UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND

INFORMATION ENGINEERING

FINAL YEAR PROJECT REPORT

DESIGN OF A 4-WAY PASSIVE CROSS-OVER NETWORK

BY ODHIAMBO TONNY SILVANCE

REGISTRATION NUMBER: F17/1453/2011

SUPERVISOR: MR. S. L. OGABA

EXAMINER: PROF.ABUNG’U

This project was submitted as a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of
Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical and Information Engineering from University of
Nairobi
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

FACULTY/SCHOOL/INSTITUTE: ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT: ELECTRICAL AND INFORMATION ENGINEERING

COURSE NAME: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL AND INFORMATION

ENGINEERING

NAME: ODHIAMBO TONNY SILVANCE

REGISTRATION NUMBER: F17/1453/2011

COLLEGE: ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING

PROJECT: DESIGN OF A 4-WAY PASSIVE CROSS-OVER NETWORK

PROJECT NUMBER: 112

1) I understand what plagiarism is and I am aware of the University policy on this regard.

2) I declare that this final year project is my original work and has not been submitted elsewhere
for examination, award of degree or publication. Where other people’s work or my own work
has been used, this has properly been acknowledged and referenced in accordance with
University of Nairobi’s requirements.

3) I have not sought or used the services of any professional agencies to produce this work.

4) I have not allowed and shall not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it
off as his/her own work.

5) I understand that any false claim in respect of this work shall result in disciplinary action, in
accordance with University anti-plagiarism policy.

Signature:

……………………………………..…………………………………….....................

Date:

……………………………………..………………………………………………….

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DECLARATION AND CERTIFICATION

This is my original work and has not been presented for any degree award in this or any other
university. Information from other sources has been duly acknowledged.

…………………………………………………………………………

ODHIAMBO TONNY SILVANCE

F17/1453/2011

This report has been submitted to the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering,
University of Nairobi with my approval as supervisor:

……………………………………………………………………………..

MR. S. L. OGABA

Date: ………………………….

ii
DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this project to my parents, my uncle Dr.Jared Oule, my entire family and my
supervisor for their support during the period of my project.
You have been the drive and inspiration that has kept me on course and track in pursuit of this very
interesting but rather demanding and challenging career path

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the Almighty God for giving me a good health, strength and the ability to carry
out this project.
I would also like to thank my supervisor, Mr. S. L. Ogaba for the continuous guidance he has shown
from when the project started all through to its completion.
My sincere appreciation goes to my classmates and close friends for their views, opinions on various
aspects of the project and their constructive criticism that enabled me deliver the final piece of work
to the best of my ability.

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ABBREVIATIONS
SPL- Sound Pressure Levels
AWG -American Wire Gauge
OPAMP- Operational Amplifier
mmf -Magneto motive force
emf -Electromotive Force
dB -Decibel
Hz -Hertz
Rms -Root mean square

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 Table of Contents

1 CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ................................................................................. 1
1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION ............................................................................................... 3
1.3 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION ........................................................................................... 3
1.4 OVERALL OBJECTIVE ................................................................................................. 4
1.5 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................ 4
2 CHAPTER TWO- LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 5
2.1 Filter networks.................................................................................................................. 5
2.1.1 Low-pass filters ......................................................................................................... 6
2.1.2 High pass filters ........................................................................................................ 6
2.1.3 Band-pass filters........................................................................................................ 7
2.1.4 Band-stop filters ........................................................................................................ 7
2.1.5 Butterworth response ................................................................................................ 8
2.1.6 Chebyshev response .................................................................................................. 9
2.1.7 Maximally flat time delay response (Bessel) .......................................................... 10
2.1.8 COMPARISON ...................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Speakers ......................................................................................................................... 12
2.2.1 SPEAKER PARAMETERS ................................................................................... 14
2.2.2 USABLE FREQUENCY RANGE ......................................................................... 17
2.2.3 POWER HANDLING ............................................................................................ 18
2.2.4 SENSITIVITY ........................................................................................................ 18
2.2.5 SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO (SNR) ..................................................................... 19
2.2.6 DRIVER SIZES [7] ................................................................................................ 19
2.2.7 SPEAKER MODEL [8] [2] .................................................................................... 21
2.3 AUDIO CROSSOVER NETWORKS ........................................................................... 23
2.3.1 Active crossover...................................................................................................... 23
2.3.2 Passive crossover .................................................................................................... 24
2.4 Components (inductors and capacitors) ......................................................................... 25

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 2.4.1 Inductors ................................................................................................................. 25
2.4.2 CAPACITORS ........................................................................................................ 27
2.5 ADDITIONAL USEFUL CIRCUITS ............................................................................ 29
2.5.1 1.Zobel network [11] .............................................................................................. 29
2.5.2 L-pad ....................................................................................................................... 33
2.5.3 Series-notch filter .................................................................................................... 33
2.5.4 Parallel notch (trap) filter ........................................................................................ 33
2.6 WORKING MECHANISM OF A CROSSOVER NETWORK ................................... 34
2.6.1 12dB crossover........................................................................................................ 34
3 CHAPTER 3- DESIGN ........................................................................................................ 36
3.1 Passive Crossover Circuit Design .................................................................................. 36
3.1.1 Selection of crossover frequency ............................................................................ 36
3.2 Component values determination ................................................................................... 38
3.2.1 Crossover points...................................................................................................... 38
3.2.2 Woofer (100W): ...................................................................................................... 39
3.2.3 Midrange1 (60W).................................................................................................... 40
3.2.4 Midrange2 (30W).................................................................................................... 40
3.2.5 Tweeter (10W) ........................................................................................................ 41
3.3 IMPEDANCE CURVES AND ZOBEL NETWORK DESIGN ................................... 45
3.3.1 1. woofer (wf090wa02) ........................................................................................... 46
3.3.2 specifications........................................................................................................... 46
3.3.3 midrange1(rs52an-8) ............................................................................................... 47
3.3.4 specifications........................................................................................................... 47
3.3.5 midrange2 (nd105-8) .............................................................................................. 48
3.3.6 specifications........................................................................................................... 48
3.3.7 tweeter (tw030wa14) .............................................................................................. 49
3.4 THE FILTER NETWORKS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL SPEAKER DRIVERS ........... 51
3.4.1 woofer ..................................................................................................................... 52
3.4.2 midrange1 ............................................................................................................... 52
3.4.3 midrange2 ............................................................................................................... 53
3.4.4 tweeter ..................................................................................................................... 53
4 CHAPTER 4 - OBSERVATION AND RESULTS .............................................................. 55

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 4.1 impedance curves ........................................................................................................... 55
4.1.1 1.woofer .................................................................................................................. 55
4.1.2 midrange1 ............................................................................................................... 56
4.1.3 midrange2 ............................................................................................................... 57
4.1.4 tweeter ..................................................................................................................... 58
4.2 FILTER NETWORKS SIMULATED RESPONSE ...................................................... 59
4.2.1 woofer ..................................................................................................................... 59
4.2.2 Midrange1 ............................................................................................................... 60
4.2.3 Midrange2 ............................................................................................................... 61
4.2.4 Tweeter ................................................................................................................... 62
4.3 SIMULATED RESULTS .............................................................................................. 64
4.3.1 1.Woofer (baseband) ............................................................................................... 64
4.3.2 2. Midrange1(lower midrange) ............................................................................... 65
4.3.3 Midrange2(higher midrange) .................................................................................. 66
4.3.4 4.Tweeter ................................................................................................................ 67
4.4 PRACTICAL DESIGN .................................................................................................. 68
4.5 Practical results .............................................................................................................. 72
4.5.1 Woofer .................................................................................................................... 72
4.5.2 Lower midrange (midrange1) ................................................................................. 73
4.5.3 Higher midrange (midrange2)................................................................................. 74
4.5.4 Tweeter ................................................................................................................... 75
4.6 Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 77
5 CHAPTER 5 ......................................................................................................................... 81
5.1 Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 81
5.2 Recommendation ............................................................................................................ 81

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Table of Figures
Figure 1 low pass filter ................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 2 High pass filter ................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 3 Band pass filter ................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 4: Butterworth amplitude response ...................................................................................... 9
Figure 5:Chebyshev amplitude response ...................................................................................... 10
Figure 6:Bessel magnitude response ............................................................................................. 11
Figure 7:comprarison of the magnitude response of Butterworth,Chebyshev and Bessel ........... 12
Figure 8:Speaker driver parts ........................................................................................................ 13
Figure 9:Speaker driver parts assembled in 3D ............................................................................ 14
Figure 10:Speaker impedance model ............................................................................................ 21
Figure 11:Speaker driver electrical model .................................................................................... 22
Figure 12:Zobel network............................................................................................................... 30
Figure 13:Impedance curve with and without zobel network ....................................................... 32
Figure 14:Series notch filter.......................................................................................................... 33
Figure 15:Parallel notch trap filter ................................................................................................ 34
Figure 16:simulated circuit for impedance curves ........................................................................ 51
Figure 17:Woofer circuit............................................................................................................... 52
Figure 18:Midrange1 circuit ......................................................................................................... 52
Figure 19:midrange2 circuit .......................................................................................................... 53
Figure 20:Tweeter circuit .............................................................................................................. 53
Figure 21:Fabricated circuit .......................................................................................................... 54
Figure 22:Simulated woofer impedance curve ............................................................................. 55
Figure 23:simulated midrange1 impedance curve: ....................................................................... 56
Figure 24:Simulated midrange2 impedance curve ....................................................................... 57
Figure 25:simulated tweeter impedance curve ............................................................................. 58
Figure 26:simulated woofer frequency response .......................................................................... 59
Figure 27:simulated midrange1 frequency response .................................................................... 60
Figure 28:simulated midrange2 response ..................................................................................... 61
Figure 29:simulated tweeter frequency response ......................................................................... 62

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Figure 30:full network frequency response .................................................................................. 63
Figure 31:stage1 etching process .................................................................................................. 68
Figure 32:stage2 etching process .................................................................................................. 69
Figure 33:stage 3 etching process ................................................................................................. 70
Figure 34:Final stage etching process ........................................................................................... 71
Figure 35:complete soldered circuit.............................................................................................. 71
Figure 36:speaker cabinets ............................................................................................................ 76
Figure 37:practical woofer frequency response ............................................................................ 77
Figure 38:practical midrange1frequency response ....................................................................... 77
Figure 39:practical midrange2 frequency response ...................................................................... 78
Figure 40:practical tweeter frequency response ........................................................................... 78
Figure 41:full network frequency response .................................................................................. 80

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List of tables

Table 1:Filter characteristics ......................................................................................................... 11

Table 2:Crossover frequency range for various systems .............................................................. 36
Table 3:crossover frequency and speaker power proportions....................................................... 37
Table 4:Capacitor calculated,measured and standard values ........................................................ 42
Table 5: Inductor calculated and measured values ....................................................................... 44
Table 6: Electrical and Mechanical parameters of the simulated speaker drivers ........................ 50
Table 7:Simulated woofer frequency response ............................................................................. 64
Table 8:simulated midrange1 frequency response ........................................................................ 65
Table 9:Simulated midrange2 frequency response ...................................................................... 66
Table 10:simulated tweeter frequency response ........................................................................... 67
Table 11:Practical woofer frequency response results.................................................................. 72
Table 12:Practical midrange1 frequency response results ............................................................ 73
Table 13:practical midrange2 frequency response results ............................................................ 74
Table 14:practical tweeter frequency response results ................................................................. 75

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ABSTRACT

The project involves the design of a 4-way cross-over network that employs four second order
Butterworth filter networks to split the audible frequency range into four separate frequency
sound bands which include the low frequency bass, which operates between 20Hz and
400Hz,two midranges between 500Hz and 5000Hz for both and the high frequency treble above
5000Hz .The separate frequency bands are then directed to the speaker drivers optimized to
handle them and they are woofer, lower mid-range(midrange1),higher mid-range(midrange
2)and tweeter respectively. The most common driver nominal impedances are 4ohms and 8 ohms
for the speaker drivers but in this case 8 ohm speakers were used in the design. Resistors were
used at the output to represent the speaker drivers in the simulation but in the practical design
and demonstration, actual speaker drivers in their cabinets were used. Commercially available
capacitor values which slightly differed from the actual design values were used in the
simulation and final fabrication. The inductors were successfully manually coiled after their
values had been determined from design calculations.

Designed circuits are simulated using Microcap and TINA TI soft wares, and then implemented
on PCB.

