SE Measurements

[Quinn]

Ascend uses a 4th order Linkowitz-Riley crossover. About the only place it is mentioned is in The $ensible Sound review in the paragraph at the top of page two. The crossover point in that article is for the Classic version. The SE's tweeter allows for a lower crossover. I don't know where the present crossover is and don't see an obvious artifacts on the CSD that would tell it's location.

[curtis]

Right now I'm looking for speakers and the Ascends are some I'm considering. I've been to many web sites and I don't remember too many of them not listing what order the crossover is and what the crossover points are.

Out of curiosity, how will this information affect your decision?

[jad5]

Out of curiosity, how will this information affect your decision?

First off I'm not really a technical person as I can hardly even solder. But as an example a first order crossover that I've used in the past didn't have good power handling although it was very well integrated. It's just something along with measurements that I like to look at.

[jad5]

Ascend uses a 4th order Linkowitz-Riley crossover. About the only place it is mentioned is in The $ensible Sound review in the paragraph at the top of page two. The crossover point in that article is for the Classic version. The SE's tweeter allows for a lower crossover. I don't know where the present crossover is and don't see an obvious artifacts on the CSD that would tell it's location.

Thanks for the info Quinn.

[GaryB]

Out of curiosity, how will this information affect your decision?

I know where he's coming from, Curtis. Part of Ascend's appeal for me, and, I suspect, many others, is that the success of the designs seems to result from a rigorous application of tried-and-true concepts, and not from some secret magic recipe. The speakers sound terrific, and also measure very well (in all respects). This combination of virtues, for some of us, has a very high "warm and fuzzy" quotient, which is partially derived from knowing something about the various design decisions.

Since Ascend's published specs and measurements are unusually comprehensive in other respects, the absence of crossover information does seem to be a bit of an anomaly. To jad5, I suggest you e-mail Dave F. directly and ask him your questions. He has, in the past, been very forthcoming when I have asked him similar technical questions myself.

[curtis]

Understood.

I just think that giving the crossover point or type isn't as informative....it really doesn't tell you much.

[GirgleMirt]

I hope I'm not opening a can of worms, what about "Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise"?

cumulative spectral decay, I was about to ask, but found this explanation by Dave midpage here thx! http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...spectral+decay

Other info: http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...spectral+decay

[davef]

Hi Guys,

I hope I'm not opening a can of worms, what about "Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise"?

THD is certainly possible but there are no standards for this type of test (besides possibly taking hours to perform depending on how many frequencies I test)

THD at what frequency? At what SPL level? To properly measure THD, I must feed a very low distortion sine wave to the speaker and take measurements from there. It is time consuming but I suppose we could pick a few specific frequencies to measure.

Right now I'm looking for speakers and the Ascends are some I'm considering. I've been to many web sites and I don't remember too many of them not listing what order the crossover is and what the crossover points are.

Crossover point (between woofer and tweeter) is not indicative of performance. Slope and Q, if understood, can indicate some level of performance (mostly driver integration and off-axis performance). A higher order crossover will generally provide better off-axis performance and higher power handling. The SE's use high order crossovers -- 4th order acoustic, variable slope filters.

I prefer not to publicly discuss info about our crossover networks. While there is no "magic formula" as GaryB stated, there are some "magic" techniques that I use and have refined over the past 20 years. Ever try asking Famous Amos for the recipe for his cookies

Hope this helps!

[Lou-the-dog]

I prefer not to publicly discuss info about our crossover networks. While there is no "magic formula" as GaryB stated, there are some "magic" techniques that I use and have refined over the past 20 years. Ever try asking Famous Amos for the recipe for his cookies

Hope this helps!

I think what Davef is trying to say is that he would be more than happy to share all the details of his crossovers with you. But then he'd have to kill you.

Randy

[Jonnyozero3]

Death by Best Buy Speaker Demo Room.....ouch......