We use this technology for all our speakers. With the balanced crossover, the negative pole of the loudspeaker is not connected directly to the electric ground as is usually the case, but is decoupled from the ground of the system by crossover components (low-pass filter). This results in greatly reduced feedback to the amplifier. All our speakers can therefore be easily driven by different amplifier brands. The sonic advantages of this concept are expressed in a very finely resolved mid-range and higher speech intelligibility.
The picture clearly shows the structure of a symmetrical first-order filter. You need two coils, each of which has half the value of the other. We apply this principle to all our crossovers.
Passive speakers work in the analog world and have no power supply. The central element of a passive loudspeaker with multiple paths is the crossover. It assigns the frequencies to the individual paths. This is done using a more or less complex circuit consisting of inductors (inductance), capacitors (capacity) and resistors (ohmic resistance). An inductor blocks high frequencies, i.e. works as a low-pass filter, and a capacitor blocks low frequencies, i.e. works as a high-pass filter. A resistor reduces the sound pressure level of a single loudspeaker chassis, but works equally well at all frequencies.
If an analog, passive low-pass filter has a cut-off frequency of 200 Hz, this does not mean that it completely cuts off all higher frequencies above 200 Hz, but that it starts to suppress higher frequencies above 200 Hz more and more. For example, a 1st order low-pass filter cuts at 6 dB/octave. If you consider that 10 dB less still means half the volume, you realize that such a woofer still plays far into the mid to high frequency range.
Higher-order filters, which attenuate 6 dB/octave more steeply with each order, help to counteract this. A 3rd order low-pass filter attenuates at 18 dB/octave, but also requires 3 components.
What are the advantages of high-slope filters?
1. with flat filters, several drivers play simultaneously in each frequency range. Since the individual drivers are built completely differently, often have different cone materials and completely different sizes, this leads to:
a. Frequency response errors, i.e. incorrect tonal reproduction
b. Directivity effects, shifted dispersion characteristics
c. Phase errors, which manifest themselves in undefined spatial imaging
d. And impulse errors that make the music sound bland, undynamic and insignificant
e. Severe distortion at higher volumes, which sounds very unpleasant
f. In addition, the power handling capacity of the individual drivers is electrically and mechanically lower, as they have to radiate frequencies for which they are not designed for
2. since the individual drivers are exposed to much higher electrical and mechanical loads, they must be designed and constructed accordingly. However, since a midrange driver has to fulfill fundamentally different conditions than a woofer, only a compromise chassis that is neither a woofer nor a midrange driver can be used with flat filters. Perfect music reproduction is therefore more or less impossible, or at least severely limited.
All these disadvantages can be avoided by using high-slope filters. What are the disadvantages of high-slope filters? a. They require more components and are therefore considerably more expensive
b. Their calculation is much more complicated and requires sophisticated mathematical knowledge and calculation options
c. The group delay, i.e. the time it takes for a signal to pass through the filter, is somewhat longer. The designer must take this into account as far as possible, but the delays are generally at the audibility threshold, so they are not significant.
A sophisticated theory of the loudspeaker and of multi-way systems must therefore be worked out. This is exactly what we at Gauder Akustik have been doing for the last 30 years. Find out more here in our videos on our YouTube channel, in which Dr. Gauder explains the basic ideas and calculations of our loudspeaker mathematics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz2sIYqfIVg&t=1s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74x4JAAXAVQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hFYsImgHS4&t=133s
sowie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JfgHVKzdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAKnjraHIz8&t=2s
Our speakers all work with slopes of 50 dB/octave and more. This avoids all the disadvantages of flat filters described above and allows us to build truly specialist drivers. An immense advantage. And that's why our speakers sound so open, clear, spacious and have a wide listening zone, giving you a great, balanced sound image throughout the room.
Filter theory in electrical engineering shows that higher-order systems are more efficient than lower-order systems (edge steepness in electrical filters). Since a loudspeaker can also be described as an electrical filter, this also applies here. A closed box is a 2nd order filter (one moving mass with suspension), a bass reflex box is a 4th order filter (two moving masses, one the diaphragm, one the air in the bass reflex tube). This could give you the idea of building a 6th order filter with an additional mass-spring system purely electrically, because electrical resonant circuits have the same differential equation as mechanical mass-spring systems. This is exactly what we do with all our loudspeakers. The increased performance allows us to make the volumes smaller (smaller cabinet) and achieve a lower resonance frequency, so that the speakers go down lower than they are actually capable of.
This electrical high-pass filtering does not make the bass louder, but the cut-off frequency is decreased by almost an octave (more low bass!) and the cabinet becomes smaller. We call this amplification of the lowest octave (30 Hz - 60 Hz) bass extension and by inserting the jumper you can achieve an amplification of 4 dB at 40 Hz. If you plug one of our BE modules into these sockets, you can vary the amplification in 4 steps. You can find out more about this under Bass Extension.
Why do we build multi-way loudspeakers?