The keywords: Woofer, Tweeter, Mid-range1, Mid-range2, Pass-band, Stop-band and

Butterworth

xii
1 CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The audible frequency range is generally taken to be between 20 Hz for the lower limit and 20
kHz for the upper limits. This basically means that human ear can only perceive sound within
this bandwidth and anything above and below is not possible. This audible range is defined by
the Fletcher-Munson curves. [1]

Ideally, a single loudspeaker should reproduce the full audible frequency range without any
detectable distortion, but this is unfortunately not easily possible and although good full-range
loudspeakers do exist, that is those that reproduce the full audible frequency range, the frequency
range of a full-range loudspeaker is limited with weak bass and unsatisfactory treble, the
frequency response is irregular or at least compromised by the directivity at high frequencies and
it is difficult to keep distortion low when the same diaphragm is used for bass and treble. The
one and only way of distortion reduction is decreasing diaphragm excursion, but this requires an
increase of diaphragm area to compensate for the lost sound pressure; and enlarging loudspeaker
size worsens high frequency reproduction. It all boils down to a requirement of loudspeakers
optimized for reproduction of a limited frequency range and thus the need for a frequency
dividing network, and this is the genesis of crossover networks. [2]

In the simplest sense, a crossover is a device that separates the audio spectrum into
different ranges and sends them to specific drivers. The crossover is responsible for sending bass
information to the woofer, midrange information to the midrange, and treble to the tweeter. In a
world where a single driver could easily and faithfully reproduce the entire audio spectrum, the
use of a crossover would not be necessary. However there are a number of real-world problems
that make the use of crossovers requisite. The prime reason is that multiple drivers are usually
needed to cover the entire audio spectrum. It is very difficult to manufacture a driver that is
capable of producing both high and low frequencies simultaneously. Various types of drivers are
designed to perform well in different ranges, once outside of their optimum range they begin to
operate poorly and erroneously. The use of a crossover can prevent corrupt information from
being produced outside of a driver's operating range. Most tweeters and many smaller drivers
would actually be physically damaged or destroyed by sending low frequency information to

1
them and woofers cannot move fast enough to generate higher frequencies. A crossover network
can be used in a limitless number of ways to help tailor frequency response. There are notch
filters which can remove peaks in response, conjugate networks to flatten impedance curves, and
a myriad of other possible filters. All of these various crossover circuits can be used to help reach
the goal of a flat frequency response. [2]

Crossovers use a combination of electrical high-pass and low-pass filters to separate the
frequency band. A low-pass filter allows low frequency signals to pass without attenuation, but
will attenuate signals above a certain frequency. A high-pass filter will allow high-frequency
signals to pass without attenuation, but will attenuate signals below a certain frequency. When a
low-pass filter on a woofer and a high-pass filter on a tweeter are combined, a smooth transition
from woofer to tweeter can be accomplished.
Unfortunately, a passive crossover filter cannot act with an infinitely steep slope; it produces a
gradual roll-off. The high-pass and low-pass crossover points and slopes must be carefully
combined to produce a flat response between drivers.

In the broadcast sense, crossovers can be classified by the number of bands into which the audio
spectrum is divided. A two-way crossover separates the audio spectrum into two portions and
sends the information to two different types of drivers. A three-way crossover separates the
audio spectrum into three portion, a four- way crossover separates the audio spectrum into four
portions and so on. [3]

In terms of components used and construction architecture, there two types of crossover
networks and they include:

1. Active crossover network

2. Passive crossover network

In active crossover networks, the power amplifier which is used to drive the network is located
between the network and the speaker driver and this basically means that each driver is be fed by
its own power amplifier and so in a nutshell, active crossovers contain active circuit elements for
instance op-amps. In passive crossover networks, the power amplifier driving the network is
located before the network itself and so just one power amplifier is necessary unlike the latter.

2
Passive crossover networks are made of passive circuit’s elements which mainly are inductors
and capacitors that make up the filter network.

The passive crossover network is currently the most used approach but the active crossover
network is expected to be increasingly popular in the near future since high quality power
amplifiers are becoming a serious alternative to the linear power amplifiers of today.

Terms often used to describe the slope of a crossover include 6dB/octave, 12dB/octave,
18dB/octave, or 24dB/octave. The crossover slope that these terms refer to is just as you would
imagine. With a change of one octave, a 6dB/octave crossover will have an output that is 6 dB
down from the beginning point; 12 dB/octave will have an output that is 12dB down.

Another set of terms that are often used to describe a crossover slope are 1st order, 2nd order, 3rd
order, and 4th order. These terms are derived from the number of components that are needed to
produce the described slope. A 1st order crossover uses 1 component, and will yield roughly a 6
dB/octave cutoff. A 2nd order crossover uses 2 components, and will yield roughly a 12
dB/octave cutoff, etc.

1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION

Loudspeaker systems as discussed above, cannot efficiently operate without crossover networks
and hence their proper design cannot be overlooked. Commercially available are 2-way and 3-
way crossover networks which basically employ the use of two (woofer and tweeter) and three
drivers (woofer, midrange and tweeter) respectively. It is realized that the more the speaker
drivers optimized to handle certain frequencies within the audible frequency band, the better the
sound quality and thus the need to design a four way crossover network.

1.3 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

A 4- way crossover network means that four speaker drivers (woofer, midrange1, midrange2 and
tweeter) optimized to reproduce sound within the audible frequency range are used and this
eventually leads to a more efficient and higher quality sound production. The use of a passive
network means that circuit complexity is reduced and thus less costly to produce and noise is
extremely minimal since the circuit has no active elements where noise is inherent.

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1.4 OVERALL OBJECTIVE
This project focuses on the design of a 4-way passive cross-over network

1.5 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. To determine the crossover frequency based on the output power versus frequency relation
and the sound frequency bandwidth of particular speaker drivers

2. To choose the speaker driver’s nominal impedance to use in the design

3. To evaluate, after derivation of the relevant equations, the network’s component values that is,
the capacitors and inductors based on the crossover frequency, speaker driver nominal
impedance and finally the speaker driver’s power ratings.

4. To research on and determine the formula used to evaluate inductance based on the physical
parameters and thereafter manually coil the inductors to be used based on this formula.

4
2 CHAPTER TWO- LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Filter networks
A filter is a network designed to pass signals having frequencies within certain bands (called
passbands) with little attenuation, but greatly attenuates signals within other bands (called
attenuation bands or stopbands). Between the pass band of a filter, where ideally the attenuation
is zero, and the attenuation band, where ideally the attenuation is infinite, is the cut-off
frequency, this being the frequency at which the attenuation changes from zero to some finite
value. Filters are classified in a number of ways and the first to be considered is classification
based on the circuit components which leads to active and passive filters.
Passive filters are those that consist of combinations of resistance, capacitance and inductance
and so basically they consist of passive circuit elements and do not contain any source of power.
Capacitors block low-frequency signals and conduct high frequency signals and inductors do the
reverse. Resistors on their own have no frequency –selective properties, but are added to inductors
and capacitors to determine the time-constants of the circuit, and therefore frequencies to which they
respond. Passive RLC structures are capable of achieving relatively good filter characteristics in
applications ranging from the audio frequency range to the upper limit of the lumped parameter
range. Problem occurs with passive RLC filters at the lower end of the audio frequency range since
inductance values increase as the required frequency decreases creating several problems. Firstly,
inductors are somewhat imperfect devices due to internal losses and these losses increased markedly
in the very large inductance range required at low frequencies. These losses terribly degrade the
quality factor for each coil and the associated filter responses have large deviations from the desired
form. Second, the actual physical sizes of the large inductance values limit their usefulness and lastly
their cost are certainly not trivial.
Active filters are theoretically capable of achieving the same response as passive RLC filters and
since inductors are not required, the problems associated with inductance at low frequency are
eliminated but they do have a few problems of their own. Since they are active, power is required to
operate them, they add noise to the response and are highly susceptible to instability since they
employ feedback which consist of combinations of resistors and capacitors and one or more active

5
devices such as op amps employing feedback. They contain power sources since they have active
devices in their circuitry. Our focus is however on the passive filters and not active. [4] [5]
Filters can be categorized according to frequency ranges as:

2.1.1 Low-pass filters

A low-pass filter is one designed to pass signals at frequencies below a specified cut-off
frequency. A typical one consists of an inductor in series with the signal and a capacitor shunting
the signal to the ground. At high frequencies, the inductive impedance increases while the
converse is true for capacitive impedance and as a result, depending on the designed cut of
frequency, frequencies higher that this value experience high impedance and are thus blocked or
attenuated by the inductor and those that manage to pass are shunted to the ground by the
capacitor thus overally, the capacitor, inductor combination realize the functionality of this type

Figure 1: low pass filter

2.1.2 High pass filters

This is a filter designed to pass signals at frequencies beyond a certain point and attenuate
frequencies below that point(cut off frequency).A typical one consists of a capacitor in series
with the signal path and an inductor shunting the signal path to the ground. Frequencies below
the cut off frequency experience a very high capacitive impedance which increases as frequency
decreases and those that manage to pass are further directed to the ground through the shunting
inductor whose impedance is low at low frequencies and hence only frequencies beyond the cut
off are allowed to pass. A typical high pass filter is shown in figure2 below.

6
Figure 2: High pass filter

2.1.3 Band-pass filters

A band-pass filter is one designed to pass signals with frequencies between
Two specified cut-off frequencies. Such a filter may be formed by cascading a high-pass and a
low-pass filter. 𝑓𝐶𝐻 Is the cut-off frequency of the high-pass filter and𝑓𝐶𝐿 is the
Cut-off frequency of the low-pass filter. 𝑓𝐶𝐿 Is greater than 𝑓𝐶𝐻 since it’s the high pass filter that
first meets the signal to reject frequencies below the cut off frequency then the low pass to reject
frequencies beyond the cut off frequency for the low pass filter so basically the band pass is
defined by the difference between the low pass and high pass cut off frequencies.

Figure 3 :Band pass filter

2.1.4 Band-stop filters

A band stop filter is one designed to block or attenuate signals with frequencies between two
specified cut off frequencies. Such a filter is formed by cascading a low pass and a high pass
filter as shown below. The cut off frequency of the high pass filter is higher than that of the low
pass filter since the signal first encounters the low pass filter which allows frequency up to its cut
off frequency to pass and blocks the rest then the high pass filter that allows frequencies above

7
its cut off frequencies o pass and blocks the rest and so basically the stop band is defined by the
difference between the high pass and low pass cut of frequencies.
In the view of the non-ideal nature of filter responses, one method of classifying filters is
according to the type of approximation to the block characteristic employed [4].the amplitude
response forms for a few of the major types using low pass characteristics are:

2.1.5 Butterworth response

The form is illustrated in the diagram below. Butterworth amplitude response is also referred to
as maximally flat amplitude response because of the mathematical structure of its
development. Butterworth filter is a type of signal processing filter designed to have as flat a
frequency response as possible in the passband, very useful for audio signals that easily get
affected by distortions that occur due to ripples that are almost always never present with this
type of filter. The Butterworth utilize a convenient reference frequency at which the amplitude
response drops to 1/√2 of its maximum pass band level corresponding to the response being
down 3dB this frequency is the cut off frequency and it should be understood that it is not an
abrupt cut off. Let fc represent the cut off frequency and n represent the order (number of poles)
of the approximation. The amplitude response of the M (w) of the Butterworth low pass function
is given by

𝑴(𝒘) = 𝟏 ÷ √(𝟏 + (𝒇/𝒇𝒄)^𝟐𝒏)

The maximum value of M (w) occurs at f=0 and it has been established as unity for convenience.
The amplitude response for this high pass filter has essentially the same cut off frequency as for
low pass filters except of course that it is at the low end of the pass band and the response is also
3db down at this point. The amplitude response m (w) of the Butterworth high pass function is
given by:

𝑴(𝒘) = 𝟏 ÷ √((𝒇𝒄/𝒇)^𝟐𝒏)

8
Figure 4: Butterworth amplitude response

2.1.6 Chebyshev response

The form of one particular Chebyshev amplitude characteristic is shown below. Chebyshev
response is referred to as an equiripple response because the pass band is characterized by a
series of ripples that have equal maximum levels and equal minimum levels. The number of
ripples is a function of the number of reactive elements in the design. Chebyshev filters have a
sharper slope than Butterworth filters and are thus capable of achieving more attenuation at the
stop band for a given number of reactive elements. However, there time delay and phase
characteristic are less ideal than those of the Butterworth filters and they tend to exhibit a ringing
effect with transient signals which is not very good for audio signal processing.

