Crossover Layouts Tutorial
Crossovers are used to divide audio frequency spectrums into different bands controlled by individual drivers. A common crossover is the use of a woofer and a tweeter that handle low and high frequencies respectively.
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Digital Layouts
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Digital layout crossovers get a digital input, convert it to analog signals and feed it to analog stereo channels. Digital crossover layouts have the advantage of achieving a perfect phase response, something that is not achievable with the other analog crossover layouts.
Two-Way Design Layout
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A two-way design layout uses a high-pass and a low-pass filter to handle low and high frequencies. Any other branches that would have existed are simply eliminated.
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Passive Crossover Layouts
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Passive crossover layout designs are made entirely of passive components, such as resistors and inductors. Passive crossover layouts are designed with specific frequency and impedance matching. They cannot be interchanged with different speaker systems.
Active Crossover Layouts
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Active crossover layouts are made of active components, such as transistors and op-amps (operational amplifiers). These layouts will employ power amplifiers for every output band. For example, if there are two outputs, a woofer and a tweeter, there will be two amplifiers.
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