult to do than I want!
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Dominick Seasoned Member Offline Still like that old time Rock and Roll!! Posts: 1632 Bergen County, NJ	Re: Need help on a crossover build Reply #7 - 08/30/24 at 19:51:37 Ok cool Donnie…. Thanks! I’ll jump over and check out Dank’s post. Much appreciated.
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Donnie Seasoned Member Online Why does it hurt when I pee? Posts: 2592 Central Illinois.	Re: Need help on a crossover build Reply #8 - 09/04/24 at 19:51:21 This is also good. It explains a lot of the terms and also includes the math. https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/crossover
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