9
Figure 5:Chebyshev amplitude response

2.1.7 Maximally flat time delay response (Bessel)

A different approach to the approximation problem is that of the maximally flat time delay
(MFTD) filter. With the mftd filter, the phase response is optimized so that all frequency
components have nearly constant time delay through the filter.at first glance, this response
resembles that of the Butterworth as response decreases as the frequency increases but compared
closely to the Butterworth, the pass band amplitude response is not as constant and the
attenuation is not as high in the stop band. MFTD filters are used in phase sensitive applications
where constant time delay is very important but the attenuation requirements are moderate.

10
Figure 6:Bessel magnitude response

2.1.8 COMPARISON
There are various other approximations some of which include Cauer-elliptic, Gaussian,
Thompson, Equi-ripple Group Delay but these three types are among the most widely employed.
Within the group of this filter characteristics, the Chebyshev amplitude response has the sharpest
rate of attenuation increase above the cut off but its phase and time delay characteristics are the
poorest. In contrast, the MFTD filter has the most ideal time delay and phase characteristics but
its amplitude response is the poorest. The Butterworth filter is a reasonable compromise between
these extremes and is as a result a very popular choice and since in addition to this they can
achieve any basic form of filtering, it was used in the project. Table 1 below summarizes the
above characteristics

Table 1: Filter characteristics

Filter Main Other Q-factor

characteristics characteristics

Butterworth Maximally flat _ 0.707

amplitude

Bessel Maximally flat Fastest settling 0.5 to 0.707*

phase time

Chebyshev/Chebys Fastest roll-off Slight peaks/dips 0.8 to 1.2

hev

11
 Figure 7: comprarison of the magnitude response of Butterworth, Chebyshev and Bessel

2.2 Speakers
Speaker driver or speaker as commonly known is an electrical transducer that converts electrical
energy to sound energy. They generally consist of the following parts [6] [7]:

Permanent magnet-This is a magnet that acts as the motor of the loudspeaker.it provides the
energy that’s needed by the voice coil to move

Pole pieces-these are used to focus the magnetic field so that it is strongest around the voice coil

Basket-this is the chassis of the driver unit all elements are attached and which itself bolts into
the cabinet.

Suspension Spider and voice coil-the spider holds the voice coil centrally within the magnet and
acts as a spring to bring it back after each pulse. The speaker cone is attached to the voice coil
which sits in a magnetic field and moves when an electric pulse passes through it according to
Fleming’s left hand rule or motor rule. Variations in the signal make the coil vibrate in the drive

12
in a pistonic motion which produces sound by resonating airwaves in the room much like how a
drum operates

Drive cone and surround-many different materials are used here for mid and low
frequencies.Varlar, aluminium, paper, and polypropylene are very popular choices.

Mounting ring-this cosmetic device hides the raw alloy of the basket when it’s mounted in the
cabinet.

Phase plug-this is not common to all drivers but for those drivers where present, it is designed to
avoid phase charges. A dust cap is also included at this point to prevent particles from entering it.

Figure 8: Speaker driver parts

13
Figure 9: Speaker driver parts assembled in 3D

2.2.1 SPEAKER PARAMETERS

Fundamental small signal mechanical parameters

•SD – projected area of driver diaphragm (m2)

• Mms – mass of diaphragm (kg)

• Cms – compliance of driver’s suspension (m/N)

• Rms – mechanical resistance of driver’s suspension

(N•s/m)

• L – voice coil Le inductance (mH)

• Re – DC resistance of voice coil (Ω)

• Bl – product of magnetic field strength in voice coil gap and length of wire in magnetic field
(T•m)

2.2.1.1 FS [8]
This parameter is the free-air resonant frequency of a speaker. Simply stated, it is the point at
which the weight of the moving parts of the speaker becomes balanced with the force of the
speaker suspension when in motion. If you’ve ever seen a piece of string start humming
uncontrollably in the wind, you have seen the effect of reaching a resonant frequency. It is
important to know this information so that you can prevent your enclosure from ‘ringing’. With a
loudspeaker, the mass of the moving parts, and the stiffness of the suspension (surround and
spider) are the key elements that affect the resonant frequency. As a general rule of thumb, a
lower Fs indicates a woofer that would be better for low-frequency reproduction than a woofer
with a higher Fs. This is not always the case though, because other parameters affect the ultimate
performance as well.

14
2.2.1.2 RE
This is the DC resistance of the driver measured with an ohm meter and it is often referred to as
the ‘DCR’. This measurement will almost always be less than the driver’s nominal impedance.
Consumers sometimes get concerned the Re is less than the published impedance and fear that
amplifiers will be overloaded. Due to the fact that the inductance of a speaker rises with a rise in
frequency, it is unlikely that the amplifier will often see the DC resistance as its load.

2.2.1.3 LE
This is the voice coil inductance measured in millihenries (mH). The industry standard is to
measure inductance at 1,000 Hz. As frequencies get higher there will be a rise in impedance
above Re. This is because the voice coil is acting as an inductor. Consequently, the impedance of
a speaker is not a fixed resistance, but can be represented as a curve that changes as the input
frequency changes. Maximum impedance (Zmax) occurs at Fs.

2.2.1.4 Q PARAMETERS
Qms, Qes, and Qts are measurements related to the control of a transducer’s suspension when it
reaches the resonant frequency (Fs). The suspension must prevent any lateral motion that might
allow the voice coil and pole to touch (this would destroy the loudspeaker). The suspension must
also act like a shock absorber. Qms is a measurement of the control coming from the speaker’s
mechanical suspension system (the surround and spider). View these components like
springs. Qes is a measurement of the control coming from the speaker’s electrical suspension
system (the voice coil and magnet). Opposing forces from the mechanical and electrical
suspensions act to absorb shock.Qts is called the ‘Total Q’ of the driver and is derived from an
equation where Qes is multiplied by Qms and the result is divided by the sum of the same.

2.2.1.5 VAS/CMS
Vas represents the volume of air that when compressed to one cubic meter exerts the same force
as the compliance (Cms) of the suspension in a particular speaker. Vas is one of the trickiest
parameters to measure because air pressure changes relative to humidity and temperature — a
precisely controlled lab environment is essential. Cms is measured in meters per Newton. Cms is
the force exerted by the mechanical suspension of the speaker. It is simply a measurement of its
stiffness. Considering stiffness (Cms), in conjunction with the Q parameters gives rise to the kind
of subjective decisions made by car manufacturers when tuning cars between comfort to carry

15
the president and precision to go racing. Think of the peaks and valleys of audio signals like a
road surface then consider that the ideal speaker suspension is like car suspension that can
traverse the rockiest terrain with race-car precision and sensitivity at the speed of a fighter plane.
It’s quite a challenge because focusing on any one discipline tends to have a detrimental effect
on the others.

2.2.1.6 VD
This parameter is the Peak Diaphragm Displacement Volume — in other words the volume of air
the cone will move. It is calculated by multiplying Xmax (Voice Coil Overhang of the driver) by
Sd (Surface area of the cone). Vd is noted in cc. The highest Vd figure is desirable for a sub-bass
transducer.

2.2.1.7 BL
Expressed in Tesla meters, this is a measurement of the motor strength of a speaker. Think of
this as how good a weightlifter the transducer is. A measured mass is applied to the cone forcing
it back while the current required for the motor to force the mass back is measured. The formula
is mass in grams divided by the current in amperes. A high BL figure indicates a very strong
transducer that moves the cone with authority!

2.2.1.8 MMS
This parameter is the combination of the weight of the cone assembly plus the ‘driver radiation
mass load’. The weight of the cone assembly is easy: it’s just the sum of the weight of the cone
assembly components. The driver radiation mass load is the confusing part. In simple
terminology, it is the weight of the air (the amount calculated in Vd) that the cone will have to
push.

2.2.1.9 EBP
This measurement is calculated by dividing Fs by Qes. The EBP figure is used in many
enclosure design formulas to determine if a speaker is more suitable for a closed or vented
design. An EBP close to 100 usually indicates a speaker that is best suited for a vented enclosure.
On the contrary, an EBP closer to 50 usually indicates a speaker best suited for a closed box
design. This is merely a starting point. Many well-designed systems have violated this rule of
thumb! Qts should also be considered.

16
2.2.1.10 XMAX/XLIM
Short for Maximum Linear Excursion. Speaker output becomes non-linear when the voice coil
begins to leave the magnetic gap. Although suspensions can create non-linearity in output, the
point at which the number of turns in the gap (see BL) begins to decrease is when distortion
starts to increase. Eminence has historically been very conservative with this measurement and
indicated only the voice coil overhang (Xmax: Voice coil height minus top plate thickness,
divided by 2). The Xmax figures on this website are expressed as the greater of the result of the
formula above or the excursion point of the woofer where THD reaches 10%. This method
results in a more real world expression of the usable excursion limit for the transducer. Xlim is
expressed by Eminence as the lowest of four potential failure condition measurements: spider
crashing on top plate; Voice coil bottoming on back plate; Voice coil coming out of gap above
core; or the physical limitation of cone. A transducer exceeding the Xlim is certain to fail from
one of these conditions. High pass filters, limiters, and enclosure modeling software programs
are valuable tools in protecting your woofers from mechanical failure.

2.2.1.11 SD
This is the actual surface area of the cone, normally given in square cm.

2.2.2 USABLE FREQUENCY RANGE

This is the frequency range for which Eminence feels the transducer will prove useful.
Manufacturers use different techniques for determining ‘Usable Frequency Range’. Most
methods are recognized as acceptable in the industry, but can arrive at different results.
Technically, many loudspeakers are used to produce frequencies in ranges where they would
theoretically be of little use. As frequencies increase, the off-axis coverage of a transducer
decreases relative to its diameter. At a certain point, the coverage becomes ‘beamy’ or narrow
like the beam of a flashlight. If you’ve ever stood in front of a guitar amplifier or speaker
cabinet, then moved slightly to one side or the other and noticed a different sound, you have
experienced this phenomenon and are now aware of why it occurs. Clearly, most two-way
enclosures ignore the theory and still perform quite well. The same is true for many guitar
amplifiers, but it is useful to know at what point you can expect a compromise in coverage.

17
2.2.3 POWER HANDLING
This specification is very important to transducer selection. Obviously, you need to choose a
loudspeaker that is capable of handling the input power you are going to provide. By the same
token, you can destroy a loudspeaker by using too little power. The ideal situation is to choose a
loudspeaker that has the capability of handling more power than you can provide lending some
headroom and insurance against thermal failure. To use an automobile as an analogy; you would
not buy a car that could only go 55mph if that were the speed you always intended to drive.
Generally speaking, the number one contributor to a transducer’s power rating is its ability to
release thermal energy. This is affected by several design choices, but most notably voice coil
size, magnet size, venting, and the adhesives used in voice coil construction. Larger coil and
magnet sizes provide more area for heat to dissipate, while venting allows thermal energy to
escape and cooler air to enter the motor structure. Equally important is the ability of the voice
coil to handle thermal energy. Eminence is renowned for its use of proprietary adhesives and
components that maximize the voice coil’s ability to handle extreme temperatures. Mechanical
factors must also be considered when determining power handling. A transducer might be able to
handle 1,000W from a thermal perspective, but would fail long before that level was reached
from a mechanical issue such as the coil hitting the back plate, the coil coming out of the gap, the
cone buckling from too much outward movement, or the spider bottoming on the top plate. The
most common cause of such a failure would be asking the speaker to produce more low
frequencies than it could mechanically produce at the rated power. Be sure to consider the
suggested usable frequency range and the Xlim parameter in conjunction with the power rating
to avoid such failures. The Eminence power rating is derived using an EIA 426A noise source
and test standard. All tests are conducted for eight hours in a free-air, non-temperature controlled
environment. Eminence tests samples from each of three different production runs and each
sample must pass a test exceeding the rated power by 50 to 100W. The Eminence music program
is double that of our standard Watts rating.

2.2.4 SENSITIVITY
This data represents one of the most useful specifications published for any transducer. It is a
representation of the efficiency and volume you can expect from a device relative to the input
power. Loudspeaker manufacturers follow different rules when obtaining this information —

18
there is not an exact standard accepted by the industry. As a result, it is often the case that
loudspeaker buyers are unable to compare ‘apples to apples’ when looking at the sensitivities of
different manufacturers’ products. Eminence sensitivities are expressed as the average output
across the usable frequency when applying 1W/1M into the nominal impedance. ie: 2.83V/8
ohms, 4V/16 ohms.

2.2.5 SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO (SNR)

The sound that a speaker produces includes some level of noise.

In other words, audio signals are sent to a speaker which are then converted into the sound (via
internal driver movements) that we hear. But the sound that we hear are not purely audio signals
that a speaker gets, in fact, it also includes some level of noise. This noise is added by internal
components of the speaker/device.