The human hearing ranges from 16 Hz to around 16,000 Hz (at a young age), i.e. over 10 octaves - an enormous range when you consider that the eye can only see one octave. Accordingly, it is difficult for a single loudspeaker to reproduce this wide range of frequencies.
In the bass range we need large, heavy cones with small magnets, in the mid-range we need light, much smaller cones with a strong drive and in the treble range we need very small, extremely light cones with the strongest possible drive. All of this follows from the laws of mechanics, strength of materials and, last but not least, acoustics.
As you can see, it is impossible to reconcile all these requirements. It is essential to make compromises here. A first compromise is to divide the 10 octaves between two loudspeaker drive-units. Such designs are correspondingly diverse, as the proportions of the individual chassis can vary greatly. In the classic three-way speaker, three specialists share the 10 octaves, which can bring a significant improvement. The same applies to four-way loudspeakers. Five-way loudspeakers are extremely rare and then hardly offer any more advantages.
The crossover
How do we build these multi-way loudspeaker systems?
A crossover is required so that the individual specialists are assigned their respective frequencies correctly. A crossover is a circuit consisting of inductors (inductivity), capacitors (capacitance) and ohmic resistors, which are connected together according to certain rules and then form so-called low-passes (only low frequencies are allowed through), high-passes (only high frequencies are allowed through) and band-passes (only medium frequencies are allowed through).
Unfortunately, these low, high and bandpass filters, also known as analog electrical filters, are not infinitely steep, so that lower and higher frequencies can still pass through, but are increasingly attenuated in the process. In the simplest filter circuits, they work with a slope of 6 dB/octave: every time the frequency is doubled or halved, the sound pressure level is reduced by 6 dB. 10 dB corresponds to a halving of the volume. However, studies have shown that sounds of -40 dB can still be perceived well. So if you remove a woofer at 400 Hz with a 1st order filter, this means that the bass speaker is 3 dB quieter at 400 Hz and then fades out at 6 dB/octave from 400 Hz. At 3200 Hz (3 octaves higher) it is only 18 dB quieter, which corresponds to about a quarter of the volume. It therefore still plays along well and overlaps with the signal from the midrange driver. At 400 Hz, both are equally loud.
The same happens at 3.200 Hz, where the tweeter generally takes over the music dispersion. At 3.200 Hz, the midrange and tweeter are equally loud and the midrange drops by 6 dB/octave. At 12.800 Hz, the midrange driver is therefore about 12 dB quieter, which corresponds to slightly more than half the volume. As the mid-range cones are heavier and larger than the tweeter cones, many mid-range drivers slowly stop emitting sound at 7.000 – 8.000 Hz by themselves. But one thing is clear: especially in the range from 3.400 Hz upwards, the wavelengths become smaller than 10 cm and if two loudspeaker drivers then emit the same signal, both signals interfere very strongly and thus distort the actual original signal. This cannot be good. You lose the spatial information and also the temporal impulse information. As a result of the fact that the individual musicians' entries are now blurred, the music loses its drive and crispness. And that's what music is all about!
What is the solution to this? Either you use a full- range driver (which is really very bad), you accept the misbehaviour (6 dB/octave crossovers) or you use crossovers that separate much more steeply, for example with 12 dB/octave or 18 dB/octave.
We at Gauder Akustik take this a big step further. We have developed a process in which the slope of our crossover filters is more than 50 dB/octave! After less than an octave, our individual drivers are no longer audible at all! The overlap is therefore very small, so that each drive-unit only emits the frequencies it is really capable of. Interference effects are minimized. The impulse response is optimal (as confirmed by the trade press in every test) and the spatial imaging remains stable and large. So using our loudspeakers you don't necessarily have to sit right in the middle! And of course the electrical load capacity is also higher, which dramatically increases the service life of the individual driver (this is one of the reasons why we give you a 10-year full guarantee when you register).
However, due to the complex circuitry, our crossovers have significantly more components than competitor products (e.g. 64 components in our DARC 200 three-way speaker), which makes them larger and much more expensive. We also have to use selected, high-quality, expensive components to ensure that the circuits function precisely. All this results in a not inconsiderable cost factor, but we accept this even for the Arcona 40 in order to set a sound milestone in every class.
What are the disadvantages of higher-order crossovers?
The group delay, i.e. the time it takes for an electrical signal to pass through the crossover, increases slightly. However, this effect is much smaller than musical instruments need to settle, but we also correct this disadvantage with our TDC technology.
As you can see, a sophisticated crossover is the most important component of a multi-way loudspeaker. That's why we spend so much time and effort on it!
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The amplifier is an important component in each HiFi system. We recommend the TAE 150 integrated amplifier and the PAE 150 power amplifier from Electric Audio for all our loudspeakers. The absolute non-plus-ultra in terms of sound and performance!
More about the amplifier
We use our own Clearwater cables as internal wiring in our loudspeakers. We therefore recommend using one of our Clearwater cables as a speaker cable, too. Ask your Gauder Akustik dealer about this or give us a call! We will be happy to advise you.
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