I posted pictures of the new crossover for the IRSV speakers in Music Room One. The work was researched, the parts curated for best sound, the construction about as high-end as it gets. And yet, there are those who emailed me suggesting all was for naught.
They suggest I would be better off replacing the passive crossover altogether with an electronic one, power tweeters and midrange drivers separately and with different amplifiers, all for better sound. Others suggest I turn to DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to enhance the performance further. I struggle with these concepts.
If I were building a loudspeaker from scratch and the final product did not have to have commercial appeal, it was just for me, I would perhaps go with an electronic crossover, probably a DSP as well. I like the concept if one were starting from scratch. My struggle comes taking that which was carefully tuned and designed for one set of parameters and changing its nature to another. This is a tough concept for me to accept.
I know things like this are done all the time in other industries: old cars rebuilt with new parts, old buildings gutted and insides replaced, and so on. And maybe that's a good thing for some. Call me old fashioned, but I love the sound of the original design with all its charms, wonders, and yes, shortcomings.
Time may change me, but for now, this makes sense.