Therefore, this spec describes how much noise is there in the output (sound that we hear) of a
device in relation to the signal level. It is also expressed in decibels (dB).

So if a speaker has 120dB of Signal-to-Noise Ratio, it means that that the level of the audio
signal is 120dB higher than the level of the noise. The higher the number, the better it is

2.2.6 DRIVER SIZES [7]

2.2.6.1 1. Tweeters
Tweeters are high frequency drivers that are designed to reproduce the highest octaves of the
frequency spectrum. Typically, this is from 2,000Hz to 20,000Hz, while some tweeters will
reproduce frequencies as low as 1500Hz. These drivers are smaller and usually dome-shaped.
The membrane on dome tweeters usually measures 0.5″-1.25″ in diameter. There are several
other different types of tweeters that are used, including ribbon tweeters, planar tweeters, horn
loaded tweeters, and so forth, all of which have a slightly different sound. Dome tweeters are the
most popular, and come in a variety of materials, including poly (such as Mylar), silk (and other
treated fabrics), aluminum, and ceramic. Each of these also has a different sound but hey
generally serve the same purpose. Due to limited size and very limited excursion, tweeters

19
cannot play frequencies below their frequency range without sounding fatigued, distorted, or
harsh.

2.2.6.2 2. Midrange
Midrange drivers are designed to reproduce frequencies between a woofer and a tweeter.
However, not all speaker systems have them, as they are often not required. Mids. Will pick up
where the woofer drops off, and drop off where the tweeter picks up. This frequency range is
typically from 500Hz to 2000Hz. These are typically 3″-6″ in diameter, and are most commonly
typical cones, although some dome midrange drivers do exist.

2.2.6.3 3. Woofers
Woofers are drivers that are designed to reproduce a variety of frequency ranges. In a 3-way
system with a midrange, they will play below what the midrange plays, but in a 2-way system,
they will play below what the tweeter plays. This depends heavily on the design and purpose of a
given woofer. These are sometimes also known as mid-woofers or mid-bass drivers. How high
and low in the frequency range a woofer will play depends heavily on the design and material
used. Some woofers are capable of playing down to as low as 30 Hz musically, effectively
eliminating the need for a subwoofer where high output isn’t needed. These are typically
between 5″ and 15″ in size, with the larger varieties found in pro audio applications.

2.2.6.4 4. Subwoofers
Subwoofers are specifically designed to reproduce bass frequencies. This is typically between
20Hz and 125Hz. Due to their size and design, they are rarely able to play above mid-bass
frequencies, with some exceptions existing in pro audio. Subwoofers are designed with higher
excursion capabilities in order to create enough sound pressure and move enough air to
reproduce frequencies down to 20Hz.

2.2.6.5 5. Full Range Speaker Drivers

Full range drivers are drivers that are designed to reproduce a large frequency range, although
their ability to reproduce a wide range of frequencies is much compromised. These range from
anywhere between 8″ and 3″ in diameter. Their ability to reproduce high frequency sound is
often lacking, and many of them suffer from a “beaming” effect. While dome tweeters are able to
reproduce high frequencies (which are very directional) over a significant area, full range drivers

20
function more like a flashlight that focuses the frequency response of that beam directly at the
area they are pointing to. For you as the listener, this means that you need to be sitting in a
specific location and have the speakers pointed directly at you in order to get the best sound you
can, while 2-way and 3-way speaker systems are much more forgiving.

2.2.7 SPEAKER MODEL [8] [2]

The single most dominant branch of the model is the voice coil DC resistance, re. It's going to be
in series with everything else we will look at (you mentioned "stray capacitance". Yes, there is
some, but its magnitude is absolutely miniscule compared to all other components so it can be
ignored).Next we have the voice coil inductance (we'll call it Lvc). Now, it, too, is in series with
everything else, but it's no simple inductance. So far, we have the two real electrical components,
as shown in figure 10 below

Figure 10: Speaker impedance model

Now, the next major set of components are the electrical equivalents of the major mechanical
components of suspension compliance, cone mass and suspension losses. The suspension
compliance is modelled as an inductor, Lces. The cone mass is modelled as a capacitance, Cmes,
and the suspension losses are modelled as a resistor, Res. These three are in parallel and form a
damped, parallel resonant branch called the driver mechanical branch. Finally, in series with that
is the radiation impedance. No single lumped-parameter synthesis comes close to approximating
this. Also the magnitude of the impedance of this branch is small compared to the others, so for
simulating the electrical characteristics, it can be safely eliminated.

21
The driver electrical model, then, is as shown in figure 11 below

Figure 11: Speaker driver electrical model

Now, the relative values of these components depends upon the magnitudes of the physical
values times a transformation factor. That transformation factor is the electromagnetic
transduction

Factor, proportional to the Bl product (the product of the length of the wire l immersed in the
magnetic field B), measured in N/A (or T/M, if you will). So, if we know the magnitudes of the
physical components, we can easily calculate their electrical equivalents:

1.Lces -Depends upon the suspension compliance: Lces = Cms ∗ (Bl)2 Where Cms is the
mechanical compliance in m/N, and the resulting Inductance is in Henries.

2.Cmes -Depends upon the cone mass Cmes = Mms/(Bl)2 Where Mms is the mechanical
compliance in kg, and the resulting Capacitance is in farads

3.Res -Depends upon the suspension losses and its equivalent to (Bl)2/Rms Where Rms is the
mechanical losses in 1/s, and the resulting Resistance is in ohms.

22
4.Xrs- Depends upon the air, the driver diameter, the baffle dimensions, position of the driver

on the baffle, etc., but has little effect on the electrical impedance

2.3 AUDIO CROSSOVER NETWORKS

As mentioned in [2], The loudspeakers are driven from power amplifiers, which can either be
located before the crossover network; the conventional approach using passive crossover
networks, or the power amplifier can be located between the crossover network and the
loudspeaker; thus requiring an amplifier for each loudspeaker. Each has its own advantages and
disadvantages [10]

2.3.1 Active crossover

2.3.1.1 Advantages
1) Direct control of each driver by its own amplifier.

2) Easier impedance load on the amp.

3) No loss of power or damping factor.

4) Reduced clipping. If clippings occurs, only one driver/amp is affected.

5) Crossover works at line level maintaining its design properties.

6) Each amp deals with only a specific bandwidth.

7) Reduced harmonic distortion.

8) Reduced intermodulation distortion

2.3.1.2 Disadvantages
1) Residual noise from X/O, less of an issue for digital processors.

2) Greater susceptibility to EMI (electromagnetic interference), and RFI (radio frequency

interference).

3) Multiple amps & cables, more complex setup.

23
2.3.2 Passive crossover
2.3.2.1 Advantages
1) Plug & Play simplicity.

2) One amp, one cable, done.

3) Can handle large currents and voltages

4) No power supply required

5) They are not restricted by the bandwidth limitations of the OPAMPs; they can work well at
very high frequencies

6) Very reliable

7) Requires least number of components for a given filter

8) produce less noise only thermal noise from the resistors

2.3.2.2 Disadvantages
1) Back EMF (electro motive force) goes back into the crossover, interferes with the input signal
from the amplifier.

2) Passive crossover buffers the amplifier from the drivers resulting in loss of damping, loss of
direct amplifier control over the drivers.

3) Loading effects, inductors, magnetic coupling, larger Cs, and parameters less adjustable.

4) Passive network wastes power, lowers efficiency, requires higher wattage amplifier to
compensate.

5) Differing impedance of various drivers and the resulting phase shifts from the crossover
present a difficult load for the amplifier, especially 1st order crossovers.

6) Crossover properties and accuracy varies with power and temperature resulting in shifting
properties and inconsistent linear response.

24
7) Low order crossover reduces phase & time shifts but introduces other issues. Greater
frequency sharing between drivers, and higher strain on drivers due to wider bandwidth demands
increases distortion, both THD and intermodulation, induces interference patterns, amplitude
irregularities, driver resonances, cone breakup, and hampers off-axis response.

8) High power draw in a specific frequency range, usually the bass, may cause amplifier clipping
and possible damage to the woofer, midrange, or most likely, the tweeter. The amp has to deal
with the combined complex impedance load and power draw.

2.4 Components (inductors and capacitors)

2.4.1 Inductors
A component called an inductor is used when the property of inductance is required in a circuit.
Inductance is the name given to the property of a circuit whereby there is an e.m.f. induced into
the circuit by the change of flux linkages produced by a current change [5]. The basic form of an
inductor is simply a coil of wire.

Factors which affect the inductance of an inductor include:

(i) The number of turns of wire—the more turns the higher the inductance

(ii) The cross-sectional area of the coil of wire—the greater the cross sectional area the higher
the inductance

(iii) The presence of a magnetic core—when the coil is wound on an iron core the same current
sets up a more concentrated magnetic field and the inductance is increased

(iv) The way the turns are arranged—a short thick coil of wire has a higher inductance than a
long thin one

Inductors with iron core are called ‘iron core inductors’ while those without are called ‘air core
inductors’. Both have the same basic characteristics. Windings of inductors are capacitively
coupled to each other, thus introducing a parallel capacitor across the coil. The inductive
reactance increases with frequency and so an ideal inductor behaves as a short circuit in dc but
an open circuit in very high frequencies. This rise in impedance at higher frequencies allows us
to use the inductor as a filter that passes low frequencies and chokes off high frequencies.

25
The inductive reactance is given by:

𝑿𝐿= 𝟐𝛑𝐟𝐋

𝐗𝐋
Hence,𝐋 =
𝟐𝛑𝐟𝐋

At crossover point, the reactance is equal to the speaker impedance, 𝐙 𝟎, 𝐇ence,

𝒁𝟎
𝐋=
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝑳

For second order crossover network,

𝒁𝟎 √𝟐
𝑳=
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝑳

Where;

𝑿𝐿 = inductive reactance

f = frequency

L = Inductance in Henries

The inductance of a coil depends on its geometrical characteristics, the number of turns and the
method of winding the coil. The larger the diameter, length, and the larger the number of
winding turns, the greater its inductance.

If the coil is tightly wound, turn to turn, then it will have more inductance than a not tightly
wound coil, with gaps between the turns. Sometimes you need to wind a coil with a given
geometry, and you don't have a wire with required diameter, then if you use a thicker wire you
should increase slightly number of turns, and if you use a thinner wire it takes to reduce the
number of turns of the coil to get the required inductance.

They are different formulae derived depending on different factors, for example, depending on if
the inductor is multilayer or single layer or if it has an air core or ferrite core. For air core single
layer with length of core greater than half the diameter of conductor the inductance, L is given
by:

26
 𝑫𝟐 𝑵𝟐
𝐋=
𝟒𝟓𝑫+𝟏𝟎𝟎𝒍

D – Diameter of the conductor in centimeters

L-length of core in centimeters

N-Number of turns

[11]In the case of toroidal coils on ferrite ring or rings of carbonyl iron powder is widely used in amateur
radio designs. Their advantage is the high combined inductance with small stray field. Calculation of the
coil can be carried out in various ways. The most used method for calculation is based on a special
parameter AL. This parameter is usually included in the specification of the ferromagnetic
rings Numerical parameter AL is the inductance in uH at 100 turns of the coil for the iron powder ring or
the inductance in mH at 1000 turns of the coil for the ferrite ring. Knowing the AL parameter, the number
of windings of the toroid can be calculated using the following expressions:

For the iron powder ring

𝐿(µ𝐻)
𝑁 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 = 100√ 𝐴𝐿 (µ𝐻) .
100 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠

For the case of the ferrite ring,

𝐿(𝑚𝐻)
𝑁 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 = 1000√ 𝐴𝐿 (𝑚𝐻)
1000 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠

2.4.2 CAPACITORS
Every system of electrical conductors possesses capacitance which is the property of a pair of
electrically charged plates which determines how much charge corresponds to a given potential
difference between the plates. For example, there is capacitance between the conductors of
overhead transmission lines and also between the wires of a telephone cable. In these examples

27
the capacitance is undesirable but has to be accepted, minimized or compensated for. There are
other situations where capacitance is a desirable property. A Capacitor is a passive element that
stores electric charge statistically and temporarily as a static electric field. It is composed of two
parallel conducting plates separated by non-conducting region that is called dielectric, such as
vacuum, ceramic, air, aluminum, etc.

