Re: Re: car audio
 
>        Wait until you get the prices on high end crossovers!!! But I remain 
> convinced that in Audio, you really get what you pay for. Ref. below>> Your 
> background in electronics will save you some big money there. I lack the 
> expertise to design and build my own crossovers. So I rely on an outfit in 
> Calif that builds custom units to your specs. Fantastic quality and build 
wit
> your choice of slopes and freqs!
Crossovers appear to be as much voodoo as they are science. Basic Butterworth
types are no problem, but once you get into higher orders with their 
increased 
phase shift, plus impedance compensation, etc. they get real tricky. I'm just
beginning to read up on the basics, and it is quickly apparent that some good
design software will be essential if I want predictable results. I'm so
overwhelmed with learning the enclosure principles and the subtleties od
driver parameters and their uses at the moment that I haven't given a lot of
thought to crossovers yet. I'm taking the approach of developing a tight,
musical sub for a first project, as I have immediate need of one for my home
system, and following that I want one for my car. Once I accomplish this, 
I'll 
be ready for a satellite project and the attendant crossovers. 
     At the moment I'm working on a 10cf test enclosure for woofers, with
movable baffles, quick-change mounting boards for 8-15" drivers, and the
whole thing will break down flat for storage. I already have a much cruder
4cf tower with a movable baffle, but it can't really take drivers over 10".
These are handy for 'roughing in' a prototype and trying some 'what if'
tweaks before building a fixed volume enclosue. You can test the same driver
in optimum volumes for both sealed and vented boxes quickly, try various vent
types and sizes, damping materials, etc. without major disassembly or
reconstruction - just swap a few modular pieces around.
>  > I've seen ads for the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook, and will order a copy
>  > soon. Does it go into any good detail on Bandpass and Transmission Line
>        Absolutely. They begin with mid to advanced basic theory and move 
all 
>the way through the design process including the math and charting out what 

>finished projects would look like in graph. So far it is the best I have 
een
>for someone having the skills but needing direction.
Then it sounds like exactly what I need. I'll get this. Thanks for the
advice!
I just finished reading Ray Alden's 'Advanced Speaker Systems'. The basic
theory chapters are quite good, well presented and clear, but the 'advanced'
designs are presented merely as project plans, with almost no theory or
formulas for striking out on your own. The book is also a shameless
commercial for Radio Shack drivers and products, most of which I wouldn't
install in a doghouse. He also pushes Top Box software, which appears to be
decent, but possibly dated. Overall, though, the book is well worth reading,
and cheaply priced (about $8.00) for the amount of useful info.
Glenn
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