Impedance Issues

Textbook formulas are difficult to execute properly when based on the driver's
nominal impedance. Look at the impedance curve for any 6 1/2" woofer. It will see
the typical impedance peak at the resonant frequency usually somewhere below
100 Hz. This may be as high as 100 ohms. Then the impedance droops back to the
nominal value after a few hundred Hz, but then rises smoothly after this due to the
voice coil inductance. This rising impedance may become as high as the impedance
at the resonance! By the time the frequency is up to typical crossover frequencies
(say 2 kHz to 3.5 kHz), the impedance may be between 10 and 20 ohms!!! This will
cause the crossover values to be significantly different than those for nominal
impedances of 4 or 8 ohms. This is one of the reasons that using nominal
impedance with textbook formulas rarely will yield satisfactory results. Likewise,
tweeter crossovers may be affected by the impedance peak at the tweeters
resonance. This is why it is suggested to crossover the tweeter one to two octaves
above the resonance.
There are two ways to deal with the problem of rising woofer impedance. One is to
actually measure (or read from a graph) the actual driver impedance at the
crossover frequency. At least design the woofer crossover based on about 12 ohms
impedance. This should get in the ballpark. The only problem with this approach is
that the impedance on either side of the crossover is not constant, so will get some
wiggle around the crossover. Of course, as mentioned, cross the tweeter over about
1 1/2 to 2 times its resonance, and it should be okay to use the nominal tweeter
impedance
for
the
tweeter
crossover.
The second way to deal with rising woofer impedance is to use impedance
compensating circuitry - a Zobel. A Zobel is a capacitor and a resistor in series
placed across the woofer leads. Using a Zobel will flatten the rising impedance and
bring it down to the nominal range throughout the upper frequencies of the woofer.
Then use the nominal woofer impedance to design the woofer crossover. The main
drawback is that it will interfere with the woofer's frequency response to an extent,
but this is relatively minor compared to the actual crossover network's changes.
Acoustic Offset
Textbook formulas assume that there is no acoustic offset between the drivers.
Acoustic offset is the difference in the distance of the voice coils of the two drivers
from a vertical plane. Actually, it isn't exactly the voice coil centers, but its close
enough for purposes. Basically the woofer's acoustic center is further back than the
tweeters, and this difference introduces phase differences which affects the
summation of the driver's frequencies at the crossover point. There are really only
two things can do without measurement and crossover modeling software.
One can estimate the center of the voice coil for each driver as the distance from
the baffle to the center of the driver top plate. Subtract the distance for one driver
from that of the other, and if this difference is half the wavelength of the crossover
frequency, then reverse the tweeter's leads if normally shouldn't, or don't reverse
them if normally should. When the acoustic offset is one half the wavelength of the
crossover frequency, the phase is reversed 180 degrees. Of course if the offset
distance is an even multiple of the crossover wavelength, then the phase difference
is technically zero, and the textbook formulas should work as they are.

Two, build a step into the baffle to align the tweeter and woofer centers. Assume
that the acoustic center is at the center of the top plate. That isn't entirely true, but
it's as close as can get without measurement software.
One final note, also try to keep the distance between the driver's centers (as
mounted on the baffle) less than the wavelength of the crossover frequency. Don't
put the woofer at the bottom of a tower, and the tweeter at the top, and try to cross
them over at a high frequency ;-)
Crossover Types
First order crossovers are notoriously difficult to implement properly. Many speakers
that only have a capacitor on the tweeter, and nothing (or an inductor) on the
woofer can sound quite good. But usually it's difficult to combine the drivers to
have a true 6 dB/octave crossover because the driver's curves will roll off faster
than that, and the acoustic centers should be time aligned. Sometimes it's better to
use steeper slopes on the crossovers so that the drivers interfere with each other
less.
Second Order Butterworth networks actually don't sum flat. They will sum to a +3
dB peak around the crossover. One way to overcome this effect is to spread out the
crossover frequencies. Let the woofer's crossover frequency be, say X/1.3, and the
tweeter's be 1.3 * X, where "X" is the crossover frequency. This will cause the
crossover to sum flatter by causing a dip where there would normally be a peak.
The peak and dip cancel each other out, and the response will be flat.
Personally, recommend the following crossover types:
Second Order Linkwitz/Riley
Third order Butterworth
These crossovers are more forgiving of acoustic offsets, and don't cause peaks at
the crossover frequency when implemented properly. Note that the fourth order
Linkwitz/Riley network is really difficult to implement properly, since a true fourth
order acoustic response can actually be attained with lower order networks. This is
because the driver's actual roll off combines with the electrical network to give the
true acoustical slope of the crossover. Often a second order network on the tweeter
can be combined with a third order on the woofer to give a fourth order acoustical
response.
Baffle Step
Baffle step is more accurately called Diffraction Step. When a driver or sets of
drivers play on a baffle, they put out sound that is radiated into a half-space or
hemisphere. All sound energy is radiated forward, including sound that would have
radiated around the driver. This boosts the sound level by 6 db. When the
frequency drops below the wavelength that is equal to the baffle width, the sound
begins radiating into full space to the front and to the back. This causes a net loss
of bass. This is Diffraction Step (Baffle Step). There are sites (trueaudio by John L.
Murphy) that have formulas for circuits to counter the Baffle Step phenomenon.
Don't try to do full 6 dB baffle step compensation, but only do about 3 dB or so.
Also suggest that Baffle Step may not be as big a problem as people seem to think.
If speakers are located near the walls, the bass will be restored by corner loading

effects, though there may still be a slight dip at a few hundred hertz. Room affects
(corner loading and standing waves) will probably mess with the frequency just as
much as baffle step. However, if locate the speakers away from walls, then baffle
step becomes a major issue.
A crossover may look as though it models fairly flat, but in reality may sound quite
shrill, so keep tweaking it until it sounds good. Use modeling software, but temper
it with lots of listening.