The capacitance formula of the capacitor is represented by;

∈𝑨
𝑪=
𝒅
Where C is the capacitance that is proportional to the area of the two conducting plates (A) and
proportional with the permittivity ε of the dielectric medium. The capacitance decreases with the
distance between plates (d). We get the greatest capacitance with a large area of plates separated
by a small distance and located in a high permittivity material. The standard unit of capacitance
is Farad which is defined as the capacitance when a potential difference of one volt appears
across the plates when charged with one coulomb. most commonly it can be found in micro-
𝑸
farads, pico-farads and nano-farads. Hence capacitance can also be taken to be 𝑪 = in terms
𝑽
of charge stored (Q) and the potential difference between the two plates (V)

Hence it is cleared that, by varying ε, A or d we can easily change the value of C. If we require
higher value of capacitance (C) we have to increase the cross-sectional area of dielectric or we
have to reduce the distance of separation or we have to use dielectric material with stronger
permittivity.

Capacitive reactance is the impedance that a capacitor offers in a circuit to the flow of current. In
an ideal case scenario, capacitive impedance is considered to be infinite in dc circuits where
frequency is taken to be zero and decreases with increase in frequency to a very minimal value at
very high frequencies. It’s given by:

𝟏
𝑿𝑪 =
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝑪

Therefore,

28
 𝟏
𝑪=
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝑿𝑪

At the crossover point, the capacitive reactance is equivalent to the speaker nominal impedance
𝒁𝑂 ,

Thus,

𝟏
𝑪=
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝒁𝟎

For second order crossover network,

𝟏
𝑪=
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝒁𝟎 √𝟐

XC= capacitive reactance

f = frequency

C = capacitance in Farads

𝒁𝟎 =speaker nominal impedance

2.5 ADDITIONAL USEFUL CIRCUITS

2.5.1 1.Zobel network [11]
The voice-coil impedance of a loudspeaker driver is not purely resistive. This can have a major
perturbation on the performance of crossover networks. At high frequencies, the voice-coil
impedance becomes inductive. For odd-order crossover networks, this inductance can be utilized
as part of the crossover network. Because the inductance is lossy, some experimentation may be
necessary. For even-order networks, the inductance can be canceled by using a simple RC
matching network as discussed below.

The impedance rise near the resonance frequency of closed-box midrange and tweeter drivers
can have a major perturbation on the performance of the high-pass crossover networks. The

29
effect is to cause a peak to appear in the pressure output of the driver at or near its resonance
frequency. It can be very difficult to pull down this peak without causing a depression in the
frequency response over a much wider band. To minimize the problem, the lower crossover
frequency for the midrange and the tweeter should be greater than the fundamental resonance
frequency of the drivers. The matching network described below can be used to cancel the
impedance rise, but the element values may not be practical. A matching network, sometimes
called a Zobel network, between the crossover network and the voice-coil terminals of a driver
can be used to cause the effective load on the crossover network to be resistive as shown in the
impedance curves in the figure below. Fig. 1 shows the network connected to the voice-coil
equivalent circuit for a closed box driver. The high-frequency part of the network consists of R1,
C1, R2, and C2. This network can be designed to correct for the lossy voice-coil inductance in an
equal ripple sense between two specified frequencies in the band where the impedance is
dominated by Ze (ω). At the fundamental resonance frequency of the driver, L1 and C3 resonate
and put R3 in parallel with the voice coil. This cancels the rise in impedance at the fundamental
resonance frequency𝑓𝑐 .Figure 12 shows a typical zobel network configuration

Figure 12:Zobel network

Let the lossy voice-coil inductance have the impedance Ze (ω) = Le (jω)n [12]. Let the network
consisting of𝑅1 ,𝐶 1 ,𝑅2 , and 𝐶2 correct for the lossy voice-coil inductance over the frequency band

from f1 to f2. The frequency f1 might be chosen to be the frequency above the fundamental
resonance frequency 𝑓𝑐 where the voice-coil impedance exhibits a minimum before the high-

30
frequency rise caused by the voice-coil inductance. The frequency 𝑓2 might be chosen to be 20
kHz. In order for the input impedance to the network plus the driver to be approximately equal to
𝑅𝐸 at all frequencies, the matching network elements are given by:

𝑹𝟏 = 𝑹𝑬

𝑳𝒆
𝑪𝟏 = (𝟏−𝒏)
(𝟐𝝅)𝟏−𝒏 𝑹𝑬 𝟐 (𝒇𝟏 𝒏 𝒇𝟐 (𝟐+𝒏) )𝟐(𝟏+𝒏)

𝑳𝒆
𝑪𝟐 = (𝟏−𝒏) -𝑪𝟏
(𝟐𝝅)𝟏−𝒏 𝑹𝑬 𝟐 (𝒇𝟏 (𝟐+𝒏) 𝒇𝟐 𝒏 )𝟐(𝟏+𝒏)

𝟏
𝑹𝟐 = 𝟏 𝒏
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝟏(𝟏+𝒏) 𝒇𝟐 𝟏+𝒏 𝑪𝟐

𝑸𝑬𝑪
𝑹𝟑 = 𝑹𝑬 (𝟏 + )
𝑸𝑴𝑪

𝑹𝑬 𝑸𝑬𝑪
𝑳𝟏 =
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝒄

𝟏
𝒄𝟑 =𝟐𝝅𝒇
𝒄 𝑹𝑬 𝑸𝑬𝑪

Where:

𝑅𝐸 Is the voice-coil resistance,

𝑓𝑐 is the closed-box resonance frequency,

𝑄𝐸𝐶 is the electrical quality factor

𝑄𝑀𝐶 is the mechanical quality factor.

The above equations are derived under the assumption that C1 and C2 are open circuits in the
low-frequency range where R3, C3, and L1 are active and that L1 is an open circuit in the high-
frequency range where R1, C1, R2, and C2 are active. For a lossless inductor, n has the value

n = 1,typically used values are either 0.6 and 0.7 [12].

31
In this case, C1 = Le/R2 E, and both R2 and C2 are open circuits.

Zobel networks however have the following setbacks to the circuit :

1. It leads to increased power dissipation due to additional dissipating components.

2. It can reduce the driver impedance below the nominal value.

3. Leads to a shift in crossover frequency.

Alternative and better equalization mechanisms without pronounced limitations include:

1. Use of Ferro fluid this has a better cooling characteristic in addition to impedance equalization
but can cause sluggish response.

2. By design so that the resonance frequency is well above Fs or below where there is least
amount of interference

Figure 13:Impedance curve with and without zobel network

32
2.5.2 L-pad
A speaker L pad is a special configuration of rheostats used to control volume while maintaining
a constant load impedance on the output of the audio amplifier.[1] It consists of a parallel and
series resistor in an "L" configuration. As one increases in resistance, the other decreases, thus
maintaining a constant impedance, at least in one direction. To maintain constant impedance in
both directions, a "T" pad must be used. In loudspeakers it is only necessary to maintain
impedance to the crossover; this avoids shifting the crossover point.

It is in other words a level control used in passive speaker systems to attenuate (reduce) power to
the tweeter in a 2-way system as well as the mid speaker in a 3-way system or 4-way system.
Most mid-range speakers and tweeters are approximately +6dB more efficient than woofers.
Inside the L-Pad is 2 wire wound elements which are arranged to maintain a constant impedance
of 8R to the amplifier.

2.5.3 Series-notch filter

Change of nominal impedance occurs mostly at resonance frequency (Fs) of the speaker, thus
impedance peaks make crossover points to shift. This filter prevents this. It is mainly employed
in tweeters due to its cost and size.

Figure 14:Series notch filter

2.5.4 Parallel notch (trap) filter

This is designed to remove broad peaks in frequency response of a driver

33
Figure 15:Parallel notch trap filter

2.6 WORKING MECHANISM OF A CROSSOVER NETWORK

L Inductor (mH milli-Henry) approaches being a short circuit at low frequencies and an open
circuit at high frequencies. C Capacitor (μF micro-Farad) approaches being an open circuit at
low frequencies and a short circuit at high frequencies. The Impedance of L and C (expressed
as resistance they represent) at any one frequency, is called Reactance, symbolized by the letter
X. This Reactance changes by double or half for each double of half the frequency
(6dB/octave).The Reactance XL and XC, reduces power by shifting the phase, between Volts
and Amperes (of the signal) in opposite directions. The phase shifting of the signal at the
crossover point has to be compensated by reversing connections to one of the speakers or by
other means. A physical experience of phase shift is being in a motor vehicle that is
accelerating or breaking, being thrust forward or backward.

2.6.1 12dB crossover

Bass (low pass). The Inductor L1 in series with the bass speaker approaches being an open
circuit at high frequencies (6dB/octave). The Capacitor C1 across the bass speaker approaches
being a short circuit at high frequencies (6dB/octave). The Inductor and Capacitor combined
limit high frequencies getting to the woofer at -12dB/octave.

Bass to Mid-range (band pass). The second Capacitor C1 in series with the mid-range and
approaches being an open circuit at low frequencies (6dB/octave). The Inductor L1 across the
mid-range approaches being a short circuit at low frequencies (6dB/octave). The Inductor and
Capacitor combined limit low frequencies getting to the mid-range at -12dB/octave.

34
Mid-range (band pass).The Inductor L2 in series with the mid-range speaker, approaches being
an open circuit at high frequencies (6dB/octave). The Capacitor C2 across the mid-range
speaker approaches being a short circuit at high frequencies (6dB/octave). The Inductor and
Capacitor combined, limit high frequencies getting to the mid-range speaker at -12dB/octave.

Tweeter (high pass). The Capacitor C2 in series with the tweeter, approaches being an open
circuit at low frequencies (6dB/octave). The Inductor L2 across the tweeter, approaches being a
short circuit at low frequencies (6dB/octave). The Inductor and Capacitor combined, limit low
frequencies getting to the tweeter at -12dB/octave. The reactance (X) of L and C, shift phase
between Volts and Amperes therefore reducing power (Watts). L and C are in series, and phase
is shifted in opposite directions between them. This is called a 'series resonant' circuit. If the
speaker is not connected to the crossover, or the speaker has been destroyed (open circuit), the
LC 'series resonance' without a load behaves as short circuit at the crossover frequency only.
The amplifier can easily be destroyed.

Passive crossovers of higher order than 12dB/octave can be made but are difficult to construct.
Most are inefficient and inaccurate, regardless of the academic theory that describes them as
being superior. The more complex a passive crossover, the more energy is required from the
amplifier for it to function. This increases insertion loss which generates distortion that often
outweighs the benefits. Early research, referred to 'transient distortion' as the major problem of
passive crossovers greater than 12dB/octave. Early Audiophiles only accepted first order
crossovers, claiming this has least effect on colouring the music. Their descriptions were, '1st
and 2nd order crossovers allow the sound to be open whereas higher order crossovers cause the
sound to be closed’. Recent audiophile trends are for very complex passive crossovers, greater
than 12dB/octave that use magical Capacitors. The larger the number of magical Capacitors the
more magical the sound becomes. These passive crossovers attempt to adjust for time alignment
and Impedance variations within each speaker [13]

35
3 CHAPTER 3- DESIGN
3.1 Passive Crossover Circuit Design
The nominal impedances of the speaker drivers were chosen to be 8 ohms for all of the four that
is woofer, the two midranges and the tweeter.

3.1.1 Selection of crossover frequency

Crossover frequency points are to some extent influenced by the enclosure design but are mainly
determined by the characteristics and specifications of the speaker units employed. Usual
crossover frequency ranges for the various system configurations are as follows [14]:

Table 2:Crossover frequency range for various systems

System type Speaker driver Crossover frequency range

2-way systems Bass-treble 3khz-5khz

3-way systems Bass-midrange 500hz-1.5khz

Midrange-treble 3khz-5khz

4-way systems Bass – low midrange 200hz-400hz

Low Midrange-Midrange 800-1.5khz

Midrange-treble 3khz-5khz

Super tweeter 5khz-10khz

Crossover frequency range for various systems

When using passive crossover networks, the power proportion to each bandwidth varies in
accordance with the crossover frequency as illustrated in table3 below [14]:

36
Table 3:crossover frequency and speaker power proportions

Crossover frequency % power to bass unit %power to upper units

250Hz 40 60

350Hz 50 50

500Hz 60 40

1200Hz 65 35

3000Hz 85 15

5000Hz 90 10

Other guidelines used in the choice of crossover frequency included:

 Bass power should not be reduced below about the 40% level of the total power
regardless of crossover frequency [15].This because although the average power might be
quite low, it is usually of relatively high peak amplitude. The wide dynamics of the bass
content require an amplifier capable of far more power than might be imagined if
clipping is to be avoided. Clipping is something that one should avoid at all costs,
because apart from sounding horrible, the average power level is increased, placing
loudspeakers at risk. Having said that, some peak clipping in a subwoofer may be
inaudible, provided the remainder of the signal is clean.
 Generally ,the bass amplifier should have at least the same power as that used for the
mid+high frequency
 Theoretically, a woofer should be used to cover only those frequencies where the
wavelength of the sound to be reproduced does not exceed the diameter of the driver.
 Midranges or tweeters are crossed at frequencies greater than twice their natural
frequency of resonance.

37
3.2 Component values determination
3.2.1 Crossover points
3.2.1.1 1st crossover point =350𝑯𝒁
Woofer nominal impedance =8ohms

As previously determined, at the crossover point, both the capacitive and inductive impedances
are equivalent to the speaker drivers nominal impedance (8 ohms), and hence for the second
𝟏
order crossover network being designed, capacitance 𝑪 = .This formula can be
𝟐𝝅𝒇𝒁𝟎 √𝟐

rationalized by multiplying both the numerator and denominator by √𝟐 and this simplifies to
√𝟐 𝒁 √𝟐
𝑪= 𝟎
while the formula for inductance 𝑳 = 𝟐𝝅𝒇𝑳 .Hence:
𝟒𝝅𝒇𝒁𝟎

√𝟐
𝑪𝟏 =
𝟒𝝅 ∗ 𝟑𝟓𝟎 ∗ 𝟖

𝑪𝟏 =40.19𝝁𝑭

𝟖 ∗ √𝟐
𝐋1 =
𝟐𝝅 ∗ 𝟑𝟓𝟎

𝐋1 = 𝟓. 𝟏𝟒𝐦𝐇

𝑪𝟐 =40.19𝝁𝑭

𝐋2 = 𝟓. 𝟏𝟒𝐦𝐇

3.2.1.2 2nd crossover point =1150𝑯𝒁

√𝟐
𝑪𝟑 =
𝟒𝝅 ∗ 𝟏𝟏𝟓𝟎 ∗ 𝟖

𝑪𝟑 =12.233𝝁𝑭

𝟖 ∗ √𝟐
𝐋3 =
𝟐𝝅 ∗ 𝟏𝟏𝟓𝟎

𝐋3 = 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔𝟔𝐦𝐇

𝑪𝟒 =12.233𝝁𝑭

38
𝐋4 = 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔𝟔𝐦𝐇

3.2.1.3 3rd crossover point =4000𝑯𝒁

√𝟐
𝑪𝟓 =
𝟒𝝅 ∗ 𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝟖

𝑪𝟓 =3.517𝝁𝑭

𝟖 ∗ √𝟐
𝐋5 =
𝟐𝝅 ∗ 𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎

𝐋5 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟓𝐦𝐇

𝑪𝟔 =3.517𝝁𝑭

𝐋6 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟓𝐦𝐇

The above determined component values of capacitance are theoretical and for the practical
implementation, the closest standard values commercially available were chosen. They were then
measured to determine the actual capacitance as shown in the table below.

The power ratings of the speaker drivers used were:

 Woofer-100W
 Midrange1 -60W
 Midrange2- 30W
 Tweeter -10W

The nominal impedance of the speaker drivers was 8 ohms.

3.2.2 Woofer (100W):

From the formula𝐏 = 𝐈𝟐 𝐑,

𝐏
𝐈 = √𝐑

𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐒 =√ =3.54A
𝟖

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐱 = 𝟑. 𝟓𝟒 ∗ √𝟐 = 𝟓𝐀

39
 𝑽𝟐
Also, 𝐏 = hence 𝐯 = √(𝐏 ∗ 𝐑)
𝑹

𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 = √(𝟏𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝟖) =28.28V

𝑽𝑴𝑨𝑿 = 𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 ∗ √𝟐=40V

3.2.3 Midrange1 (60W)

𝐏 = 𝐈𝟐 𝐑,

𝐏
𝐈=√
𝐑

𝟔𝟎
𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐒 =√ 𝟖 =2.74A

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐱 = 𝟐. 𝟕𝟒 ∗ √𝟐 = 𝟑. 𝟖𝟕𝟓𝐀

𝑽𝟐
Also, 𝐏 = hence 𝐯 = √(𝐏 ∗ 𝐑)
𝑹

𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 = √(𝟔𝟎 ∗ 𝟖) =22V

𝑽𝑴𝑨𝑿 = 𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 ∗ √𝟐=31.11V

3.2.4 Midrange2 (30W)

𝐏 = 𝐈𝟐 𝐑,

𝐏
𝐈=√
𝐑

𝟑𝟎
𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐒 =√𝟖.𝟐 =1.913A

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐱 = 𝟏. 𝟗𝟏𝟑 ∗ √𝟐 = 𝟐. 𝟕𝟎𝟓𝐀

𝑽𝟐
Also, 𝐏 = hence 𝐯 = √(𝐏 ∗ 𝐑)
𝑹

40
 𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 = √(𝟑𝟎 ∗ 𝟖. 𝟐) =15.68V

𝑽𝑴𝑨𝑿 = 𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 ∗ √𝟐=22.18V

3.2.5 Tweeter (10W)

𝐏 = 𝐈𝟐 𝐑,

𝐏
𝐈 = √𝐑

𝟏𝟎
𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐒 =√𝟖.𝟐 =1.1043A

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐱 = 𝟏. 𝟏𝟎𝟒𝟑 ∗ √𝟐 = 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔𝐀

𝑽𝟐
Also, 𝐏 = hence 𝐯 = √(𝐏 ∗ 𝐑)
𝑹

𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 = √(𝟏𝟎 ∗ 𝟖. 𝟐) =9.055V

𝑽𝑴𝑨𝑿 = 𝑽𝑹𝑴𝑺 ∗ √𝟐=12.81V

The components thus had to have a rating of a value higher than the maximum voltages and
currents for the respective speaker drivers. Since the highest voltage rating for the woofer was
40V, 250V DC capacitors were used in the design.

41
Table 4:Capacitor calculated,measured and standard values

CAPACITORS CALCULATED STANDARD MEASURED

AVAILABLE VALUE

𝑪𝟏 40.19𝝁𝑭 47𝝁𝑭 45.4 𝝁𝑭

𝑪𝟐 40.19𝝁𝑭 47𝝁𝑭 45.4 𝝁𝑭

𝑪𝟑 12.233𝝁𝑭 12𝝁𝑭 11.58 𝝁𝑭

𝑪𝟒 12.233𝝁𝑭 12𝝁𝑭 11.58 𝝁𝑭

𝑪𝟓 3.517𝝁𝑭 3.3𝝁𝑭 3.2𝝁𝑭

𝑪𝟔 3.517𝝁𝑭 3.3𝝁𝑭 3.2 𝝁𝑭

The inductors used were manually coiled using the online coil32 program [11] which is based on
the two empirical formulae shown below. The calculation using these two formulae required
knowledge of the dimensions of the core which basically included the outer diameter of the
toroid(𝐷1 ), the inner diameter (𝐷2 ), the height of the toroid used (h) and the relative permeability
(µ) to realize the value of inductance calculated above, which then led to the determination of the
number of turns required to wind a particular value of inductance using a specified wire gauge

𝑫 𝑫𝟏
𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐µ𝒉𝑵𝟐 𝐥𝐧(𝑫𝟏 ) For the case where >1.75
𝟐 𝑫𝟐

𝑫 −𝑫 𝑫
Or 𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒µ𝒉𝑵𝟐 (𝑫𝟏 +𝑫𝟐 ) for the case where 𝑫𝟏 <1.75
𝟐 𝟏 𝟐

All dimensions are in millimeters, the inductance in µH.

At the same time, by the numerical algorithm the program calculates the length of wire needed
for the winding. Wire length is calculated with a margin of 10 cm on the "ends".

In this design, similar torus ferrite cores in terms of dimensions were used but their relative
permeability were different. The dimensions were:

𝑫𝟏 = 𝟐𝟓𝒎𝒎

42
 𝑫𝟐 = 𝟏𝟓𝒎𝒎

h= 4.5mm

𝐷 25
Since in this case, 𝐷1 = 15 = 1.667 < 1.75 the second formula for determining inductance was
2

used in the online program for determining the number of turns to be used and the length of wire
to be used.

For the first pair of inductance to be wound, 5140µ𝐻;

The relative permeability of the core used was 2470 according to the data sheet and this using the
online calculator, this yielded 68 turns for 20 AWG and this was arrived at as shown below

𝑫 −𝑫
𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒µ𝒉𝑵𝟐 (𝑫𝟏 +𝑫𝟐 )
𝟐 𝟏

Substituting for the values of L, µ, ℎ, 𝐷1 and𝐷2 ;

𝟐𝟓−𝟏𝟓
𝟓𝟏𝟒𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒 ∗ 𝟐𝟒𝟕𝟎 ∗ 𝟒. 𝟓𝒎𝒎𝑵𝟐 (𝟐𝟓+𝟏𝟓)

The value of N was determined to be 68 and with a wire length of 1.47m and hence was the
inductor was then made and measured and the value tabulated as shown below.

For the second pair of inductors to be wound, 1566µ𝐻;

The wire gauge used was 18AWG.The relative permeability of the core used was 3867 according
to its data sheet and this yielded 30 turns, with a wire length of 0.67m this as previously was
arrived at as shown below:

𝑫 −𝑫
𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒µ𝒉𝑵𝟐 (𝑫𝟏 +𝑫𝟐 )
𝟐 𝟏

Substituting for the values of L, µ, ℎ, 𝐷1 and 𝐷2 ;

𝟐𝟓−𝟏𝟓
𝟏𝟓𝟔𝟔 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒 ∗ 𝟑𝟖𝟔𝟕 ∗ 𝟒. 𝟓𝒎𝒎𝑵𝟐 (𝟐𝟓+𝟏𝟓)

Solving for N, we determine it to be 30.

For third and last pair of inductors to be wound, 450 µ𝐻,

43
The wire gauge used were 18AWG and 19AWG for each of the two inductors. The relative
permeability of the core used was 2770 according to its data sheet and this yielded 19 turns, with
a wire length of 0.461m for both wires used and this as previously was arrived at as shown
below:

𝑫 −𝑫
𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒µ𝒉𝑵𝟐 (𝑫𝟏 +𝑫𝟐 )
𝟐 𝟏

Substituting for the values of L, µ, ℎ, 𝐷1 and 𝐷2 ;

𝟐𝟓−𝟏𝟓
𝟒𝟓𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒 ∗ 𝟐𝟕𝟕𝟎 ∗ 𝟒. 𝟓𝒎𝒎𝑵𝟐 (𝟐𝟓+𝟏𝟓)

Solving for N, it was determined it to be 19.

They were then measured to determine the actual practical values used and the values obtained
are as shown in the table 5 below.

Table 5: Inductor calculated and measured values

INDUCTORS CALCULATED MEASURED

𝑳𝟏 5.14mH 4.8mH

𝑳𝟐 5.14mH 4.8.mH

𝑳𝟑 1.566mH 1.45mH

𝑳𝟒 1.566mH 1.45mH

𝑳𝟓 0.45mH 0.41mH

𝑳𝟔 0.45mH 0.41mH

44
3.3 IMPEDANCE CURVES AND ZOBEL NETWORK DESIGN
In the crossover network simulation, resistors of impedance equivalent to the nominal impedance
of the speaker drivers were used to represent the speaker drivers themselves. This however, does
not give a very accurate representation of the speaker drivers as their equivalent circuits have an
inductor and resistor in series to represent the electrical parameters and a parallel RLC circuit to
represent the mechanical parameters as shown in the figure above. This manifests itself best
when the impedance curve of a particular speaker driver is plotted where there is a rising
impedance as frequency increases due the series inductance of the voice coil unlike a constant
impedance curve that would be obtained when the speaker driver impedance is assumed to be
purely resistive and a simulation with microcap clearly showed this below. The remedy for the
impedance rise which would otherwise lead to a shift in the design crossover point thus making
the circuit not operate as intended is a zobel network but two challenges were realized during the
project ,with the design of the zobel network.Firstly,zobel networks are designed with a
particular speaker drivers specifications in mind for instance the electrical and mechanical
quality factors,the mechanical compliance and many more which vary from one speaker driver to
another and since no particular driver was to be used,the zobel network could not be designed as
the overall crossover network was meant to be versatile in the sense that it could work with a
number of speaker drivers and not just one particular driver.Secondly,the use of many
components in a crossover leads to a higher susceptibility to distortions both in magnitude and
phase and this is not very desirable with audio signals and so the zobel network was omitted.
However there are speaker drivers that could be used with a proper design of the crossover
network, without the use of the zobel network and the system would still not suffer impedance
rise due to the voice coil inductance or rather the effect of this impedance rise would be very
minimal. The concept behind the design is to crossover the audio signal spectrum within the
frequency range where the voice coil impedance of a particular speaker driver is sort of constant
since the significant rise in inductive impedance occurs beyond some frequency as shown in the
simulations below. The following commercially available speaker drivers and their specifications
were used to demonstrate this concept.

45
3.3.1 1. woofer (wf090wa02)
3.3.2 specifications
𝑹𝑫𝑪 = 𝟓. 𝟓 𝒐𝒉𝒎𝒔

𝑭𝑺 = 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝑯𝒁

Cms=0.6mm/N

Rms =0.39NS/m

𝒍𝒆 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝒎𝑯 𝒂𝒕 𝟏𝟎𝒌𝑯𝒁

𝟏
𝑭𝑺 =
𝟐𝝅√𝑪𝑴𝑺. 𝑴𝑴𝑺
𝟏
110=
𝟐𝝅√(𝟎.𝟔𝟐∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑 .𝑴𝑴𝑺)

𝟏
(𝟐𝝅∗𝟏𝟏𝟎)𝟐
MMS=
𝟎.𝟔𝟐∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑

MMS=3.376g

𝒍𝒄𝒆𝒔 = 𝒄𝒎𝒔 ∗ (𝒃𝒍)𝟐

𝒍𝒄𝒆𝒔 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟐 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 ∗ (𝟑. 𝟓)𝟐

𝒍𝒄𝒆𝒔 = 𝟕. 𝟓𝟗𝟓𝒎𝑯

𝑴𝑴𝑺 𝟑.𝟑𝟕𝟔∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝑪𝑴𝑬𝑺 = = = 𝟐. 𝟕𝟔 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟒
(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 (𝟑.𝟓)𝟐

𝑹 (𝒃𝒍)𝟐 (𝟑.𝟓)𝟐
𝒆𝒔= =
𝑹𝒎𝒔 𝟎.𝟑𝟗

=31.41ohms

46
3.3.3 midrange1(rs52an-8)
3.3.4 specifications
𝑹𝒆 = 𝟔𝒐𝒉𝒎𝒔

𝒍𝒆 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟑𝒎𝑯

𝑸𝑴𝑺 = 𝟑. 𝟏𝟔

𝑸𝑬𝑺 = 𝟏. 𝟏𝟖

𝑪𝑴𝑺 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟑𝒎𝒎/𝑵

𝒃𝒍 = 𝟒. 𝟐𝟔𝑻𝑴

𝑴𝑴𝑺 = 𝟏. 𝟕𝒈

𝑭𝑺 = 𝟑𝟏𝟒𝑯𝒛

𝟐𝝅 ∗ 𝑭𝒔 ∗ 𝑴𝒎𝒔
𝑸𝑴𝑺 =
𝑹𝒎𝒔

𝟐 ∗ 𝝅 ∗ 𝟑𝟒𝟏 ∗ 𝟏. 𝟕 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝟑. 𝟏𝟔 =
𝑹𝒎𝒔

𝟐 ∗ 𝝅 ∗ 𝟑𝟒𝟏 ∗ 𝟏. 𝟕 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝑹𝒎𝒔 = = 𝟏. 𝟏𝟓𝟐𝟔
𝟑. 𝟏𝟔

𝒍𝒄𝒆𝒔 = 𝑪𝒎𝒔*(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟑 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 ∗ 𝟒. 𝟐𝟔𝟐 = 𝟐. 𝟑𝟔𝒎𝑯

𝑴𝒎𝒔 𝟏.𝟕∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑
Cmes=(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 = = 𝟗𝟑. 𝟔𝟖𝝁𝑭
𝟒.𝟐𝟔𝟐

(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 𝟒.𝟐𝟔𝟐
Res= 𝑹𝒎𝒔 = 𝟏.𝟏𝟓𝟐𝟔 = 𝟏𝟓. 𝟕𝟓𝒐𝒉𝒎𝒔

47
3.3.5 midrange2 (nd105-8)
3.3.6 specifications
Power handling=30w

Maximum=60w

Impedance=8ohms

Response=60Hz-10,000Hz

Re=7.6ohms

Le=1.37mH

Fs=65.3Hz

Qms=7.61

Qes=0.73

Qts=0.66

Cms=0.95mm/N

Mms=6.3g

Bl=4.9TM

𝒍𝒄𝒆𝒔 = 𝑪𝒎𝒔*(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟗𝟓 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 ∗ 𝟒. 𝟗𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐𝟐𝟖𝑯

𝑴𝒎𝒔 𝟔.𝟑∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑
Cmes=(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 = = 𝟐. 𝟔𝟐𝟒 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟒
𝟒.𝟗𝟐

𝟐𝝅 ∗ 𝑭𝒔 ∗ 𝑴𝒎𝒔
𝑸𝑴𝑺 =
𝑹𝒎𝒔

𝟐 ∗ 𝝅 ∗ 𝟔𝟓. 𝟑 ∗ 𝟔. 𝟑 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝟕. 𝟔𝟏 =
𝑹𝒎𝒔

𝟐 ∗ 𝝅 ∗ 𝟔𝟓. 𝟑 ∗ 𝟔. 𝟑 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝑹𝒎𝒔 = = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟑𝟗𝟔𝟔
𝟕. 𝟔𝟏

48
 (𝑩𝒍)𝟐 𝟒.𝟗𝟐
Res= = = 𝟕𝟎. 𝟔𝟗𝒐𝒉𝒎𝒔
𝑹𝒎𝒔 𝟎.𝟑𝟑𝟗𝟔𝟔

3.3.7 tweeter (tw030wa14)

Power handling =35w

Frequency range =1500=30000Hz

Fs=715Hz

Nominal impedance =8 ohms

Re=6.5ohms

Bl=2.25N/A

Le=0.059mh

Mms=0.4g

Qms=2.37

Qes=2.31

Qts=1.17

𝟏
𝑭𝑺 =
𝟐𝝅√𝑪𝑴𝑺. 𝑴𝑴𝑺
𝟏
715=
𝟐𝝅√(𝑪𝒎𝒔.𝟎.𝟒∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑 )

𝟏
cms=
𝟎.𝟒∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑 ∗(𝟕𝟏𝟓∗𝟐𝝅)𝟐

cms=1.24*𝟏𝟎−𝟒

𝒍𝒄𝒆𝒔 = 𝑪𝒎𝒔*(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟒 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟒 ∗ 𝟐. 𝟐𝟓𝟐 = 𝟔. 𝟐𝟖 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟒 𝑯

49
 𝑴𝒎𝒔 𝟎.𝟒∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑
Cmes= = = 𝟕. 𝟗 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟓 𝑭
(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 𝟐.𝟐𝟓𝟐

𝟐𝝅 ∗ 𝑭𝒔 ∗ 𝑴𝒎𝒔
𝑸𝑴𝑺 =
𝑹𝒎𝒔

𝟐 ∗ 𝝅 ∗ 𝟕𝟏𝟓 ∗ 𝟎. 𝟒 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝟐. 𝟑𝟕 =
𝑹𝒎𝒔

𝟐 ∗ 𝝅 ∗ 𝟕𝟏𝟓 ∗ 𝟎. 𝟒 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝑹𝒎𝒔 = = 𝟕. 𝟓𝟖𝟐𝟐 ∗ 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
𝟐. 𝟑𝟕

(𝑩𝒍)𝟐 𝟐.𝟐𝟓𝟐
Res= = = 𝟔𝟔𝟕. 𝟔𝟖𝒐𝒉𝒎𝒔
𝑹𝒎𝒔 𝟕.𝟓𝟖𝟐𝟐∗𝟏𝟎−𝟑

The table 6 below shows the values of the electrical and mechanical parameters of the simulated
speaker drivers

Table 6: Electrical and Mechanical parameters of the simulated speaker drivers

ELECTRICAL ELECTRICAL EQUIVALENCE OF

PARAMETERS MECHANICAL PARAMETERS

SPEAKER 𝑹𝒅𝒄 𝑳𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒔 𝑪𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝑳𝒄𝒆𝒔

DRIVER

1.WOOFER 5.5ohms 0.22mH 31.41ohms 276µF 7.595mH

2.MIDRANGE1 6.0ohms 0.13mH 15.75ohms 93.68µF 2.36mH

3.MIDRANGE2 7.6ohms 1.37mH 70.69ohms 262.4µF 22.8mH

4.TWEETER 6.5ohms 0.059mH 667.68ohms 79µF 0.628mH

50
The circuit simulated to realize the impedance curves is as shown in the figure 16 below

Figure 16:simulated circuit for impedance curves

3.4 THE FILTER NETWORKS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL

SPEAKER DRIVERS
They are as shown in figures 17,18,19,20 below:

51
3.4.1 woofer

Figure 17:Woofer circuit

3.4.2 midrange1

Figure 18:Midrange1 circuit

52
3.4.3 midrange2

Figure 19:midrange2 circuit

3.4.4 tweeter

Figure 20:Tweeter circuit

The overall passive four way crossover network that was simulated and fabricated is as shown in
figure 21 below

53
Figure 21:Fabricated circuit

54
4 CHAPTER 4 - OBSERVATION AND RESULTS
4.1 impedance curves
The impedance curves obtained via simulation from the circuit above were as shown in figures
22,23,24,25 below:

4.1.1 1.woofer

Figure 22: Simulated woofer impedance curve

55
4.1.2 midrange1

Figure 23:simulated midrange1 impedance curve:

56
4.1.3 midrange2

Figure 24:Simulated midrange2 impedance curve

57
4.1.4 tweeter

Figure 25:simulated tweeter impedance curve

58
4.2 FILTER NETWORKS SIMULATED RESPONSE
The simulated response of the filter networks for the particular speaker drivers were as shown in
the figures 26,27,28 and 29 shown below

4.2.1 woofer

Figure 26:simulated woofer frequency response

59
4.2.2 Midrange1

Figure 27: simulated midrange1 frequency response

60
4.2.3 Midrange2

Figure 28:simulated midrange2 response

61
4.2.4 Tweeter

Figure 29:simulated tweeter frequency response

62
The response for the entire 2nd order 4-way crossover network is as shown in figure 30 below

Figure 30:full network frequency response

63
4.3 SIMULATED RESULTS
The simulated results at varied frequencies for all the four speaker drivers were as shown in the
tables 7,8,9,10 below:

4.3.1 1.Woofer (baseband)

Table 7:Simulated woofer frequency response

FREQUENCY(𝑯𝒛 ) MAGNITUDE(dB)

20 183.486m

50 183.486m

100 183.486m

200 -275.229m

250 -733.945m

300 -1.193

400 -4.16

500 -7.615

600 -10.367

700 -13.119

800 -15.413

900 -16.789

1000 -19.803

64
4.3.2 2. Midrange1(lower midrange)
Table 8:simulated midrange1 frequency response

FREQUENCY(𝑯𝒁 ) MAGNITUDE (dB)

50 -31.5

100 -20.344

200 -8.57

300 -3.542

400 -321.1m

600 2.76

800 2.933

1000 1.537

1200 -114.619m

1500 -3.21

2000 -8.578

2500 -12.706

3000 -16.216

3500 -19.16

4000 -21.78

5000 -24.64

65
4.3.3 Midrange2(higher midrange)
Table 9:Simulated midrange2 frequency response

FREQUENCY (𝑯𝒁 ) MAGNITUDE (dB)

500 -14.61

600 -12.12

700 -9.36

800 -7.61

900 -5.58

1000 -4.45

2000 1.531

4000 504.587m

5000 -2.592

6000 -5.894

7000 -8.372

8000 -10.642

9000 -13.01

10000 -14.77

20000 -27.569

66
4.3.4 4.Tweeter
Table 10:simulated tweeter frequency response

FREQUENCY (𝑯𝒁 ) MAGNITUDE (dB)

1000 -24.68

2000 -12.706

3000 -6.927

4000 -3.83

5000 -1.766

6000 -733.945m

7000 -733.945m

8000 -321.101m

9000 -321.101m

10000 -114.679m

20000 91.743m

30000 91.743m

40000 91.743m

67
4.4 PRACTICAL DESIGN
The fabricated circuit was designed using express PCB software as shown in figure 31below:

Figure 31:stage1 etching process

The etching process took place in the three stages in the images in the figures 32, 33, 34 below

68
 Figure 32:stage2 etching process

69
 Figure 33:stage 3 etching process

70
 Figure 34:Final stage etching process

And the finally soldered circuit was as shown below in the image in figure35 below

Figure 35:complete soldered circuit

71
4.5 Practical results
A signal generator was connected to the input of the circuit shown above. A 10 ohm dropper with a
5watt rating was connected across the input to the crossover network and the outputs connected to
the various speaker drivers.an oscilloscope was used to observe both the input and output signals
using both of the available channels. The input signal was a sinusoidal signal whose amplitude and
frequency were varied from the signal generator.as the amplitudes and frequency of the input signal
were varied, the corresponding values of the magnitude of the signal at the output were the speaker
drivers were connected were also measured using both the oscilloscope and the digital multimeter.the
values of input and output voltages were then used to calculate the gain and hence the frequency
response of the network was determined. The results obtained are as shown in the tables 11,12,13
and 14 below:

4.5.1 Woofer
Table 11:Practical woofer frequency response results

Frequency(Hz) Input Output Practical Simulated

voltage(VIN) voltage(VOUT) Magnitude(dB) Magnitude(dB)

20 50mV 50.82 mV 162.39m 183.486m

50 100 mV 102 mV 161.41m 183.486m

100 200 mV 203.7 mV 161.346m 183.486m

200 300 mV 291 mV 268.365m -275.229m

250 400 mV 370 mV -698.439m -733.945m

300 500 mV 434 mV -1.23 -1.193

400 600 mV 383 mV -3.89 -4.16

500 700 mV 305 mV -7.21 -7.615

600 800 mV 269 mV -9.465 -10.367

700 900 mV 202 mV -12.69 -13.119

72
 800 1V 180 mV -14.94 -15.413

900 2V 332 mV -15.61 -16.789

1000 3V 350mV -18.679 -19.093

4.5.2 Lower midrange (midrange1)

Table 12:Practical midrange1 frequency response results

Frequency(Hz) Input Output Practical Simulated

voltage(VIN) voltage(VOUT) Magnitude(dB) Magnitude(dB)

50 50mV 2mV -28.69 -31.5

100 100Mv 10.5 mV -19.57 -20.344

200 200mV 82.7 mV -7.67 -8.57

300 300mV 204 mV -3.39 -3.542

400 400mV 386 mV -316.3m -321.1m

600 600mV 795 mV 0.46 0.76

800 650mV 904 mV 0.66 0.233

1000 700mV 825 mV 0.423 0.537

1200 750mV 740 mV -110.5m -114.679m

1500 800mV 570 mV -2.93 -3.21

2000 850mV 344 mV -7.86 -8.578

2500 900mV 222.5 mV -12.14 -12.706

2800 950mV 196 mV -13.69 -14.35

3000 1V 137 mV -17.26 -16.216

3500 2V 228 mV -18.86 -19.16

73
 4000 3V 280 mV -20.61 -21.78

5000 4V 225 mV -25.69 -24.64

4.5.3 Higher midrange (midrange2)

Table 13:practical midrange2 frequency response results

Frequency(Hz) Input Output Practical Simulated

voltage(VIN) voltage(VOUT) Magnitude(dB) Magnitude(dB)

500 50 10.4 -13.61 -14.61

600 50 13.76 -11.21 -12.12

700 100 38 -8.41 -9.36

800 200 89.5 -6.98 -7.61

900 300 161 -5.41 -5.58

1000 400 227 -4.91 -4.45

2000 500 603 1.62 1.537

4000 600 634 465.48 504.587

5000 700 530 -2.41 -2.592

6000 800 416 -5.68 -5.894

7000 900 362 -7.92 -8.372

8000 1 342 -9.31 -10.642

9000 2 540 -11.36 -13.01

10000 3 637 -13.46 -14.77

20000 4 233 -24.69 -27.569

74
4.5.4 Tweeter
Table 14:practical tweeter frequency response results

Frequency(Hz) Input Output Practical Simulated

voltage(VIN) voltage(VOUT) Magnitude(dB) Magnitude(dB)

1000 50 mV 3.66 -22.7 -24.68

2000 100 mV 26.03 -11.69 -12.706

3000 200 mV 111 -5.11 -6.93

4000 300 mV 198mV -3.62 -3.83

5000 400 mV 338mV -1.46 -1.766

6000 500 mV 461.25mV -700.62m -733.945m

7000 600 mV 553.62 mV -698.78m -733.945m

8000 700 mV 675 mV -322.16m -321.101m

9000 800 mV 772 mV -318.54m -321.101m

10000 900 mV 889.35 mV -103.41m -114.679m

20000 1V 0.99V -86.23m 91.743m

30000 2V 1.96V -84.61m 91.743m

40000 3V 2.95V -88.36m 91.743m

75
Speaker cabinets were constructed from rough estimates of the diameters of the speaker drivers
against the sizes of the speakers themselves. It was not possible to mathematically calculate accurate
values of the measurements of the cabinets since the specifications of the speakers needed for this for
instance the quality factors and the resonance frequencies were not known but even then, the rough
estimates worked out really well as the perceived quality of sound produced was very good from
music played. The constructed cabinets are as shown in the image in figure 35 below:

Figure 36:speaker cabinets

76
4.6 Analysis
The practical response was found as indicated in the plots in figures 37,38,39,40 below.

woofer frequency response

2
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
-2
Magnitude(dB)

-4
-6
-8
-10
-12
-14
Frequency(Hz)

Figure 37:practical woofer frequency response

lower midrange(midrange1) frequency

response
5
0
-5 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
magnitude(dB)

-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
Frequency
(Hz)

Figure 38:practical midrange1frequency response

77
 Higher midrange(midrange2)frequency
response
2
0
-2 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Magnitude(dB)

-4
-6
-8
-10
-12
-14
-16
Frequency
(Hz)

Figure 39:practical midrange2 frequency response

Tweeter frequency response

0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000

-5
Magnitude()

-10

-15

-20

-25
Frequency(Hz)

Figure 40:practical tweeter frequency response

78
The matlab code shown below was used to determine frequency response of the full crossover
network and it was as shown below:

function[]=tonny9()
ax=[-30,0,20,50000]; %sets axis limits
axis(ax);%assigns the limits to axis function
x=1:20;%produce values to be plotted on x-axis
bassy=[0.162 0.161 0.161 -0.268 -0.698 -1.23 -3.89 -7.21 -9.465 -12.96 -14.94 -15.61 -18.679];
bassx=[20 50 100 200 250 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000];

mid1y=[-28.69 -19.56 -7.67 -3.369 -0.3161 0.26 0.86 0.423 -0.11 -2.93 -7.86 -12.14 -13.69 -
17.26 -18.86 -20.69 -25.69];
mid1x=[50 100 200 300 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 2500 2800 3000 3500 4000 5000];

mid2y=[-13.61 -11.21 -8.41 -6.89 -5.41 -4.91 0.32 0.504 -2.592 -5.894 -8.372 -10.642 -13.01 -
14.77 -27.569];
mid2x=[500 600 700 800 900 1000 2000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000];

highy=[-22.7 -11.69 -5.11 -3.62 -1.46 -0.7 -0.69 -0.32 -0.318 -0.103 -0.086 -0.084 0.084];
highx=[1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000];
plot(bassx,bassy,'-',mid1x,mid1y,'-',mid2x,mid2y,'-',highx,highy,'-');
legend('bass','mid1','mid2','bass');%defines the graphs
grid;% sets the grid lines
title('full response');% puts a title on the plot
xlabel('Frequency(Hz)');% puts a label on the x axis
ylabel('Magnitude(dB)')% puts a label on the y-axis
end

79
The frequency response was as shown in figure 41 below:

Figure 41:full network frequency response

It was realized generally that as frequency increased, there was increased attenuation of the signals.
The practical crossover frequencies realized from the matlab plots were 313Hz, 1515Hz and finally
4848Hz instead of the design crossover frequencies which were 350Hz, 1150Hz and 4000Hz.This
was because the practical values of the capacitors and the inductors used in the design of the
crossover network were slightly different from the values used in the design and this could led to a
shift of the crossover frequency point. Also likely to have affected the crossover point was the fact
that the impedance used in the determination of the crossover frequencies was 8 ohms but in a
practical case scenario, speaker drivers with nominal impedances of 8 ohms have an impedance
value slightly from t the 8 ohms specified in the design calculations. Also notable is the fact that
speaker drivers are a reactive load and not resistive and due to the voice coil inductance, the
impedance increases as frequency and even though there is a remedy for this by design of a zeal
network, it was realized via simulation that inclusion of a zobel network led to a significant distortion
of the output which overally affects the quality of sound produced and thus it was omitted.

80
5 CHAPTER 5
5.1 Conclusion
The main objective of the project was to design and implement a 4-way passive crossover network.
This aim has been achieved as the system has worked as expected with good quality sound at the
output of the four speaker drivers. There were slight differences from the theoretical simulations and
this was expected but it did not adversely affect the output and quality of sound produced.
A system with several crossover points has increased distortions compared to that with fewer points
of crossover. Comparison between this system and its active counterpart reveals that, this is cheaper
and thus more desirable as most people desire to optimize the use of a device yet at a low price.
Overally, the project was a success.

5.2 Recommendation
The project generally involved a demonstration of the possibility of the design and use of a 4-way
passive crossover network and since this concept is not fully explored and commercialized, for
demonstration purposes, a mono instead of a stereo set up was used. Stereo systems produce the best
quality sounds and hence for future works and demonstrations on this, I would recommend use and
design of a stereo system.

The department should try and purchase ferrite cores in advance as they are not very easily available
and the alternative use of air core inductors leads to very bulky crossover network circuits which are
not practical incase it’s to be implemented in an actual system.

Lastly care should be taken when handling the speaker drivers and especially the domes. Any dent on
the domes affect the quality of the sound produced.

81
REFERENCES

[1] C. D. Ambrose, Frequency Range of Human Hearing, 2003.

[2] T. A. Nielsen, Loudspeaker Crossover Networks, August,2005.

[3] www.diyaudioandvideo.com, "Speaker Crossover Wiring Guide," [Online].

[4] W. D. Stanley, Operational Amplifiers with Linear Integrated Circuits.

[5] J. Bird, Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology.

[6] D. Meyer, Loudspeaker Parameters.

[7] J. P. Bello, Loudspeakers.

[8] "http://www.eminence.com/support/understanding-loudspeaker-data/," [Online].

[9] Tomi_Engdahl, "Speaker Impedance".

[10] "http://audioundone.com/8-advantages-of-active-crossovers-douglas-self," [Online].

[11] "ferrite torroid core," 23 january 2015. [Online]. Available: http://coil32.net/ferrite-toroid-

core.html.

[12] J. W. Marshall Leach, Introduction to Electroacoustics and Audio Amplifier Design,

Second, Kendall/Hunt, 2001.

[13] "Loudspeaker Voice-Coil Inductance Losses: Circuit Models, Parameter Estimation, and
Effect on Frequency Response".

[14] J. Bunett, "Crossover Basics Passive crossovers Active crossovers Time alignment".

[15] Fane, Loudspeaker Enclosure Design and Construction.

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[16] R. Elliot, "http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm-power distribution and sound pressure
levels," 1998-2009. [Online].

APPENDIX
A Amperes
C Capacitance
L Inductance
M milli
Μ Micro
Ω Ohm
X/o crossover
𝑋𝐿 - Inductive reactance
𝑋𝐶 -Capacitive reactance
R Resistance
V Volts
F Frequency
Fs Resonance frequency
Fc Cut-off frequency
Zo Nominal Impedance
W Watts
Q Quality factor

𝑄𝑀𝐶 Mechanical quality factor

𝑄𝐸𝐶 Electrical quality factor

APPENDIX B

MATLAB CODE FOR THE FULL NETWORK FREQUENCY RESPONSE

axis (ax);%assigns the limits to axis function

x=1:20;%produce values to be plotted on x-axis
bassy=[0.162 0.161 0.161 -0.268 -0.698 -1.23 -3.89 -7.21 -9.465 -12.96 -14.94 -15.61 -18.679];

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bassx=[20 50 100 200 250 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000];

mid1y=[-28.69 -19.56 -7.67 -3.369 -0.3161 0.26 0.86 0.423 -0.11 -2.93 -7.86 -12.14 -13.69 -17.26 -18.86 -20.69 -
25.69];
mid1x=[50 100 200 300 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 2500 2800 3000 3500 4000 5000];

mid2y=[-13.61 -11.21 -8.41 -6.89 -5.41 -4.91 0.32 0.504 -2.592 -5.894 -8.372 -10.642 -13.01 -14.77 -27.569];
mid2x=[500 600 700 800 900 1000 2000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000];

highy=[-22.7 -11.69 -5.11 -3.62 -1.46 -0.7 -0.69 -0.32 -0.318 -0.103 -0.086 -0.084 0.084];
highx=[1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000];
plot(bassx,bassy,'-',mid1x,mid1y,'-',mid2x,mid2y,'-',highx,highy,'-');
legend('bass','mid1','mid2','bass');%defines the graphs
grid;% sets the grid lines
title('full response');% puts a title on the plot
xlabel('Frequency(Hz)');% puts a label on the x axis
ylabel('Magnitude(dB)')% puts a label on the y-axis
end

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